XLive Puts Focus On Live Event Production During Three Day Conference

All things “live production” were on hand at the first annual XLive Las Vegas, held at the Tropicana Hotel December 5-7, 2016  Formerly known as IMFCON (International Music Conference) and IFFS (International Film Festival Summit), XLive, presented by publicity firm The Confluence, consisted of workshops, seminars, keynote speakers and an expo highlighting products and services essential to a successful live event.

While the event wasn’t without newcomer glitches: volunteers were unfamiliar with the site’s floorplan and the opening remarks form the Advisor Board, scheduled at 2:15pm on the opening day were sacrificed, apparently, to keep the schedule on track, the educational offerings presented a generous serving of food for thought.  Kicking off the three day event was “The Superfan Summit”; a panel that presented observations and perspectives of frequent concert goers who communally share their perspectives on what keeps them engaged.  Developing a robust network of friends –including individuals that become regular comrades in endeavors outside of concerts - and acquiring an appreciation of nature by sleeping under the stars were two major points the super fans all agreed upon.  They also mentioned art exhibits and installations were a major attraction for them.

“We need a break from all the noise,” said one fan. “Art and food are sometimes more important than the music.”

The fans also stated that a poorly organized event will make them think twice about returning. Long lines, lack of toilets and inadequate water supplies (or charging excessive amounts for water) illustrate a lack of respect for the concert goer.

“Two people in charge of admitting 5,000 people is bull***t,” said a frequent concert goer.

XLive also presented plenty of break-outs, called “exploratory sessions”, through the course of the three day event. Their first batch offered the choice between hearing examples of utilizing immersive technologies at festivals, following beer festival case studies, and focusing on festival marketing.  Snowglobe Music Festival, an annual event that takes place in South Lake Tahoe, CA, discussed the resistance of their board in spreading a marketing budget to include online advertising.    They were able to encourage the board to rethink the marketing model while still maintaining a presence in traditional methods, devoting 25% of their budget to print and standard elements such as TV spots.  A portion of the budget is preserved for post-event emails that summarize news about the festival that is generated on social platforms.

“It’s important not to downplay the importance of street teams,” said Jeff Lesan, Chief Marketing Officer, Snowglobe Music Festival. “It’s a tribute to what the music industry is all about.”

Each day of the conference featured a keynote speaker, including HTC’s Richard Steiber, Eventbrite’s Julia Hartz and Airbnb’s Chip Conley. Open during every aspect of the event was a vibrant exhibit floor.  While a past IFFS attendee bemoaned the lack of event production equipment vendors such as lighting and staging companies, the floor offered upstart peddling unique products and services. ALE offered actual shooting stars: the company is creating artificial replicas of shooting stars that come in nine different colors such as “copper” and “calcium.”  Sent up to the Thermosphere, the stars display in a range of approximately 200km in diameter and can reach approximately 30 million people.  Sharethebus has taken the ride share economy model and ushered it into the next level: group transportation.  Individuals or companies with buses to rent can sign up and provide a deep discount for groups looking for long or short term travel to concerts and other outings. And PortaKleen offered portable showers and sanitation services such as group hand sanitizers.

To learn more about the 2016 XLive schedule and remain on top of their future events, please visit: http://xlivecon.com/