That’s a wrap on NIVA ‘22!
Thank you so much for joining us at our inaugural conference! Stay tuned for more photos, video, and post-conference content coming soon.
The first annual NIVA conference took place in Cleveland, July 11–12, 2022. NIVA '22 brought together our community of National Independent Venue Association members, agents, managers, affiliate members, and companies that were interested in partnering with NIVA. This in-person conference, which took place at the start of Independent Venue Week, was a place for NIVA members to discuss the state of the industry and topics including safety, technology, inclusion, diversity, equality, accessibility, booking, ticketing, and marketing, plus network with other members.
Photos by Rustin McCann
Our mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent venues, promoters, and Festivals throughout the United States.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is a trade association that formed in mid-April 2020, just three weeks into the pandemic’s shutdown. NIVA was the driving force behind lobbying and grassroots efforts to pass the bipartisan Save Our Stages Act, now officially known as the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant Program (SVOG), which was the largest ever federal investment in the arts. The program allocated $16 billion in federal emergency relief administered by the Small Business Association, saving the industry from mass collapse. NIVA is currently focused on the implementation of SVOG, reopening, changing relationships with performance rights organizations, and evolving into a sustaining trade association representing and bolstering the independent venues and promoters.
National Independent Venue Foundation
NIVF focuses on non-lobbying activities in support of its mission to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live performance venues and promoters throughout the United States by supporting a transparent, competitive marketplace serving a diverse and inclusive community of artists, fans, and industry workers.
NIVA Job Board
The NIVA Job Board is your go-to resource for NIVA member and partner job postings. Check back often as job postings will be updated regularly. To learn more about NIVA’s actionable hiring practices, check out our Practical Tips & Resources for Inclusive Hiring.
SAFE IN SOUND - REOPENING CHECKLIST
In partnership with the Event Safety Alliance, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and NITO, and in consideration of the most-up-to-date CDC guidance, NIVA has developed a reopening toolkit. It serves as a framework for venues and promoters to reopen as fully and safely as possible.
Donate to NIVA
Donating to NIVA will help further its mission to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent venues, promoters, festivals, and cultural hubs of local communities across the United States. NIVA is committed to equity in its support and advocacy for independent venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
Note: As NIVA is a 501(c)(6) trade association, donations are not tax-deductible.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF) are committed to equity in their support and advocacy for independent venues, and seek to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities. NIVA is committed to creating and upholding a safe space for its members where respectful conversations around diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility can continue to happen. NIVA and NIVF make an ongoing commitment to prioritize DEI initiatives and learn more about best practices and approaches to DEI in the live performance industry, and to provide resources and professional development opportunities to support NIVA’s members in doing the same for their individual businesses.
These entertainment hubs are critical to their local economies and tax bases as employers, tourism destinations, and revenue generators for neighboring businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and retail. Independent venues exist in every state across the country; they were the first to be closed, they will be the last to open. The economic recovery process will extend past just reopening the front doors, requiring solutions unique to the industry.