(Hypebot) — The first National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) Conference wrapped on Tuesday in Cleveland, OH.

This week’s convention was a celebration of pandemic survival and a hard look at what’s next for independent venues and independent live music. NIVA and its partners including the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) successfully lobbied for $16 billion in much-needed Shuttered Venue Operating Grants.

Many independent venues are still struggling to recover and are now pressured by inflation, show postponements, supply-side issues, and labor shortages. Over the last two days, panels and workshops on marketing, sponsorships, safety concerns, and more were designed to offer practical solutions.

A major partnership between NIVA and Bandsintown was announced at the conference to offer indie venues and promoters some relief. The partnership gives NIVA members unprecedented access to reach Bandsintown’s 70 million registered live music fans and sell more tickets.

NITO also held its first-ever in-person membership meeting in Cleveland on Tuesday.

Scenes from the first NIVA independent venue conference

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) Conference wrapped Tuesday night in Cleveland. Just shy of 600 attended the inaugural conference.

Hypebot was at NVA 2022 and you can find full coverage here and here.

Cleveland’s impressive young mayor opened the conference.

Two full days of panels and sessions.

Celebrations & Live Music

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.