Sold-Out Event & Venue Marketing Conference Denver 2024 Highlights, Award Winners, and Insights From Industry Hot Topics

2025 Location Announced for Atlanta, Georgia & Registration Now Open
 

Denver, CO (June 7, 2024) – The newly rebranded Event & Venue Marketing Conference (EVMC) 2024 in Denver, Colorado culminated with the largest attendance to date, and first sell-out with nearly 600 attendees, the most sponsors with over two dozen partners and a record number of marketing award submissions with over 100 for this year’s award categories.

 

The annual conference kicked off with Ian Munsick at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, followed by a packed agenda discussing hot topics and trends such as Build Your Own Brand, Data in Venue Marketing and Fan Experiences in the Evolving Entertainment Landscape. Ball Arena hosted a Thursday night celebration presented by Ticketmaster and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, and the conference concluded with a Grand Finale event presented by Fevo. 

 

Highlights from the week’s conference included:

• An inspirational keynote from Captain Sandy Yawn, Superyacht Captian, Author and Businesswoman featured in Bravo TV’s Below Deck Mediterranean.
• A general session spotlight on wellness and nurturing mental health within the entertainment industry featuring Dr. Donald Wood, Founder & CEO of Inspired Performance Institute and Hallie Lincoln, Co-Founder & Director of Caseline Management at Backline.
• An insightful conversation about unraveling the game-changing role of Artificial intelligence. 
• A deeper dive into the surge of international artists and global touring marketing campaigns with a robust panel of industry leaders sharing best practices and top trends.

The 2025 location was also announced for June 4-6, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Registration for next year’s conference is available now via the EVMC website.

 

EVMC’s ninth annual EVMC Awards Ceremony presented by Frenzy at the Colorado Convention Center on Thursday afternoon recognized the live entertainment industry’s venue marketers, promoters and publicists from across North America who submitted entries for Marketing & Publicity Campaign of the Year, Most Creative Artist Welcome and Most Creative Artist Gifting. Industry leaders judged the campaigns and the top entries per category were selected by EVMC attendees. The 2024 winners are:

• Marketing & Publicity Campaign Of The Year: Scotiabank Arena’s Transformation into October’s Very Own Arena from MLSE - Scotiabank Arena - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Most Creative Artist Welcome: Drake’s Blurdega from Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Most Creative Artist Gift (under $1,000): Zach Bryan Custom Flies for Fly Fishing from Desert Diamond Arena - Glendale, Arizona
• Most Creative Artist Gift* ($1,000+): Bert Kreischer Air Mascot from Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
   

Additionally, EVMC honored entertainment luminaries for their significant contributions to the live entertainment industry. The top honor is the Gigi Award of Excellence, named after the late Gigi Pilhofer, one of the founders of EVMC. Liz Roca, Tour Marketing Director at United Talent Agency was this year’s honoree for her impact on the live events marketing space.

Kelly McGrath, General Manager at Xcel Energy was inducted into the EVMC Hall of Fame, recognizing her for her impact on the live entertainment industry and contributions to the conference.

This year’s Impact Award recipient was Brian Kitts, Co-Founder of You Can Play Project. Kitts was honored for his advocacy for LGBTQ+ and ally issues in sports, striving to ensure safety, and inclusion for all participants and helping to reshape the landscape of sports to one of respect, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Lastly, Daniel Klein, Coordinator of Marketing – Music & Live Events for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Scotiabank Anrea) was named EVMC’s Breakthrough Professional of the Year. The Breakthrough Professional of the Year Award recognizes a professional who has worked for the live entertainment industry for less than ten years, yielding trackable results and innovation.   

Images from the Awards Ceremony can be found here.
Photo Credit: Michael Martin

Event & Venue Marketing Conference

Event & Venue Marketing Conference (EVMC) is dedicated to the talented professionals that cross the scope of the live entertainment industry: marketing, publicity, promotions, group sales, live touring shows, and venues. Networking, educating, and sharing trends and ideas across these disciplines through various industry leaders is a critical aspect of not only EVMC but the success of the live entertainment industry.

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 Media Contact
 Kerry Graue – klgraue@gmail.com