480+ corporate events · 5 years
Work with a corporate event planner in San Francisco who books the venue, from a Moscone hall to a pier on the Embarcadero, and brings its own racing and flight simulators, VR and AI photo booths.
San Francisco puts its biggest rooms in two places: the convention blocks of SoMa and the piers along the bay. Here's what to know about each.
Moscone Center, SoMa
Moscone North and South share more than 502,000 sq ft of connected exhibit halls, and Moscone West adds 99,916 sq ft on its first level. Send us the hall and booth number early, so we plan the freight to the right building.
Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, Marina
A 50,000 sq ft pavilion over the bay for up to 3,840 guests, with direct vehicle access for load-in. It fits a company conference or an expo with Golden Gate Bridge views.
Pier 27 cruise terminal, Embarcadero
The 91,000 sq ft terminal turns into an event venue on days without a ship. The Embarcadero Room, about 18,500 sq ft, opens onto the bayside promenade through roll-up doors.
Palace of Fine Arts, Marina
Its exhibition hall is one of the largest single-story buildings in the city, next to the 162 ft rotunda and the lagoon. A single floor makes heavy stations easy to roll in.
Exploratorium, Pier 15
The science museum sits on the Embarcadero between the Ferry Building and Pier 39. An interactive station fits a museum buyout, where guests come to try things.
Chase Center, Mission Bay
The 18,064-seat arena opened in 2019. Its event spaces suit a company party or a client night around a Warriors game.
Tech conferences fill Moscone, and hotels across SoMa sell out around them. Book trade show entertainment for these weeks early.
At Moscone each job belongs to its own union local, and the fire department issues a permit for each kind of event.
Freight.
Teamsters Local 2785 handles load-in and load-out at Moscone, including freight, AV, electrical gear and furniture, and runs the forklifts.
Booth and screens.
Sign and Display Workers Local 510 installs exhibits, monitors and video walls. A racing cockpit with a screen counts as an exhibit.
Stage, sound and AV.
IATSE Local 16 does staging, rigging, lighting, sound, audio-visual and computer setup.
Power.
IBEW Local 6 distributes electricity to exhibit booths.
Hand carry.
Only what one person carries in one trip goes through the lobby, with no carts or dollies on escalators or passenger elevators. At shows run by GES, an exhibitor may set a 10 by 10 display alone if one person needs no tools and no more than 30 minutes.
Fire permits.
The SFFD Bureau of Fire Prevention issues separate permits for a place of assembly, an outdoor assembly event, exhibits and trade shows, tents and open flame. Inspectors check before they issue the permit, and it must hang on site.
Insurance documents
We send insurance documents to your venue on request.
South San Francisco is the biotech cluster, and its companies hold events close to the labs. For a team down the Peninsula, see corporate events in San Jose.
For a corporate retreat from San Francisco, look north to wine country. See corporate events in Napa and Sonoma.
Each of the city's main sectors needs a different event format. For San Francisco and Bay Area corporate event ideas, pair a racing leaderboard with a product launch, or VR sports with a team offsite.
Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, OpenAI and Databricks are based in San Francisco. Their teams book launch parties, user conferences and offsites. The AI Networking matchmaker we ran at TEC6, with a racing simulator in the next room, fits a crowd that wants useful introductions.
South San Francisco labs host investor days and staff appreciation events. A flight simulator gives scientists a challenge they don't get at the bench, as it did at the Sysmex client evening at Hangar 21.
The city has been a financial center since the 19th century. Banks and investment firms host client receptions where a quiet AI photo booth fits better than loud games.
Companies that exhibit at RSAC, GDC or Dreamforce need a booth people stop at, and side events after the show closes. A racing cockpit with a leaderboard did that for i2c at a New York fintech show.
Book the whole event or just the part you need. Each section links to the page with details.
Simulator tournaments, VR sports and hosted games for teams in SoMa and Mission Bay offices, from one squad to a whole floor. See more team building activities in SF.
AI photo booths with your branded looks and 360 video booths for a Dreamforce after-party or a launch on a pier, run by a specialist. See photo booth rental in San Francisco.
Speakers, microphones, screens, projectors and LED walls for a town hall in a SoMa office or a gala at Fort Mason. We use QSC speakers. See AV rental.
Brand activations near Moscone during RSAC or Dreamforce week, built around a station people line up for. See experiential marketing.
A DMC in San Francisco for groups flying in for GDC or Dreamforce: hotels outside the sold-out blocks, transfers, dinners and the program. See destination management.
Operators, hosts and brand ambassadors for an after-party in SoMa or a booth at Moscone. See event staffing.
Racing, flight and surf simulators, VR and arcade games: corporate entertainment in San Francisco that we own and staff, from a racing tournament at a tech offsite to VR sports at a pier party. Browse all interactive rentals.
For a hybrid all-hands meeting in a SoMa office with remote teams joining online, we plan the program, the sound and the online feed. See event production.
No. Teamsters Local 2785 moves it in, Local 510 installs exhibits and screens, and IBEW Local 6 provides booth power. Our operators set up the game, train guests and run the station. We book union labor through your show's contractor.
It depends on the space. Ask your venue which SFFD permits it already holds, for example for assembly or exhibits. We then apply for the rest, such as a tent on a pier.
Summer brings fog and cool evenings, especially on the piers. September is usually the warmest month, so it's the best time for a rooftop or a waterfront party. In summer, book a venue with an indoor room.
Dreamforce week, in September or October, and the spring weeks of GDC in March and RSAC in April. SoMa hotels fill first.
Every event gets a custom quote. In San Francisco union labor at the venue, fire permits and travel count, plus the stations, hours and staff. We have two bases, Los Angeles and Orlando (office and warehouse at 310 N Orange Ave), and work across the U.S. See how we quote.
Send the date and the venue. We'll check the venue's rules and our availability right away.
Send the event type, the date, the venue or neighborhood, the guest count and your budget. We'll reply right away. Or call +1 213 912 1010
