In honor of productionglue making the Event Marketer It List – Top 100 Agencies – four years in a row, we sat down with Matt to talk about a few of the projects that helped get us there. Read on for Matt’s industry predictions and advice for those thinking of starting a career in live events.

Over the years, Matt Richman has been the Technical Producer for a large variety of productions ranging from very intimate private events to live national television broadcasts and everything in between. His career includes corporate business meetings, conventions, concerts, festivals, special events, auto shows, Broadway theater, broadcast television, and more. He has countless credits to his name, including the Governor’s Ball Music Festival, Frieze Art Fair, Ellen DeGeneres Season Premiere, and MDLBEAST Soundstorm Music Festival.

You’ve worked on a broad spectrum of projects, what were a few of your favorites and why?

I would say the NBA All-Star Weekend has always been a favorite of mine. I think it is because of how complicated it is to cohesively mix sports and entertainment together while helping to navigate all the different stakeholders in order for the event to go off seamlessly.

Can you share a little bit about a few of the upcoming projects you are working on?

We’re involved in two new music festivals in North America coming up over the next 12 months and then it’s back to Salt Lake City for the NBA for the All-Star Weekend. We will be supporting a variety of private business meetings for long-standing clients. In addition, we’re happy to be back working on the Frieze Art Fair in both New York and Los Angeles, and excited to be part of the new Frieze show in Korea.

What’s the one thing you’ve always wanted to do/try – event or otherwise?

I’ve always wanted to build a stage and event over the water somewhere.

You work on high-profile, high-stakes events working with A-list celebrities, what do you owe your success to? What are some of the lessons learned?

Any success I’ve had can definitely be attributed to the project teams that have supported me. I learned very early on the value of surrounding myself with competent individuals, especially as the stakes got higher, and the events became higher profile. I’ve made that a key aspect for all of my projects, knowing who my team is, and making sure that they have everything they need to be successful. It is what has allowed me to be successful.

Coming out of COVID what is different now, what has changed in the industry?

I think the timeframes have changed significantly coming out of the COVID era, along with the expectations for turnaround. We are finding everything is on a much, much, much shorter time frame, leaving us with less time to prepare. It’s something that we’ve all had to adapt to.

Speaking of industry, where do you think it is headed? What will experiential look like in 5 years?

I think we’ll see more individual user experiences set within large events, community, and social gatherings that offer more targeted, personalized means of connecting.

What’s the one thing you would like to see more of?

We always want to see more innovative creative in the world and love when we can be part of that. It’s what drives us and excites us about producing live experiences. Time and time again, creativity is the spark that drives forth new opportunities and the technologies to achieve them.

Any advice to someone thinking of starting a career in live events?

Just do it, do it! Jump right in. You’re going to have a blast. It’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be enjoyable. It’s going to be hard work, but it will be extremely rewarding.

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