Q1 Sales Kickoff (SKO) destinations from Dallas–Fort Worth

Phoenix, AZ

Centric Events & Rentals is a Phoenix event production company that handles the technical side of live events: audio, lighting, LED video walls, staging, live streaming and on-site technicians. Its site describes it as primarily a full-service production company that also owns an in-house rental inventory, including AV gear and pipe and drape. It works on corporate conferences and general sessions, hybrid events, brand activations, galas, concerts and weddings, mainly across the greater Phoenix area, and says it travels for multi-city programs. Featured projects on its site include Carvana's Spark annual employee conference, LoudRumor's annual conference, a Milagro Tequila brand activation and the Westgate Entertainment District's Fourth of July concert. It was co-founded by Dustin Dluhy, its managing director, and Daniel Pitner; according to its LinkedIn page, the company was founded in 2013.

Peoria, AZ

Highway 85 Productions describes itself as "a full-service corporate event production company headquartered in Peoria, AZ" that builds "the physical environments that make events work: staging, scenic, branded structures, registration, wayfinding, and everything in between." It works on user conferences and customer summits, product launches, brand activations, and sales kickoffs and internal events, with 3D design, fabrication in its Peoria facility, and installation by its own crew; AV and LED are handled as design coordination. It says it has "produced full environments for Axon’s annual user conference," including general session staging, breakouts, branded registration and product demo zones, and has built for Microchip Technology’s Masters Summit; it also builds trade show exhibits and permanent interiors. It was founded by Guy Zwick, its founder and chief experience officer.

Peoria, AZ

Xperience Entertainment is an event production company in Peoria, Arizona, that handles the technical side of corporate events: audio, video, LED video walls, lighting, staging and scenic, and live streaming for hybrid audiences. Founded in 2006 by Darrell Perez as a DJ business, it grew into full event production, and its site says the work is done by its own crew rather than subcontractors. For conferences it runs general sessions and breakout rooms, with confidence monitors, teleprompters, multi-camera video and a show caller. It works on conferences, sales kickoffs, award galas, trade shows, product launches and company events across the Phoenix Valley, and lists PlayStation, Nike, 23andMe and the City of Phoenix among its clients. Its featured project is Diana Taurasi's retirement celebration in Phoenix, where it handled audio, staging, lighting, LED video and a custom LED DJ booth. It also handled lighting, draping, projection and audio for VEN Centers' Doing it in the Desert summit in 2026. It also produces weddings and school events and rents equipment without crew.

San Antonio, TX

JAWS AVL is a San Antonio-based audiovisual production and integration company that describes its event work as full-scale event production services, "from show design to show day." It designs, delivers and operates LED video walls, pro audio, lighting, staging and multi-camera live streaming for corporate conferences, galas, brand activations and trade shows, with CAD mockups and on-site technical direction, and also builds permanent AV and LED installations. Its past projects include Hugo Boss's three-day National Retail Conference and fashion activation in San Antonio, multi-room AV for the 2026 TAAO & ICTA Annual Conference at the Gaylord Texan, OPMED 2026, AlliantCon 2025 and the LDC Gas Forums in Florida. Founded by CEO Jonathan Williams, it became official in 2019 and says it has produced more than 400 shows and events; it regularly serves San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth and Corpus Christi. Its Hugo Boss work included a gala and an outdoor fashion activation, the TAAO & ICTA conference served more than 650 attendees, and it bills itself as "one team, one workflow, one point of contact from quote to teardown."

New Orleans, LA

ACCENT New Orleans is a destination management company that plans corporate events, incentive trips and VIP experiences in New Orleans, led by president and owner Diane Lyons. Its services span event planning and décor, galas and receptions, meeting planning (site selection, registration, hotel negotiations and AV), transportation including permits and police escorts, entertainment booking, and New Orleans experiences such as second-line parades, marching bands, float rides, dine-arounds, guided tours, team building and CSR projects. According to its site, it has been in business for more than 34 years and has worked with global brands, medical associations and Fortune 500 teams. It is a WBENC-certified women-owned business, a partner of the DMC Network, and says it was one of the first ADME-accredited members in New Orleans. Google reviews on its site describe sales kickoffs featuring drumline openings, second-line bands and Mardi Gras greeters.

New Orleans, LA

Live Event Productions is a New Orleans-area production partner for AV-heavy corporate, association and nonprofit events, founded in 2025 by executive producer Craig A. Trosclair. It describes itself as a production leadership and live event technology partner: it handles production planning, designs and coordinates audio, video, lighting, LED and scenic elements, produces Vectorworks CAD floorplans and 3D renderings, and provides executive producers and show callers. Its corporate page lists sales kickoffs and national meetings, leadership summits, user conferences, product launches, awards programs and trade shows among the events it supports. According to its site, the team brings more than 25 years of live event production experience, and it is certified by the SBA as a Veteran-Owned Small Business. Its LinkedIn posts describe work on the Digital Delta Symposium in Houston and a hybrid program at the JW Marriott Downtown Houston.

San Diego, CA

Cue the Magic is a boutique corporate event studio in San Diego, founded in 2025 by Kelly McCleland, who leads it as founder and creative director. It plans events from strategy through on-site delivery: setting objectives and audience, designing the guest journey and programming, creative direction, communications, and running the room on the day. Its site lists customer events, sales meetings, workshops and trainings, leadership retreats, internal culture moments, and trade shows and conferences among the events it supports, and says it works with a select group of clients rather than at volume. It is based in San Diego and serves teams across the U.S.

Escondido, CA

GoGather is a full-service corporate event management agency based in Escondido, in San Diego County, co-founded in 2008 by Brian Kellerman (Partner & CEO) and Dave Wagner (Partner & President). It plans sales kickoffs, conferences, corporate meetings, and employee and channel-partner incentive trips, handling strategy, site selection, budgeting, vendor management, production and A/V, and on-site management. Its case studies include a 3,000-person, eight-division sales kickoff, a sales kickoff for more than 300 people in Puerto Rico, a franchise conference at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and a first user conference for an AI software company in San Francisco. According to its site, it works with Fortune 1000 companies in manufacturing, trucking and transportation, home services, construction and franchising, and has managed more than 1,000 events. It says clients get an online project plan and budget they can view anytime, plus KPI-setting and post-event reporting.

San Diego, CA

The Private Event Company is a female-owned San Diego event planner that specializes in group dining and evening events: corporate and client dinners, dine-arounds, restaurant buyouts, block parties and holiday parties. For groups in town for a conference, incentive trip or sales meeting, its destination management page describes handling the ground program, including group dinners, off-site evenings, transport, hotel coordination and excursions, with one dedicated contact. It says it works with more than 100 venues across the Gaslamp, Little Italy and Downtown, handles everything from 20-person dinners to 5,000-guest block parties, and charges no planning fee because the venues pay it. Case studies on its site include a 245-guest VIP dinner for the California Cattlemen's Association, a cocktail reception and group dinner for Marsh, dinners for Ryvu Therapeutics and AstraZeneca Brazil, and a Taco Bell brand activation.