During the pop-up, we circulate a series of thought-provoking questions printing on flyers. These invite your people to share their responses through our signature anonymous text platform from anywhere. These messages are then filtered for crude language, violence, or anything distasteful, and then projected within minutes, anonymously and safely. 
This allows for unprecedented sharing and openness among your people, culminating in a deeper understanding of the pain and fears that their peers are experiencing, a normalization of their own struggles, and an inspired belief that sharing their struggles does not lead to shame. In short, it helps people see — and believe — that they are not alone.

You should expect that many people will experience a moment of pause and reflection, where they will be able to ask themselves a tough question and share in a safe environment. Many will be inspired, moved and experience a sense of belonging. Many will share openly and see it as a vulnerable yet freeing experience, and others will simply observe what others are sharing. 

We see a high degree of participation in most pop-up exhibits. While no two pop-up exhibits the same, typically about one in four people that pass by participate throughout the course of the pop-up. Interestingly, as we have also learned, those that do not participate are often those that are moved the most. 

This concept was created by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Jordan Axani. The RCMP division Jordan collaborated with was working to curb youth alcohol and drug abuse in rural communities. They saw Jordan’s unique background spanning technology, belonging and mental health research, and viral culture and they asked him to come up with a bold idea that could get students to share their deepest secrets. The program is managed by Jordan and his team at Shift Collab, a therapy and mental health education firm located in Toronto, Canada.

We distribute print-out questions around the campus or company (this is where the volunteers come in because they’ll know what areas are busy and will have an easier time getting their peers to participate). The prompts with the highest level of engagement ask questions such as: 

• What keeps you up at night?
• What’s the lie you’re living? 
• What do you wish your best friend knew about you? 
• How has your mental health shaped who you are? 
• What mask do you wear? 

All question flyers have a local, toll-free number that allows people to text their answers in. We also intermittently display these questions on our screens so that anyone who hasn’t been approached can also participate.

Everything is moderated in real-time using a staging screen and anything considered “inappropriate” (i.e. crass, rude, or includes a name/identity) is filtered out and not displayed. 

If suicidal ideation is expressed during a pop-up, it is up to the organizers if they would like any statements projected or not. Because every submission is approved before it is projected, any submissions of the kind can be not shown. Research tells us that expressing suicidal ideation does not mean that someone is at immediate risk of killing themselves. Rather, it is often an invitation for discussion or a desire to be recognized for truthful feelings that are highly stigmatized and therefore, often remain hidden. 

And so, sometimes providing the opportunity for candid sharing is a healthy way to build awareness and validation of true emotions within a community.

On top of that, by having counsellors, resource representatives, and campus/company leaders taking part in the program and spending a bit of time on-site at the pop-up, it creates an opportunity for connection, humanization, and support that is extremely valuable.

Ideally, two shifts of four volunteers. Aside from helping with set-up and take-down, they will also be helpful in spreading the word, handing out the question flyers, and engaging with members of your campus or company to explain the pop-up exhibit. 

You can find photos and footage of how the pop-up and keynote will look here and a floorplan here.

We’ve been doing these pop-up exhibits since 2017. During that time, we have worked hard to continuously improve everything from how we market and communicate the exhibit, to the
gear that we use, to the platform itself.

For 2022, we are making another round of investment in our equipment to ensure that we are continually making the program as effective as possible while still keeping its budget reasonable. Moreover, for as many events as possible, we will strive to have two staff members to ensure that one is handling technical needs while the other is handling engagement and volunteer coordination.