The Basics: Winston Fisher is the CEO of AREA15, a new 200,000-square-foot entertainment, retail, and dining complex in Las Vegas that specializes in live events, immersive activations, and art installations. The venue is the brainchild of Fisher, a longtime real estate developer, and Michael Beneville of creative studio Beneville Studios, who now serves as the chief creative officer. Blue Man Group founder Chris Wink serves as director of content.
When developing the space, the group embraced the idea of “experiential retail,” asking themselves, “What does it mean to gather and create events?” explains Fisher. “We thought we should build a content box, a place that's just always full of innovative entertainment—really cool tenants, really cool events, and really cool activations that help provide further entertainment for people when they come.”
The creativity-filled space features 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, plus an open-air art gallery, a variety of restaurants and bars, a permanent exhibition of art collective Meow Wolf, an interactive VR experience, retail shops, and much more. 
Located seven minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, AREA15 bills itself as “the world’s first purpose-built experiential entertainment complex.”Photo: Laurent Velazquez
2020 Highlight Reel: Opening a massive, event-focused venue during a pandemic was no easy feat. While the opening was delayed a few months, AREA15 officially opened in September 2020. “We can't be exactly who we want to be right now,” says Fisher. “We could have sat out for another six months, but we made the choice to open early because I wanted to get people employed and to help the local economy. … I’m very proud that we’re open and getting stuff done, and taking safety very seriously.”
Despite the restrictions on gatherings, the team has already managed to host some safe, socially distant events, including a caravan of art cars to mark its opening. “We’re also utilizing our outdoor event space very well, and we’re really excited about The Portal, our 7,000-square-foot projection-mapped ballroom. We’ve done everything from Monday-night football events to live performers during Halloween," says Fisher, adding that The Portal is also hosting virtual and hybrid events, where faces of digital attendees are projection-mapped on the walls.
And in late November, AREA15 debuted Wanderland, an outdoor holiday experience featuring an appropriately out-of-this-world theme; highlights include a 30-foot intergalactic art sleigh, a tree-lined village with an extraterrestrial theme, a pop-up eatery, Insta-worthy holiday vignettes, and more.
The Portal is a 7,000-square-foot space with customizable projection mapping-covered walls. It's currently being used to host small gatherings as well as virtual and hybrid events.Photo: Proto Images
Event Philosophy: Fisher sees retail and experiential as a logical pairing. “Events are perfect ways for retailers to sell things, whether it's through product launches or walk-through experiences or pop-ups," he says. "If you can dream it, you can build it."
Goals for the Future: Once COVID-19 restrictions lift, Fisher sees AREA15 as a space for everything from conventions and corporate buyouts to food festivals and massive concerts. The team is currently finalizing plans for more event breakout rooms, a VIP lounge, and other gathering spaces to open in 2021.
“It's really meant really for third parties to come through and get this incredibly artistic, cool, design-forward space that also has blank canvas areas. … I'm really excited for creatives to use our space to just go wild and do whatever they want. Our goal is, ‘How do we say yes to people? How do we make your vision come to life?’”
AREA15 has an indoor electric zip line called Haley’s Comet.Photo: Peter Ruprecht
Back to the Most Innovative People in Events 2020 list, sponsored by Pathable
