details
event name:
VeeCon 2023
event date:
18th - 20th May 2023
event type:
In-person
event location:
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
number of attendees:
4,000+
the challenge
VeeCon 2023 was the second, annual event of Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeCon series. Brought to life by the VeeFriends team in partnership with emc3, Solomon Group, Revere, Good Talent Lodge, 10 Fold Entertainment, Ingress Events and Sports Travel Management, the highly-anticipated superconference was the follow-up to the previous year’s event which saw them host a first-of-its-kind NFT-ticketed event for the VeeFriends and Web3 communities. This year, they were aiming for a smaller event in terms of attendee figures but wanted the experience to feel even bigger. Having worked on VeeCon 2022, and with Forbes referring to it as the next SXSW, we knew we wanted 2023 to be even more impressive!
the solution
This year, the multi-day extravaganza kicked off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It was the second, annual event of Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeCon series and we were tasked with building upon the foundations that VeeCon 2022 had established—an event which was considered a huge success by the client, attendees, and media alike, earning recognition as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Events by Bizbash. This year, our goal was to work in partnership with the team to build upon that success.
With thousands of attendees travelling from all over the world, the event needed the right venue. Something which could not only house the attendee numbers, but create a unique experience for all attending, whether guests, sponsors, or speakers. The venue chosen was the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which had more than enough room for hosting the 4,000+ audience, 200+ speakers and panellists, and numerous stages, sessions, sponsors, and brand activations.
The stadium was customised with branding and signage and with the aesthetic confirmed, it was onto the content. Veecon 2023 saw three days of incredible content for attendees, including thought-provoking discussions and fun performances from iconic and emerging leaders in business and popular culture. Event sponsors included Bose, Bud Light, Cheetos, Coach, Coinbase, Meta Quest, and more and over 200 speakers and panellists joined—with key speakers including Drew Barrymore, Niel Patrick Harris, Deepak Chopra, Jessica Alba, Timbaland, Arianna Huffington, Bozoma Saint John, Steven Bartlett and Daymond John. With performances given by comedian Andrew Schulz and rapper Busta Rhymes.
the result
The launch of the VeeFriends community and VeeCon has driven over $100m in revenue for Gary Vaynerchuk since its inception. The result of VeeCon 2023 was an event unlike any other, kicking off with a fun-filled field day celebration at White River State Park, with activations such as Zorbing, a Puppy Playzone, sports challenges, wine tasting, meet and greets with Gary Vaynerchuk and a PickleBall Tournament followed by an evening of entertainment headlined by Busta Rhymes.
Over the next two days, attendees were treated to sported activations from Bud Light, Starry and Gala Music and got to hear inspiring sessions from Jesse Itzler, Bozoma Saint John, Arianna Huffington, Drew Barrymore and Neil Patrick Harris, Steven Bartlett, Daymond John, Deepak Chopra, Randi Zuckerberg and Jessica Alba and so many more (click here for the full line up!), before the evenings were closed out by comedy legend, Andrew Schulz, a performance by Jordin Sparks and an open mic competition.
But the entertainment didn’t just happen on the stage. There was an abundance of activities taking place—such as NFT Land, Gary’s garage sale, games, comedy, merch stores, private Q&A sessions, fun photo opportunities, celebrity pickleball matches and even a museum!
testimonial
“My first contact with emc3 was for Inbound in Boston, and after that it really took off from there. You can’t do this with just anyone, it has to be a special partner where there’s trust, faith and connectivity. Which is why we were excited to bring emc3 into this project, because to do what we knew we needed to do for this, we couldn’t just work with anyone, we wanted to work with the best.” —Zach Nadler, CEO, Vayner Speakers.
