Waymo hired a Grammy-winning hip-hop legend to headline their 2025 holiday party. Then they called us.
When the stakes are that high, a world-class artist, a venue without its own power grid, and hundreds of guests who expect a night they’ll remember, there’s no room for guesswork. Delivering AV for corporate events at this scale requires a production team that has done it before, planned for everything that can go wrong, and knows how to make it look effortless.
Here’s exactly how we pulled it off.
Key Takeaways
- Waymo booked Big Boi of OutKast to headline their 2025 holiday party, requiring Techtonic to fulfill a highly specific professional artist technical rider
- The venue had no existing power infrastructure for the main stage, so we brought a 70kw generator and built an independent power grid from scratch
- We deployed a 9-person on-site technical crew across audio, video, lighting, and stage departments for a 12-hour production day
- The event ran across 3 separate stages: a main concert stage, a silent disco stage, and a corporate karaoke stage
- Pre-production planning began weeks before load-in, problem-solving happened before the trucks arrived, not during the show
- This was our third consecutive year producing Waymo’s holiday party; they came back because they know we do good work
About Waymo
Waymo is one of the most recognized names in autonomous vehicle technology. Their team doesn’t settle for ordinary, so when they decided to bring in a major recording artist for their 2025 holiday party, they needed an AV partner that could match the ambition of the event.
They’d booked us in 2023 to do sound for Future Islands, and 2024 to do sound for Modest Mouse. Both events exceeded expectations, so we were confident going into pre-production for 2025.
The Challenge: A Concert Inside a Corporate Party
This wasn’t a typical holiday party with a DJ and a projector screen. The moment Waymo confirmed Big Boi (one half of OutKast, with decades of arena and festival credits) as the headliner, the production requirements changed entirely.
An Artist Technical Rider
Professional touring artists come with technical riders: documents that specify exactly what audio equipment, stage dimensions, lighting rigs, and infrastructure must be in place before they’ll perform. These aren’t suggestions.
For an artist of Big Boi’s caliber, the rider covered:
- A specific premium sound system and mixing console configuration
- In-ear monitor systems for performers, managed from a dedicated console
- A fully miked drum kit
- Professional DJ rigs (Technics and Pioneer)
- Defined stage dimensions and lighting requirements
Meeting a rider like this requires sourcing the right gear, configuring it correctly, and having engineers experienced enough to operate it at concert level.
A Venue Without Power Infrastructure
On top of the rider, the venue couldn’t supply the power needed to run a main stage of this size. We had to bring our own.
That meant sourcing and integrating a heavy-duty 70kw generator, enough power to run the entire main stage independently, without touching the venue’s electrical system.
Three Stages, One Night
The event didn’t stop at the main stage. Waymo wanted a full festival experience across the space, which meant we were simultaneously running:
- A main concert stage for Big Boi’s performance
- A multi-channel silent disco stage (where guests wear wireless headphones and choose between multiple DJ channels)
- A corporate karaoke stage
Each stage needed its own dedicated audio, lighting, and technical support.
The Solution: Full Festival Production, Built for a Corporate Audience
To meet the rider and power the entire production, we partnered with Diversified Stage and deployed the full infrastructure needed for an outdoor festival-scale event.
Main Stage Audio
The audio system was built around a Myer Sound speaker system, one of the most respected names in professional live sound. Paired with it:
- A DiGiCo FOH (Front of House) console, which controls what the audience hears
- A dedicated DiGiCo Monitor console, which controls what the performers hear through their in-ear monitors
- Wireless microphone systems and advanced DSP (Digital Signal Processing) control
- A fully miked drum kit
- Technics and Pioneer DJ rigs as specified in the rider
Staging and Lighting
The main stage was a 32′ x 24′ mobile stage, a structure large enough to meet professional touring requirements, brought in and built on-site.
The lighting rig was designed to match a full festival setup, including cryogenic special effects: bursts of pressurized CO2 or liquid nitrogen that create dramatic fog and visual impact at key moments in a performance.
LED Video Wall and Connectivity
A 9′ x 16′ LED video wall gave the stage dynamic visual backdrops throughout the performance. LED video walls at this resolution and scale are a significant production element, the content displayed on them is managed live by dedicated video engineers.
Because the venue’s WiFi couldn’t support the connectivity demands of a production this size, we integrated a dedicated StarLink satellite system to ensure the production team had stable, high-bandwidth internet throughout the event.
Independent Power
The 70kw generator ran the entire main stage independently. This wasn’t a backup, it was the primary power source, integrated and managed as part of the production plan from day one.
The Crew: 9 Specialists Across Every Department
For a production this size, we deployed a 9-person on-site technical crew, each with a defined role:
- A1 & A2 Audio Engineers — A1 managed the front-of-house mix (what the audience hears); A2 managed the monitor mix (what the performers hear)
- V1 & V2 Video Engineers — Controlled the LED video wall content in real time throughout the performance
- L1 & L2 Lighting Engineers — Directed the full lighting show, including cued special effects
- Professional Stagehands — Managed rigging, stage transitions, and structural safety throughout the 12-hour production day
Each of those roles matters. A lighting engineer running a festival rig is doing something fundamentally different from the technician who set up your conference room projector. Getting the right people in the right seats is as important as having the right equipment.
