Variety and Outfront today announced the first Variety Experience and Culture Summit: The IRL Advantage presented by Outfront, to be hosted by Skylight at The Penn District in New York on October 7. The invite-only event will bring together artists, brand CMOs, sports leaders, and media executives for candid conversations about how live, real-world experiences build fandom, fuel creativity, and inspire audiences to take action, with appearances from Questlove, Charlamagne tha God, and Ice-T.
As attention is dispersed across endless broadcasts and screens, the moments when people choose to show up in person have become some of the most valuable moments in media. Brands, sports organizations and entertainment companies are looking beyond the screen to reach the audiences they gather at games, concerts, festivals, premieres and on the streets of their cities. The summit will discuss what this change means for marketers and how it can be implemented.
“Partnering with Outfront on this first summit reflects exactly the conversation the industry needs to be having right now,” said Michelle Fine-Smith, Senior Vice President of Global B2B Partnerships at Variety. “From CMOs rethinking the brand experience to entertainers and sports icons building lifelong fandoms, the leaders joining us will explore why the IRL advantage of real-world connection has become something that can’t be automated. There’s no better place to have this conversation than New York, a city that recently celebrated a historic Knicks championship.”
“There’s a lot of talk about what real-life (IRL) media means, but there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for reaching the audiences that matter most,” said Julie Massoni, Outfront Enterprise Sales Manager, West Coast. “For such a rapidly changing entertainment industry, IRL media is the way to confront this disruption head-on, whether you’re bringing attention to a series, theatrical performance, concert, festival or sporting event, or you’re a brand trying to reach fans through them. This summit is about real examples of real-world campaigns that deliver real results.”
Programming highlights include:
- From their role as the house band on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to the band’s growth at an annual festival with the acclaimed Roots Picnic, Questlove, a Grammy-winning musician, Academy Award-winning filmmaker and New York Times bestselling author, explains how the energy of a live audience has shaped his work with The Roots.
- Multimedia mogul and co-host of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne tha God, will discuss his approach to creating unique experiences for his passionate fan base, including the Black Effect Podcast Festival, and how live experiences, including his top-rated radio show “The Breakfast Club,” fuel his creativity across platforms.
- Ice-T, who appeared on “Law & Order: SVU” as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola; Mark Marshall, President, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal; Rachael Zaluzec, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Customer Experience, Volkswagen of America; and Julie Scelzo, Chief Creative Officer of Comcast Celebrating NBC’s 100th anniversary, the conversation will be moderated by Savannah Sellers, Anchor, NBC News NOW; NBC News Reporter.
- Outfront CEO Nick Brien in a keynote on why experience is becoming the center of next-generation marketing.
- Rafael Espinal, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, explains how New York continues to serve as a major IRL scene and a catalyst for community, culture, and large-scale experiences.
- Ulta Beauty CMO Kelly Mahoney, Dick’s Sporting Goods CMO Emily Silver, Snap CMO Grace Kao, Land O’Lakes CMO Heather Malenshek and Instacart Head of Merchandising Marketing Stephanie Paturzo-Swingle on the experience economy: why brands are making real-world interaction a core part of their consumer strategies and how innovation is reshaping the event landscape.
- The “IRL Advantage: Building Trust in an Agentic World” panel, featuring Kantar CEO America Jeff Greenspoon, Snap Head of Research, Consumer Insights and Strategy Aarti Bhaskaran, and Chief Marketing and Experience Officer Stacy Minero, will examine emerging data on the positive business impact of real-world audience engagement.
- NFL CMO Tim Ellis, Major League Soccer CMO Radhika Duggal, New York Giants Senior Vice President, Marketing and Brand Strategy Nilay Shah, and Women’s Tennis Association Chief Brand Officer Sarah Swanson discuss what it takes to turn fans into lifelong followers and how brands can tap into the cultural power of sports.
- On Location, a look at the future of experiential entertainment including emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and new approaches to event design with TKO Group Holdings (UFC, WWE) President Paul Caine; Christine Cassis, CMO, Twitch; Bess Spaeth, vice president, Global Brand Management and Experiences, American Express; Josephine Vaccarello, Vice President, Live, Madison Square Garden; and Benoit Vatere, Media and Digital Business Officer, Liquid Death.
Diversity Experience and Culture Summit: The IRL Perk by Outfront is by invitation only. To request an invitation, visit Variety.com/outfrontexperience.