BLACK TIE GALA

Whale Night at Bitcoin 2026

creative director: yours truly

sponsor: antalpha
producer: cierra clark @ jampack
branding: jan halili + michael reece
venue: voltaire las vegas at venetian resort las vegas

i had a vision for our whale night party at the bitcoin conference that took some convincing...

a black tie gala experience at voltaire in las vegas. there were some doubts leading in: would people come, would they dress up, would bitcoiners play along? if you know anything about them, you know this was a real gamble.

not only did people play along, turns out they loved being part of this atmosphere! we went over capacity and despite all the sighs about dressing up, now attendees are saying it needs to be a staple of the whale pass every year.

this is what happens when you commit to elevating an experience rather than just executing an event.

people may push back on the vision before they can see it, but give them something worth dressing up for and they will not only rise to the occasion, they won't forget it.