In 1980, ten arena marketers came together for the first official meeting of the Arena Sales and Marketing Conference to share ideas and discuss common problems within the industry. Since meeting together at the Met Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that first day over fourty years ago, the conference has grown to attract over 350 participants from across the country to network, to educate and to discuss ideas and information critical to the live entertainment industry.

The Event and Venue Marketing Conference Founders, Robbie Braesler, Geri Couch-Kroon, Rob Franklin, Steve Greenberg, Charlie Mancuso, Steve Nazro, Gigi Pilhofer, Karen Swan, Brad Walsh, and Ray Ward not only conceptualized the idea of a conference, but facilitated the support of building managers and show producers to make the conference a success.

For the next three years, the conference took place in St. Louis and then in 1985 began touring the country as different venues served as conference hosts. Unlike other professional organizations, this conference has been planned entirely by volunteers since its inception in 1980.

In 1999, the name of the conference was changed to reflect the overall scope of marketing departments, which today includes group sales, publicity, promotions, advertising and marketing professionals. The organization was also formalized into an association and became the Venue Marketing Conference, Inc.

In 2001, the organization was recognized by the IRS as a non-profit. Then in 2004, the name was changed again to reflect the nature of the live entertainment industry, thus becoming the Event and Arena Marketing Conference.

In 2023, the conference was renamed again to be more inclusive of all the event-driven organizations and has been rebranded to the Event and Venue Marketing Conference.

The vision of the conference Founders and volunteers to keep this conference independent, affordable and open to as many people as possible still holds true today.

In true live entertainment fashion and unlike any other conference of its kind, EVMC is a touring show of its own. Each year, EVMC hosts in a new city, partnering with the local major venue or entertainment scene. This keeps our attendees coming back, but also opens a new door each year to a greater number of marketers in each host city.