Case study
How one agency changed the way a California venue sells space
THEO REILLY REPORTS ON HOW INVNT’ S INSTALLATION FOR HITACHI VANTARA IN 2025 PUSHED SPONSOR ACTIVITY BEYOND THE EXHIBITION HALL AND INTO ONE OF NVIDIA GTC’ S EXISTING COMMUNAL SPACES.
I n 2025, an agency took a decision that changed the way space was used and sold at a major California conference. The agency was INVNT; the client was Hitachi Vantara; the event was the NVIDIA GTC( GPU Technology Conference) at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. The conference attracts highprofile clients to the tech capital of the world, California. The West Coast tech space has a culture of its own, with its own idiosyncrasies. Last year, it was reported that Silicon Valley tech bosses were meeting in saunas instead of the usual corporate boardrooms. Needless to say, it’ s not a culture that encourages sticking to the norm.
Both INVNT and Hitachi took this culture to heart. It was Hitachi that first suggested the idea of a café-style workstation space. INVNT liked the idea so much that they urged Hitachi to approach NVIDIA about extending it into the wider event environment. The conversation went well – and what resulted was a sponsor-led activation within GTC Park, an existing outdoor area already used for keynote broadcasts and F & B, that became a café-style meeting and workstation space during the show.
What’ s unusual about this case is that Hitachi and INVNT, together, helped shift how that space could be used commercially. GTC Park was already part of the event infrastructure, but it had not previously hosted sponsor-led
Below: INVNT ' s installation for Hitachi Vatara at the NVIDIA GTC in San Jose activations. The success of the Hitachi installation showed how areas beyond the convention hall could support branded experiences. It’ s a good argument for innovation in events – for the value that creative agencies bring by suggesting ideas beyond what the average event planner might consider.
It also says something about how people want to use these events. Not every conversation happens on a stand. People drift; they sit down, work between sessions, take meetings wherever there’ s a table and decent coffee. This idea just leaned into that instead of forcing everyone back into the hall. It was a natural idea for a place that people would want to hang out in, which is ultimately what events should do.
For organisers, it’ s a nudge to look again at the bits of a venue that sit outside the main event environment. It’ s not necessarily just about optimising floor space – it’ s also about putting yourself in the shoes of an attendee. If you were turning up, what would make the difference for the experience? Where would you naturally want to spend time outside the obvious areas?
What’ s more, there’ s a Silicon Valley logic to it. Tech events already operate more like campuses than conventions or trade shows. People move between sessions, work in corners, take meetings wherever there’ s space. Big tech companies have been renowned for creating cosy, off-the-wall work spaces, such as the‘ pods’ at Google HQ, to get their employees working smarter and for longer. An outdoor workstation area fits that mould more than another typical stand ever could.
Exhibitions are largely sticking to their traditional format, and for good reason. But for conferences like this, it is creative agencies like INVNT that have the momentum. They’ re delivering new things that clients actually want and boost the overall experience. It’ s a trend that will only continue, and we hope to see more outside-the-box thinking like what INVNT did for Hitachi in 2025. n
50 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 141