Alessandra Priante: It is time to stop counting tourists and start measuring value
Following the successful first edition of the LIVE & LOUD conference, which gathered more than 500 professionals from across the region and opened a series of conversations about the future of the event industry, Entrio is taking a step further this year. CROWD & LOUD powered by Entrio, a new edition of the largest regional conference dedicated to the event industry, will take place on 12 November at Lauba in Zagreb, placing those without whom there are no concerts, festivals, shows, sports events, or conferences - the audience - even more strongly at the center of the conversation.
Behind the stage of the world's biggest productions and festivals - Linkin Park and Sziget
The first keynote speaker of this year's conference is Jim Digby, tour director of Linkin Park and president of the company Show Makers. Throughout his career, he has worked on major international productions and tours of artists such as Genesis, Bon Jovi, and The Killers, and he also has experience working on large festivals and concert productions in the Middle East. Digby is a certified project management professional, co-founder and long-standing president of the Event Safety Alliance, a four-time recipient of the production manager of the year award, and a recipient of the Parnelli award in the same category. He brings first-hand experience to CROWD & LOUD on what it takes for complex live productions to function flawlessly; from people and logistics to safety, coordination, and decisions behind the stage.
How much more can the fees of the world's biggest artists grow? How much can an organizer raise ticket prices before the audience simply gives up? Can a large festival today even remain independent while investment funds and corporate giants increasingly take over the market? These questions will be addressed in Zagreb by Tamás Kádár, CEO of Sziget Cultural Management and the man at the helm of one of Europe's most famous festivals, Hungary's Sziget, who has been confirmed as the second keynote speaker of this year's CROWD & LOUD powered by Entrio. Kádár will reveal to the audience "without holding back" how to preserve identity and independence, how to negotiate at a time when the fees of top artists are unstoppably growing, and how much ticket prices can rise before the audience says - enough.
What does the audience want today?
One of the important parts of the program will also be Entrio's new research on audience habits, which will provide a fresh cross-section of visitor behavior and show how their habits are changing. Last year's research, conducted with Valicon on a representative sample of 708 respondents, showed that 80% of the audience finds out too late about an event they would like to attend, while 40% want a larger selection of events and the number of attendees at paid-ticket events has grown by 4%.
At CROWD & LOUD, Entrio will present new data on how the audience finds events today, what is important to them during purchase, where organizers lose potential visitors, and how the audience's attitude toward price, experience, and content selection is changing. This very continuity of data should enable organizers, promoters, agencies, event venues, and partners to observe changes not just through feeling or individual results, but through the comparison of actual audience habits from year to year.
Four panels open topics that the industry talks about most often when microphones are turned off
The daytime program also brings four major panels. The panel „Sve još miriše na brand new“ questions where an authentic event brand ends and hype begins. Are big names or the experience for which the audience always returns more important for a sold-out presale, and how to simultaneously keep the old generation and win over a new one.
The sports panel opens the question of whether today's fan buys a result or affiliation, a star or a club, a sport or a spectacle - from the phenomenon of Hajduk and Marko Livaja to MMA and regional sports brands.
The panel „Kolko para, tolko muzike!“ enters the economics of the music industry: artist fees, royalties, sold tickets, the value of a name, and the increasingly thin line between art and business.
The final panel takes participants into the backstage of the regional music scene: from the professionalization of business and cooperation with world names to the question of whether one can still make a serious living from music in the region and whether there is space for an authentic scene in the era of "arenamania".
Among the first confirmed panelists are Rambo Amadeus, Vid Juračić from KPP Events, Boris Horvat from Aquarius Rec., and Aida Čustović from Matinée Sarajevo, and more than 20 panelists of various generations and industry backgrounds are expected.
Networking before, event after the conference
The experience of the first edition showed how important concrete networking is to participants, which is why Crowd & Loud is taking networking to a higher level this year. All registered participants will get access to the Crowd & Loud Confiva networking platform, through which they can find other participants of the conference, connect with organizers, agencies, media, partners, and other industry professionals, and arrange conversations and meetings in advance.
Online networking then moves to Lauba, where participants will be able to continue conversations live at designated meeting points, present projects, meet potential partners, and open new collaborations. This is a special opportunity for younger professionals who are just building their network of contacts, as well as for all those who want to expand their business beyond their own market and connect with partners from across the region.
After the all-day program and networking, Lauba turns into an event in the evening, as befits an event that gathers the people who create them. The evening program brings the presentation of awards in the event industry, socializing, and performances by well-known musical names from the region, a party that will continue into the night.
Regular tickets on sale
The daytime and evening programs take place at the same location in Lauba and are part of the same ticket fee. Regular tickets at the price of 100 euros are currently on sale via the LINK on the Entrio platform.
Mastercard, as the general sponsor of the CROWD & LOUD conference, brings additional benefits to its cardholders throughout the entire event. Payment with Mastercard cards brings a 10% discount on conference tickets and a 10% discount on all drinks at all bars during the daytime and evening programs. The regular ticket with Mastercard thus amounts to 90 euros.
Crowd & Loud is a place where experiences are exchanged, new partners are found, and next projects are arranged. A place where the event industry decides on 12.11. what follows.
Information about the program and new names is published on the official Crowd & Loud channels.
