How to produce an immersive event for 150 guests: Adobe's A40 Mothership at Esferic

An immersive event for 150 guests is produced like a play with the audience inside: the story leads and every department (lighting, sound, performers, food) tells it at once. At A40 Mothership, Adobe’s event at Esferic Barcelona, the venue became a mothership about to take off, with native beings, immersion pods and bold food. Here are the pieces of an event like this and how you would run it today with Murphy OS.

What the event demanded

The public write-up sums it up in one idea: nothing was what it seemed. The facts it gives:

• 150 Adobe guests.
• Esferic Barcelona as the venue, turned into a mothership.
• An immersive story with native beings, immersion pods and a sensory journey.
• Dynamic lighting, wraparound projection, music and set design.
• Bold food inspired by alien worlds.
• Creatures interacting with guests.
• A crew of artists, performers, lighting technicians and production.

In short: the content is not on a stage, it is everywhere.

The production pieces of an event like this

Budget

In an immersive event the weight sits in set design, AV and talent, global lines that do not shrink if 20 fewer people come. With 150 guests, cost per head runs high and you need to defend it. Separate fixed from variable from the start.

Space

Esferic has very particular architecture. Transforming it means knowing where the pods go, how guests flow, where performers hide between appearances and where the control position sits. Without a planned route, everyone piles into the first pod.

Run of show

Here the run of show is not a list of times: it is a score. A creature’s entrance lands with a light change and a sound effect. If one is late, the magic drops.

Guests

150 people allow an almost personal approach: groups for the pods, timed routes, and tight allergy control for food that leaves the usual path.

Suppliers

Artists, performers, lighting, projection, sound, set build and creative catering. Many freelance profiles to find, contract and coordinate.

Risk

Immersive events fail on details: a performer who does not show, a projection washed out by ambient light, a stuck pod. And bold food needs strict allergen control.

How you would run it today with Murphy OS

Planner: the real cost of immersion

In Planner you split income, per-guest costs, global costs and staff. Set and talent go as global lines; food per guest. You see cost per guest and margin instantly. If the client wants to drop a pod, duplicate the version and compare what you gain and lose.

Scenes: the route on the plan

Upload the Esferic plan, calibrate it with a known measurement and place stage, LED screens, bars, buffet and lounge areas at real size. Build several scenes: arrival, the pod route and dinner. The equipment spreadsheet tells the rental company exactly what goes in. Render gives the client an image of the dressed space before anything is built.

Freelance Board: performers and technicians

On the Freelance Board filter by role (creatives, technicians, production), availability, city and languages. Open the profile, check their largest event and gallery, download the CV and message them. Need, say, six performers and two backup lighting techs? Set an alert and we email you when someone who fits joins.

Contracts: talent and suppliers

Each performer on a performer or freelancer agreement, with tech rider and an image rights clause if the event is filmed. AV and set suppliers on their template, quote as an annex, signed with a code. Have your adviser review before sending.

Run of show: the score, live

In Run of show build the cues with colour-coded teams: AV, performers, catering, stage management. Each cue chains to the previous one and you pin what cannot move, like the ship’s doors opening. On the night, the crew ticks each cue from their phones and you see if you are ahead or behind. Booth notes stay internal and the client never sees them.

What you take away

1. In an immersive event, the run of show is a score. Every cue has light, sound and a character.
2. The route is designed on the plan. If it is not to scale, guests jam.
3. The expensive part is fixed. Set and talent do not drop with headcount: defend it with cost per guest.
4. Performers are suppliers. Contract, rider and image rights, like anyone else.
5. Bold food, controlled allergens. The stranger the menu, the tighter the control.

Your next step

If an immersive brief lands on your desk, write the story in one sentence, then turn it into cues line by line. Any line that does not serve that sentence goes. Then build the plan and the budget with what is left.