John Pence from The Spot here! I'm the manager, booker, promoter, etc. I write all of these e-blasts, but I'm going to write this report in first person for a change.
The Spot on Kirk got an amazing grant from Live Music Society called "Music In Action" for $16,000 this year and we couldn't be more excited about it! We're 1 of 24 small venues to receive it which is pretty incredible. To learn more about it, check out the write up on Billboard HERE!
Around the time we got the news that we were one of the 2024 grantees, we learned about a conference for independent venues around USA called NIVA 2024 which took place in New Orleans. My partner, Jennifer, who may have served you drinks at a show at The Spot, went with me and we had an absolute blast! We learned so much and made many friends in the industry. Some of the excellent panels we got to check out included the following:
"Non-Profit Roundtable"
"The State of Music Journalism"
"Marketing & Ticketing"
"Certified Harassment Training"
"How Small Venues with Small Budgets Can Still Get It Done"
"How Small Veues Make It All Work"
"Why Independent Stages Matter"
"Viva Variety: A Latin American Panel on Live Entertainment"
"Sponsorships Aren't Just for the Big Dogs"
"Music for All: Redefining Accessibility in Live Events"
There were so many great panels from the live music venue industry with a wealth of knowledge to share and I'm still looking back at my notes to process it all. I think it will certainly inspire the way we do things moving forward. It's nice to know there are other small venues out there trying their best and facing the same challenges. It's not easy doing what we do, but we're trying to provide a safe, high-quality place for Roanoke to experience live music and entertainment.
Not to mention, we got to see Paul Reed Smith and George Porter (of The Meters) play at the opening party at famous venue, Tipitina's! Then, we saw Tanka & The Bangas the next night at super cool venue, The Republic. We even got to participate in a Second Line march down the street in New Orleans with maybe about 1,000 some industry folk walking together. There was so much other music we got to experience, both as a part of the convention and out in the streets of NOLA. All very inspiring stuff!
With that being said, if you enjoy what we do at The Spot, keep coming, keep supporting. Let us be a place you go to get inspired. I'm just riffing here, but we really appreciate your patronage and hope to see you at a show very soon!
-John Pence, Venue Manager