Lenovo Tech World @ CES 2026
Company: Lenovo
Role: Senior Project Manager, Global Brand
Project Type: Experiential / Global Event / Cross-Functional Program Management
Project Background
Tech World is Lenovo's annual global innovation event, bringing together company leadership, customers, partners, media and other stakeholders around Lenovo's technology strategy, innovations and product launches.
For 2026, Lenovo moved Tech World from its traditional fall timing to CES in January and hosted the event at Sphere in Las Vegas. The Global Brand team was responsible for developing the event's key visual and visual identity and providing ongoing Brand oversight, while Lenovo's Global Events team partnered with Event Strategy Group (ESG) to produce the physical event.
My initial involvement was overseeing the Project Manager supporting Brand's traditional Tech World responsibilities, while I served as a Brand liaison within the broader event planning process.
As the scale and complexity of Tech World @ CES increased, Global Events requested additional Brand support. I was brought directly into the project to manage Brand coordination for the Sphere Atrium and VIP showcases.
The Challenge
Step into a large-scale experiential program already in motion and create alignment across a significant number of internal and external stakeholders. I joined the Atrium and VIP workstreams mid-project and had not previously worked with many of the stakeholders involved.
The work required coordination across Global Events, ESG, Lenovo's multiple business groups, Global Brand, sponsorship teams and other product and activation stakeholders.
The two experiences also served very different audiences and requirements.
The Sphere Atrium was designed as a high-traffic public experience, with planning anticipating more than 15,000 visitors and incorporating Lenovo master branding, sponsorship activations and technology demonstrations. TW Sphere Atrium Renders
The VIP showcases required a different approach, including products and innovations tied to the keynote, controlled access, media previews, embargo considerations and a post-keynote reception. TW Sphere Atrium Renders
My Role
Served as the primary Global Brand representative for the Atrium and VIP showcase workstreams.
Participated in recurring planning sessions with Global Events, ESG, Lenovo business-group leads, sponsorship teams and other stakeholders, representing Brand requirements and helping translate them into the physical event experience.
When questions required deeper Strategy or Design expertise, I brought the appropriate Brand partners into the process or worked with them separately and relayed their guidance back to the larger team.
Worked directly with ESG as the Atrium and VIP spaces evolved, reviewing renders and applications and coordinating Brand feedback.
Partnered with marketing and event leads across Lenovo's business groups to determine which demonstrations and experiences belonged in the public Atrium versus the controlled VIP environments.
Created and maintained a centralized tracker that became the working source of truth across the business groups and ESG for product placement, staffing, sponsorship information, specifications and logistics. As the event approached, it became particularly important for coordinating shipment and ensuring ESG knew where each item belonged within the Sphere experience. The supporting project record documents the tracker being used across Atrium, Expo 3 and Expo 5 planning.
Project Approach / Key Decisions
Establish a clear Brand voice.
Because I was frequently the only Global Brand representative in the Atrium and VIP planning discussions, I served as the primary connection back to the broader Brand organization. I identified when additional Strategy or Design expertise was needed, brought those teams into the process and translated their guidance back into the larger event workstream.
Create a shared source of truth.
With numerous business groups contributing experiences and ESG responsible for physical execution, information needed to be centralized. The shared tracker helped align stakeholders around placement, requirements, staffing and ultimately shipping and installation needs.
Separate experiences by audience and purpose.
The public Atrium and VIP showcases had different requirements. Planning differentiated broadly accessible brand, sponsorship and technology experiences from controlled showcases associated with keynote announcements and media/VIP access.
Hand off clearly to execution partners.
My role focused on planning, Brand alignment and readiness rather than physical event production. Once requirements, placements, assets and approvals were complete, execution was handed to ESG for on-site implementation.
Scope of Coordination
The project required alignment across:
- Lenovo Global Brand
- Lenovo Global Events
- Event Strategy Group
- Lenovo business groups
- Strategy and Design
- Sponsorship and partnership teams
- Product and demonstration stakeholders
- Media/VIP requirements
- Shipping, staffing and event logistics
Outcome
Successfully supported the development and readiness of the Sphere Atrium and VIP showcase experiences for Tech World @ CES 2026, helping translate Brand requirements and input from numerous Lenovo organizations into an executable experience for ESG.
The Atrium brought together Lenovo master branding, technology demonstrations and major partnership activations within a single public-facing environment, while separate VIP spaces supported controlled access to keynote-related innovations and post-keynote experiences.
The final Atrium designs demonstrate the scale and variety of the environment, ranging from major Lenovo architectural branding to individual partnership and technology experiences throughout the space.
Project Visuals
