Client: Sahara AI
Event: Sahara AI Connect Party 2025 — opening party of Korea Blockchain Week 2025
Date: September 22, 2025
Venue: Sebit Island Convention Hall, Han River, Seoul
Guests: ~1,000 — domestic and international VIPs, industry leaders, global partners
Scope: End-to-end planning and production by Chris & Partners
The brief
Sahara AI, a platform combining blockchain and artificial intelligence, wanted to open Korea Blockchain Week with a statement: introduce the brand to the Korean and global Web3 community, and do it in a way nobody attending KBW could miss.
The target was explicit — make it the must-attend event of the week.
The challenge
KBW week is the most crowded event calendar in Korean tech. Hundreds of side events compete for the same guests across just a few evenings, and an opening-night slot raises the stakes further: it sets expectations for the entire week, and there is no second chance at first impressions. Add a guest list of roughly 1,000 people — spanning international VIPs, industry leaders, and community members — and the margin for operational error approaches zero.
Our approach
A venue that is itself the announcement. We chose Sebit Island Convention Hall — the iconic floating venue on the Han River. It offered the capacity for 1,000 guests, a skyline backdrop that guests photograph and share without being asked, and a location that made the event feel like a destination rather than another hotel reception.
A festival, not a reception. Rather than a standard networking format, we designed the night as a festival space where technology, culture, and music harmonized — brand and product discovery woven into an experience guests wanted to stay in, not a presentation they waited out.
Layered guest experience. With VIPs, partners, and community attending side by side, we structured flows and zones so that executives could hold meaningful conversations while the wider floor kept its energy — the two things a launch party usually has to choose between.
The result
Roughly 1,000 guests attended, spanning Korean and international VIPs, industry leaders, and global partners. The Connect Party opened KBW 2025 as one of the most prominent side events of the week — exactly the position the brand set out to own — and gave Sahara AI a presence in the Korean market that a conference booth could never have delivered.
Planning something for KBW 2026?
Korea Blockchain Week 2026 runs September 29 – October 1. Chris & Partners has planned and produced 260+ events across 12+ countries — including the side event that opened KBW 2025. If you want your brand to own a night of KBW week, send us a project inquiry — we’ll respond with a concept direction, venue shortlist, and budget estimate.
