Steal-worthy C-Suite Event Ideas from the Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit -

As fans tackled activations at Super Bowl LX, key stakeholders talked sports and tech

Sporting tentpoles like the Super Bowl are, at their core, a platform for consumer engagement. But following in the footsteps of other properties, like NBA All-Star Weekend and its 26-year-old Tech Summit, the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) and the NFL saw an opportunity to elevate partners, and engage key stakeholders in town for the colossal football game in what’s next out of Silicon Valley.

The result was the first-ever Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit held at SFMOMA on Friday, Feb. 5, featuring a white-glove hospitality experience and an eight-hour agenda of immersive presentations, high-profile panelists and networking for more than 500 c-level leaders and VIP attendees across tech, sports, media, government and beyond (Agency: BeCore). YouTube served as presenting partner of the Summit and its ceo, Neal Mohan, joined the speaker lineup, which included Amy Howe, FanDuel’s ceo, and Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s cto.

“Our vision was simple but ambitious: to create a moment where the world’s highest-level innovators and thought leaders didn’t just gather to talk about the future—they gathered to shape it together,” Zaileen Janmohamed, BAHC president and ceo, told EM.

Here’s a look at the platform for business conversations around one of the biggest fan events of the year and why quality, over quantity, drove the event strategy.

Intentionality

C-suiters by nature are connectors of the dots, and so the Summit team offered a clear value proposition and throughline of storytelling for prospective attendees. Rather than leverage stock photography for the event creative, the BAHC’s minimal black and white branding allowed copywriting around the key messages to take the focus instead. From the save-the-date on through to the check-in process via a mobile app, the experience was all about quiet efficiency and deliberate decision-making.

The Right Venue

Even business leaders crave a change of pace, and the SFMOMA’s gallery spaces naturally offered moments of reflection, connection and inspiration. YouTube took over the museum’s atrium offering a welcome moment with barista stations serving up craft pours with branded foam designs. Morning coffee was an event in and of itself, with the gallery spaces open for meandering.

Flexibility

The day started off with high-profile presentations, broke for lunch and networking, and then concluded with a track of sessions that let attendees dive into topics that interest them most, choose-your-own-adventure-style. They could come in for a few sessions, leave for meetings, and then come back. However, the team designed the first session of the day to be just as compelling as the last session of the day, leading the attendees into a happy hour experience.

Layered Content

The event balanced main stage content (seven keynote-style sessions) with interactive breakout panels (six), with the hosts of the No. 1 business and technology podcast, “Acquired,” serving as guest moderators. In this way, the stage conversations were complex, with every word spoken something the attendees would hang onto. Kevin Yeaman, Dolby ceo, and Giles Baker, svp of OptiView, led a CES-style keynote on the power of immersive sound and vision, and how experiences like live sporting event-viewing are evolving.

“When partners don’t just activate but genuinely co-create the experience, attendees feel that authenticity,” Janmohamed says. “From the NFL’s executive partnership on content and strategy to many of our partners providing strategic counsel and participation, every partnership layer mattered.”

Stage-to-Floor Engagement

The team designed collaborative and additive partner experiences. Premiere partner Dolby, which hosted the BAHC’s Super Bowl LX kickoff party, transformed the main stage into an immersive, sensory experience using Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos for all the content there. And a Technology Playground brought the conversations on stage to life.

Our editors were on-site at the Summit to experience Meta’s latest smart glasses activation—the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses and the Ray-Ban Meta Headliner glasses. Brand ambassadors led us and the attendees through interactive tests of its products, activated by voice commands and hand gestures, and after trying a few pairs on, we snapped a photo printed onto a sticker.

Talk about seeing into the future.

Photo credits: Courtesy of Bay Area Host Committee; Juanita Chavarro Arias

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