Tao Group expands Crane Club members lounge to major tentpole events
Background and context
Tentpole events such as major festivals, conferences, and awards shows have become prime destinations for hospitality-led brand experiences. As marketers compete for attention in crowded schedules, curated lounges and members-only spaces are becoming key tools for engagement, meetings, and high-level networking.
Tao Group, best known for its nightlife, dining, and hospitality venues, has been developing its own spin on this trend with the Crane Club members lounge. Initially conceived as a premium, invite-only environment, the concept blends elements of social club, workspace, and hospitality suite, designed to sit alongside—rather than inside—core event programming.
Following domestic outings at high-profile U.S. events, Tao Group has now begun positioning Crane Club as a mobile, repeatable experience that can be adapted to different markets and partner brands.
Key announcement
Tao Group is taking its Crane Club members lounge on the road, extending the pop-up concept beyond its original locations to a broader slate of global tentpole events. The latest example was an international activation at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where the lounge appeared in partnership with LinkedIn.
At Cannes, Crane Club functioned as a dedicated environment for meetings, networking, and programming targeted at marketing and media professionals. The setup combined food and beverage service, hospitality-driven design, and a flexible layout for content sessions and informal gatherings.
According to Tao Group, the goal is not to create a one-off build for each event, but to evolve a recognizable framework that can be tailored to different partners and audiences. Future iterations are expected to maintain a consistent core identity while adjusting programming, decor, and guest mix to suit local context and co-hosting brands.
More information on Tao Group’s hospitality concepts can be found on the company’s official website at taogroup.com.
Industry impact
The decision to mobilize Crane Club reflects a broader industry shift toward portable, hospitality-focused environments that can travel from one flagship event to another. For brands and agencies, this model offers a way to maintain a consistent presence across the global event calendar without committing to permanent venues.
By partnering with platforms such as LinkedIn at Cannes Lions, Tao Group is positioning Crane Club as a turnkey solution for companies looking to host clients and communities in a controlled, brand-aligned setting. This can be particularly relevant at festivals where official venues are heavily programmed and informal meeting space is limited.
- For event organizers, roaming club-style lounges can supplement official offerings without requiring them to manage additional infrastructure.
- For sponsors, these spaces provide a branded environment for content, hospitality, and partner meetings.
- For attendees, they offer quieter, more curated alternatives to crowded networking areas and beach activations.
Why this matters
As experiential budgets increasingly prioritize quality of engagement over pure footfall, premium lounges and member-style clubs are becoming an important part of the event technology and marketing ecosystem. They serve as hubs for meetings, live content, and social amplification, often supported by registration platforms, access control tools, and data capture technologies behind the scenes.
Tao Group’s decision to scale Crane Club across major tentpole events underscores how hospitality operators are moving deeper into the experiential and B2B event space. For planners and brands, it highlights a growing expectation that high-value attendees will be offered spaces that balance productivity, comfort, and curated networking, rather than simply more spectacle.
As the global events calendar continues to fill with overlapping festivals and conferences, portable, branded lounge concepts like Crane Club are likely to play a larger role in how sponsors differentiate themselves and how attendees experience the busiest weeks of the year.
