Intel Pro Day
A one-day press experience for Intel at the Thompson Central Park NY: a curated group of journalists, a choreographed guest journey, and a 4-day production build. Produced end to end by Sandbox-XM.
On March 23, 2026, a curated group of roughly 20 journalists walked onto the third floor of the Thompson Central Park NY and spent a day inside Intel's story. Intel Pro Day was the platform and vPro press moment ahead of a March 25 embargo, produced end to end by my studio, Sandbox-XM, with fabrication partner Taylor and Intel's cross-functional leads. I led the engagement as managing director and executive producer.
The brief
This was less a press event than a hospitality product designed for journalists: a small group with high expectations for clarity and access, and an opportunity to replace badges, schedules, and swag with something intentional. The mandate we held ourselves to fit on one line. Intel should feel present everywhere, but never loud.
The work
Every touchpoint got the same treatment: designed, scripted, and client-approved before load-in.
The credential set the tone: a crafted wooden access key, logo embossed, carried rather than worn, with a QR code tied to a microsite that updated through the day. Hotel guests were onboarded the night before with scripted front-desk moments and a microsite that told them, honestly, "Tonight is yours." Every guest received a Briefing Day Companion, a sectioned notebook built around the day's phases, down to a simplified Panther Lake and vPro system map with room to write.
The day itself ran as 7 one-hour group rotations (briefing, demo walkthrough, content capture) threaded through a 15-seat presentation room and an Intel Studio interview room with key lights and a 16-foot branded backdrop for 1:1 capture.
Demos lived in 5 Living Experiences: staged environments propped down to the coffee mugs. A university computer lab, a developer's corner, a construction field office with hard hats and rolled blueprints, a CISO operations room, and an advanced enterprise suite. Journalists walked into places, not booths.
The close was the quietest flex in the show. Departing guests found a living wall with a concealed door. Behind it, a velvet-lined box held a wax-sealed envelope: a parting message on the front, and on the back a date and a single URL that went live when the embargo lifted 2 days later. The handoff from experience to publication, in one object.
What endured
A 4-day build for 1 day of show, out by midnight with no trace. The discipline is what carries forward: every script written down, every prop listed, every decision stamped with a client approval date. The line we designed the day around still holds. The technology supports the experience. It never interrupts it.