IEBA Board Member Renee Alexander interviews Rendy Lovelady of Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam.

There's nothing on the planet quite like live events. IEBA President Wade Asher of Chippewa Valley Music Festivals is eager to kick off his comeback year with Country Fest in June and Rock Fest in July. In this edition of IEBA Interviews, he reminisces about watching his favorite bands play the songs he loves and seeing the electric connection between artists and fans at his events. Plus, with the IEBA conference on the horizon in October, IEBA Executive Director Pam Matthews and Wade share what they love about the organization - from collaborating and building relationships with respected industry leaders to bonding over shared passion for the fundamental element of our business: incredible music.

Not even COVID could take down the world's longest running broadcast. The Grand Ole Opry remained on the air without a live audience for half of 2020. Then in October, the big red curtain came up for the show's 95th anniversary with a limited-capacity audience. Recently, capacity was increased to just over 1,000. The Opry's VP/Executive Director Dan Rogers joined us on a Zoom call to share how his team adapted their procedures and worked with the city to allow this crown jewel of Nashville to welcome fans back to the Grand Ole Opry House.

The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo's mid-to-late-February timing means that its 2020 edition was one of the last large-scale concert events before COVID struck the US. Having just produced the adapted "Retro Rodeo" for 2021, Mallory Hines, who serves as Entertainment & Exhibits Officer, spoke with us about the lessons learned while re-inventing her show and how good it felt to bring live music back to the masses once.

Last year was a time of deep reflection on issues of equity, but merely asking ourselves difficult questions is insufficient. Concrete action is the next step, and few have taken this to heart as deeply as Fitz and The Tantrums' Noelle Scaggs. Struck by the lack of diversity in her professional environment, she created Diversify the Stage in Spring 2020 with a mission to transform the live performance and concert touring industry to reflect our diverse communities.

In this edition of IEBA Interviews, Noelle discusses Diversify the Stage's programs and puts a call to action out to IEBA members for:

• Mentors
• Internship opportunities
• Contributions to fund Summer Internship Scholarships.

In this month's edition of IEBA Interviews, we are thrilled to welcome industry standout Brandon Pankey from Live Nation Urban. Our conversation explores his passion for education and documenting the contributions of Black musicians, producers, and executives, lessons learned from taking the Roots Picnic virtual (and finding 600,000+ new fans), and the simple driving principle behind LNU's resounding success.

With the concert business largely on hold, we are all looking forward to getting back to business, even if it won't be "as usual." Contract language is evolving to adapt to our post-pandemic world. Tim Epstein of Duggan Bertsch, LLC joins us to talk common law considerations of force majeure provisions, emphasizing specificity in contract language, COVID-19 riders, the effectiveness of waivers, and more in this edition of IEBA Interviews.

For many of us, the most difficult part of preparing to resume business operations is uncertainty. Jim Cressman hopped on a Zoom call to tell us what's on his mind as he juggles rescheduling, compliance with local government, and constant communication with clients and partners - all while taking time to reflect on his approach and inject some new ideas into his business model.

There are no simple solutions to complex problems, and the impact of COVID-19 is one of the most complicated situations our business has ever faced. Liz Allen Fey is the CEO of Strategy & Leadership, LLC. In this IEBA interview, Liz shares principles of leading during a time of crisis and actions we can take to create a community of care.

ASM Jacksonville's Zane Collings and Fiserv Forum's Raj Saha spoke with us about how their venues are serving the community during the fight against COVID-19 and preparing to reopen when the "back to business" signal is sent.

With the volume of show cancellations facing our industry, everyone is poring over their force majeure clauses to see what their options are. In this IEBA Interview, industry veteran Bob Cavalieri demystifies the provision and explains the legal doctrines of impossibility, impracticability, frustration of purpose, and more.

Wade Asher is the general manager of Country Fest and Rock Fest - 3-day festivals drawing 25,000-30,000 per day to his grounds in Cadott, WI. We sat down with Wade to hear how he creates a hyper-engaged community around his events, why he attends marketing conferences outside of the music industry, and to hear about his brand new event Upheaval, which comes to Michigan this summer.

Becky Gardenhire was made a co-head of WME's Nashville office in 2019. In addition to the normal responsibilities of an agent, she handles HR duties at the booming agency. We sat down with Becky to hear about the recent successes of the agency's young stars, how WME is interfacing with its younger employees, and how creativity in booking can benefit mid-level talent.

Larry Vallon is an icon in the world of live music. Over the last 50 years, generations of industry newcomers and countless future executives benefited from his mentoring and leadership. Ahead of his induction into IEBA's Hall of Fame, we sat down for a brief conversation...

Recent IEBA Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Lyman has spent his career innovating in the festival space. In this month's IEBA Interview, he shares his experiences as an entrepreneur, memorable moments from Warped Tour history, and what's on the horizon for his company.

Podcasting, online video, and streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch are creating multidisciplinary new media stars at breakneck pace - and UTA agents Joe Fucigna and Phil Battiato are working full tilt to bring them to a stage near you. We sat down with them to discuss how these non-traditional shows take shape and give an overview of what buyers need to know ahead of bringing them into their buildings.

Family entertainment, theater shows, and performing arts offer their own set of unique opportunities. In his IEBA interview, APA's Craig Newman discusses what's hot in these genres, gives tips for buildings on securing shows, and shares insight on creating the smoothest path to a successful show day.

Built in association with Pollstar, the 2nd edition of the Live Summit will tackle the current challenges and rewards of today’s live industry, as part of the global music value chain.

The summit will feature leading live business legends, innovators and upstarts to speak on panels and present case studies, as well as provide delegates with extensive networking opportunities and inspiration.

Blue chip brands have embraced live events as a highly effective way to message passionate consumers, and certainly, producers of live events well consider sponsorship revenue as a critical component toward profitability and keeping production values high and ticket prices reasonable. This Live Summit panel will address how brands, events, artists, and tours, can best tap into the opportunities presented in today’s live event marketplace, be they one-off concerts, tours passing through several countries and territories, or festivals, venues, other events. Topics to be discussed include what sort of opportunities are out there, how best to engage fans at these events, what is expected from both parties, how can brand messaging transcend cultural, language, political, and other boundaries, trends in the space, and what is the range of commitment required.

Speakers:

Chris Monaco, Managing Director International, Rogers & Cowan (UK)

Giovanna Perez, Director of Bookings & Sponsorships, CMN Events (USA)

Lars-Oliver Vogt, President Brand Partnership & Media, Live Nation (Germany)

Sam Piccione, President, OVG International, Oak View Group (USA)

Moderator:

Pam Matthews, Executive Director, IEBA (USA)

The BOK Center in Tulsa, OK has a legendary hospitality and marketing reputation. We sat down with GM Casey Sparks to hear just what goes into their secret sauce that transformed "just another building" into a can't-miss first leg tour stop.

We caught up with venue owner and promoter Chris Cobb to discuss crafting a memorable atmosphere and experience in his buildings (like IEBA's 2018 Club of the Year, Marathon Music Works), lessons learned as a tastemaker booking at three different levels in a market, and staking out his place as an independent in the face of consolidation.