The Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
The 2025 Peter Benchley Ocean Awards marked a bold new chapter for one of the world’s most prestigious celebrations of ocean conservation. Held at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD—and timed to the 50th anniversary of Jaws—the event honored the enduring legacy of Peter Benchley while celebrating today's most influential ocean advocates.
More than 300 leaders from science, policy, business, and storytelling gathered to recognize this year’s honorees: actor and activist Jason Momoa (Ocean Hero), SC Johnson CEO Dr. Fisk Johnson (Sustainable Business Solutions), and Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (Policy). Led by our team, programming included heartfelt tributes and powerful calls to action by advocates including Sylvia Earle, the evening emphasized bringing together diverse voices to protect our ocean future.
Our team collaborated with Wendy Benchley and the Aquarium Conservation Partnership, ensuring the event served as a rallying point for the global ocean community—spotlighting urgent issues, elevating impactful solutions, and fostering cross-sector collaboration.
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
