Corporate Event Entertainment at RPX Corporation’s Annual Members Summit
When RPX Corporation booked me as their corporate event entertainment for their annual members summit, the brief was specific: senior executives from the world’s biggest technology, financial services, and automotive companies were flying in for a few days of relaxation and high-level discussion — and the past sessions had been a little too dry. The job was to flip the energy.
About the Event
The summit took place on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California. RPX is the world’s leading patent risk management firm — they’ve spent more than $5.5 billion acquiring patents on behalf of their members to take litigation risk off the table. Their member list includes some of the most recognizable companies on earth.
Roughly 40 senior leaders — names from Apple, Samsung, Meta, Comcast, Sony, Microsoft, Google, and beyond — gathered for a multi-day program of golf, dinners, receptions, and one strategic morning session. Mine was the kickoff act for that Friday morning slot.
My Role at the Event
I worked directly with RPX CEO Daniel McCurdy to design a session that would feel native to the room. The audience speaks fluent patents — claim language, infringement risk, licensing deals in the $50K to $50M+ range, infamous patent judges, the UPC (Unified Patent Court), market sectors and clusters and tags. None of that could feel pasted in.
So the routines were built around their world. Patent numbers became part of a prediction. The invention process — “let’s create a new product and patent it” — became an audience-participation moment. The result was a keynote-style mentalism set that felt like it was written for them, because it was.
As a corporate event entertainment specialist, that’s the whole game: customize until the room forgets you’ve ever performed this for anyone else.
Why Hire Corporate Event Entertainment for an Executive Audience
Senior leaders are a tough room. They’ve seen every keynote, every icebreaker, every after-dinner act. The right corporate event entertainment can:
- Cut through the “we’ve seen it all” reflex with something genuinely surprising
- Reflect the audience’s industry language and inside knowledge
- Energize a room that’s been in meetings, on flights, and in dinners all week
- Create shared moments that show up in hallway conversations afterward
- Make a serious topic — IP, risk, litigation — feel approachable
For high-net-worth, high-status audiences, generic doesn’t work. Customized, intelligent corporate event entertainment does.
Client Feedback
[TESTIMONIAL PLACEHOLDER — Daniel McCurdy, CEO, RPX Corporation]
Watch the Performance
A short highlight reel from the Half Moon Bay session captures the energy of the room and the patent-themed routines built specifically for the RPX audience.
[VIDEO LINK]
[PHOTO GALLERY]
Takeaways
- A specialized audience is an opportunity, not a constraint. The deeper the niche, the more powerful a custom routine feels — because the audience knows you actually did the homework.
- Energy is a deliverable. RPX explicitly wanted a session that flipped the tone of past meetings. That’s a measurable goal, and corporate event entertainment is one of the most reliable ways to hit it.
- Prep with the CEO. McCurdy himself walked me through the patent landscape — historical patents, licensing dynamics, the rhythm of a typical member’s week. That kind of access shows up in the final performance.
- The room sets the staging. The summit room was a long conference layout with screens at the front. The whole show was built to play to that geometry, not a typical ballroom.
Planning a Members Meeting or Executive Summit?
If you’re hosting a high-stakes gathering and want corporate event entertainment that respects the room and earns the laugh, I’d love to talk. Use the form at the bottom of this page to get in touch — let’s design something built for your audience.
