INTERVIEW
THE CONFERENCE: LIVE AT LITITZ RETURNS The annual conference ‘for production people, by production people’ keeps the important conversations of sector-wide collaboration, growth, and mentorship going for industry professionals at all stages of their career. TPi makes the transatlantic trip to witness the event first hand and hear from those responsible for its creation.
Words: Jacob Waite Photos: Paige Durborow
Following its successful debut event in 2022 [see TPi #273], THE Conference: Live at Lititz returned on the 6 to 8 December 2023. Far from a difficult second album, and in the words of co-founder, Charlie Hernandez at the Beat the Street speakeasy on night two: “This is more akin to Led Zeppelin II!” In partnership with the Rock Lititz community, CJMS (Charlie Hernandez, Jake Berry, Marty Hom, and Stuart Ross) continued their desire to encourage and facilitate sector-wide collaboration, growth, and mentorship at the second annual conference. Trading the sunny West for the wintery East Coast – following three days at LDI Show in Las Vegas – I arrived three hours closer to Greenwich Mean Time at the Rock Lititz campus, which at the time doubled as something torn straight from the canvas of a Bob Ross winter scene. Having left the conference feeling invigorated in 2022, I returned just as eager to discover some of the mindful and proactive ways the sector has responded to the success of the maiden event. The 2023 conference featured over 900 attendees, as well as over 100 behind the scenes crew members, 40 sponsors and
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vendors, and 70 diverse speakers, with the staging designed by TAIT’s Adam Byrne. With interactive panels, targeted meetups, town halls, interactive workshops, product demonstrations, company tours, and themed social events each night, the conference once again outlined the guiding principles that remained aligned with its mantra of ‘leave it better than we found it’. On the opening day, Rock Lititz’ Andrea Shirk addressed the conference’s desire to present engaging and actionable content. “We’ve really considered how to be thoughtful of delivering a variety of different conversations in environments and delivery methods for attendees, who can find experiences suitable for themselves, and also challenge each other to explore new topics of interest, learn something unique and enhance their passion for an industry which bonds all of us.” Marty Hom expanded on the conference’s mission to showcase diverse voices and experiences: “We’ve been talking for 40 years; people don’t want to hear from us anymore. They want to hear new, exciting voices. When I first started in this business, I couldn’t name one female or Asian tour manager that I knew of. Now there is an incredible breadth
of experiences and cultures in the sector, who were given the opportunity. For those starting in the business, I was in the speakers lounge before we hit the stage, and I was even impressed by the people attending this conference, who were all accessible. This conference is made to support the community and grow the careers of those within this ecosystem. From tour managers right through to publicists and tour photographers,” he said. In a change of programming, the wider live entertainment ecosystem – including industry magazines – was represented. As an industry of storyteller, who has signed countless NDA agreements, the Telling Our Story: Marketing Backstage panel was a refreshing change of pace, where attendees could explore and engage with other journalists, manufacturers, and creatives about sharing the stories of those backstage. Hom added: “What I want attendees to come away with is inspiration, knowledge, and the ability to take better care of crews and those on tour. I’m sure 900 of us will walk away from Lititz as a group, but we need to continue to drive home the things we’ve learned to make this a better industry to work in.” Ross underlined the conference’s mission to support words with