Event Horizon

Post-event reports are great for breaking down the important numbers. They show what you spent, how many people came, return on investment, even foot traffic patterns, and more. These numbers help teams justify budgets and plan for the year ahead. But more often than...

Ghost Palace has become a major Halloween event tradition in San Francisco. Each year, it fills all 140,000 square feet of the Palace of Fine Arts with art, music, and interactive zones. It proves how thoughtful design and strong planning can turn a large space into a...

Many big cities host events, but not all of them have soul. You can't quite put your finger on it, but something about them just feels bland or straight up forgettable. They'll work in a pinch for events, but just don't have the natural draw of being a destination for...

Events bring people together, but they also consume resources fast. A single multi-day conference can produce several tons of waste, and generate significant carbon emissions through travel, electricity, and shipping. As a whole, the global event industry generates a...

Too many company holiday parties feel the same. A business lobby or rented ballroom, a buffet, a few drinks, a few speeches, and a crowd that’s ready to leave 30 minutes in. The problem isn’t the people or the budget. It’s the format. Teams crave something unique. A...

For years, company gatherings followed a simple and tired formula. A stage, a screen, a few speakers, maybe a team dinner. But as work and culture continue to change, so do expectations. Teams want purpose, energy, and connection from their corporate events. Those are...

Sumo + Sushi, a wildly popular live showcase where ancient athleticism meets fine dining, is returning to San Francisco. This incredible event made its Bay Area debut with NPU at the Palace of Fine Arts in 2022. Now, Sumo + Sushi is coming back to the Palace this...

Earlier this summer, SVN West turned into a pressure cooker of rhythm and dance when Red Bull Dance Your Style brought the country’s top freestylers to San Francisco. Sixteen competitors, zero judges, no preselected music, and one rule: let the audience decide. The...

In our Event Horizon series we often explore how venues become characters in a story. Few stories are as captivating or as terrifying as Terror Vault. Each autumn since 2018 the historic San Francisco Mint transforms into a cinematic fright fest where live theatre and...

After transforming Pier 80 into Facebook’s ultimate holiday party venue, NPU recognized the terminal’s untapped event potential. NPU didn't see a 60-acre industrial site; we saw a blank canvas capable of hosting something on a much larger cultural scale. With that...