How We Kept a 12-Hour Production Day from Going Sideways
A 12-hour production day for an event of this scope, outdoor venue, independent power grid, major artist, 3 simultaneous stages, has a lot of variables.
The way you prevent problems on show day is by solving them weeks earlier.
Pre-Production Planning
Before a single truck was loaded, our team was already working through the logistics. That meant:
- Mapping out the power requirements and confirming the generator specs
- Coordinating the rider requirements with our equipment sourcing and crew assignments
- Working through the stage layout, rigging plan, and cable runs in advance
- Identifying potential failure points across all 3 stages and building redundancy into the plan
Permitting compliance was also part of the pre-production work. Productions of this type require coordination with local authorities, cryogenic effects, generator operation, and stage structures all fall under regulations that require proper permitting and inspection before the event.
Why This Matters for Your Event
You may not be booking Big Boi for your next company party. But if you’re planning a large-scale corporate event, an annual conference, a product launch, an all-hands celebration, the principle is the same.
The AV team that shows up with a plan is the one that gives you a clean event. The one that figures it out on-site gives you surprises.
The Result
The event ran. Big Boi performed. Waymo’s guests got a full concert experience wrapped inside a polished corporate production. Three stages ran simultaneously without overlap or technical failure across a full 12-hour day.
Waymo had a good enough experience in 2023 and 2024 to bring us back for 2025 with a bigger ask. That’s the measure we hold ourselves to.
Why Techtonic Events for Your Corporate Production
Techtonic Events is based in Santa Rosa, CA and serves corporate clients across Sonoma, Napa, and Marin Counties and throughout the greater Bay Area.
We handle AV for corporate events at every scale, from boardroom meetings with a handful of presenters to large general sessions, product launches, conferences, and full-scale productions like this one.
What makes us a fit for events like the Waymo holiday party:
- 20+ years of combined industry experience, including work for Fortune 500 companies, celebrities, and political events
- Full-service production: sound, lighting, video, staging, scenic, and on-site labor
- Off-grid capability: generators, battery power, and StarLink for venues that can’t support what your event requires
- Live sound expertise: FOH mixing, monitor engineering, line array deployment, and artist rider fulfillment
- Trusted by companies including Apple, Google, OpenAI, Asana, Scale AI, Sotheby’s, and Waymo (two years running)
We don’t just show up with gear. We show up with a plan.
Let's Talk About Your Corporate Event
Planning a large-scale company event and need an AV team that can handle real production complexity? We’d love to hear what you’re building.
Start with a free consultation, phone, video, in-person, or an on-site visit. We’ll get into the specifics of your event and tell you exactly what it takes to pull it off.
Contact Techtonic Events today to schedule a free consultation.
📞 (844) 483-2428
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of corporate events does Techtonic Events handle?
Techtonic works across the full range of corporate productions, from small breakout sessions and boardroom meetings to large general sessions, product launches, conferences, all-hands meetings, and full-scale entertainment productions like the Waymo holiday party. If your event requires sound, lighting, video, staging, or any combination of the above, reach out and we’ll tell you what makes sense for your specific situation.
What if the venue can't support the power needs of our event?
We carry the solution for that. For the Waymo production, the venue had no power infrastructure for the main stage, so we integrated a 70kw generator to power it independently. Techtonic carries generators, battery packs, and StarLink satellite internet for events in venues that can’t support what the production requires.
How far in advance should we book for a large corporate event?
We recommend 3 to 6 months for most corporate events. For large or complex productions, especially those involving live entertainment, multiple stages, or off-grid infrastructure, more lead time is always better. The pre-production planning phase is where most problems get solved, and that takes time to do well.
Can Techtonic handle multiple simultaneous stages or event zones?
Yes. The Waymo event ran 3 separate stages at the same time: a main concert stage, a silent disco stage, and a corporate karaoke stage, each with its own audio, lighting, and technical support. We staff and plan for multi-zone productions specifically so each area gets the attention it needs without pulling resources from the others.
Does Techtonic Events serve clients outside of Sonoma County?
Yes. Our primary service area covers Sonoma, Napa, and Marin Counties, but we regularly work throughout the greater Bay Area and beyond. The Waymo event is an example of the scale we can mobilize regardless of location. If you’re in Northern California and planning a large corporate event, get in touch and we’ll talk through what’s involved.
Owner
Leo James is the Founder and Owner of Techtonic Events, a full-service live and virtual event production company based in Sonoma County, California. With more than two decades of experience in audiovisual design, staging, and production management, Leo has built Techtonic Events into a recognized leader in experiential events, brand activations, and corporate productions.
His expertise spans high-end conferences, festivals, nonprofit galas, and hybrid digital events, where he blends creativity, technology, and storytelling to deliver memorable experiences. Known for his calm professionalism and technical mastery, Leo leads a talented team that brings complex productions to life — from lighting and sound design to full-scale show execution.
Leo’s vision for Techtonic is rooted in collaboration, innovation, and exceeding client expectations through seamless production and genuine partnership.