National Independent Venue Association

Advocacy: niva engages with federal, state, and local leaders on behalf of the independent live entertainment industry to uplift and protect the interests of our members. Specifically, to protect fans and artists from speculative tickets, deceptive marketing, and hidden costs. In fy 2024, niva engaged on legislation across 20 states, led the introduction of the fans first act in congress, and worked across a variety of small business and non-profit policy issues that would impact the association's membership. Niva continues to lead the "fix the tix coalition," a broad coalition of live event industry organizations and professionals formed to collectively advocate at the federal and state level for a ticketing experience better than the nightmare many fans and artists currently navigate. Niva empowers its chapters and members with resources, contacts, and tracking tools to engage with state and local officials and stakeholders throughout the country to uplift and advocate for independent live entertainment. Niva's state and local work provides resources and model advocacy strategies for live entertainment-friendly communities across the united states. Niva empowers its members to advocate on the local and state level for the policies that matter most to them. Niva has launched a state policy tracking program which will allow any member to search, track, and receive timely notifications about state legislation and regulations. Members also have access to a database of every state elected official and their staff throughout the country.

Conference: niva continues its growing and increasingly impactful conference. Niva has grown from a 550-attendee conference in 2022 to a 1,300 attendee conference in 2024. Niva's conference has taken place in cleveland, washington (d.c.), and new orleans. The conference provides its diverse members, affiliates, and partners with four days of programming, education, networking and entertainment. Important topics discussed included industry diversity, mental health, safety, insurance, economic impact of live entertainment, booking, artist development, ticketing, and the role of live entertainment in policymaking. Planning is already underway for niva's fourth conference, which will take place in milwaukee from june 22 to june 25 in 2025.