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Kevin Lyman Group, known for the Vans Warped Tour summer concert series, was scheduled to host 320 Festival this spring. The non-profit event de-stigmatizing mental illness wasn’t supposed to be virtual. All planning was for a live, in-person experience. Little did the team know a pandemic would jeopardize this venture and the way the company operates in the future. We spoke to Kate Truscott, general manager at KL Group, about her big pivot to virtual — sponsors, speakers, and all.
The idea came from Talinda Bennington, widow of singer and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, whose 2017 suicide shook the music community. 320 Festival was scheduled as an outdoor/indoor event featuring panels, experts, artists, and thought-provoking conversations. However, as the team planned inside a large LA theater, the world had other plans.
“[Coronavirus] happened. We had to sit on our hands for a while and wait,” said Truscott.
With the help of Kevin Lyman’s USC students, the team threw a pre-party kickoff just one day before the state shut down large gatherings. Hosted by Ken Jeong on March 9 at LA’s ovard Auditorium, ‘320 Conversations’ live-streamed on YouTube, receiving 200,000 views and 1,000+ attendees.
“If this little baby version that we did already has a huge number of views, imagine what the whole thing will do,” said Truscott.
From there, the team planned their virtual event, extending the panel to 90 people and their musical guest count to 26, plus speakers from New Zealand and Europe that would have otherwise not been able to attend. With production costs down, Truscott focused on securing sponsorships.
Racing the clock, Truscott leaned on Winmo’s decision-maker contact information and new sponsorship insight to connect with brands. Brand marketing and spend freezes affected the team’s ability to obtain some of their regular sponsorships. But, the events numbers from the kick-off party spoke for themselves.
Through a no-nonsense approach in her outreach, Truscott explained to her sponsorship prospects how important business model pivots are in response to COVID-19 changes.
“I have a very, very straightforward approach. It’s almost like, I fight weird with weird — and this situation is weird,” said Truscott.
Her outreach humanized the situation and data backed up the team’s requests for corporate partners. Panelists and artists were sent t-shirts and items for product placement on-screen. Partnering brands capitalized on the advertising opportunity at 320 Festival and reached over 250,000 people.
“All we could ask for were big numbers. It wasn’t about showing off, it was about using the message,” said Truscott.
Like many other event companies, KL Group can’t predict the future but believes in the power of sponsorships. Today, Truscott believes there will have to be a change as events dial back, but finding the right balance is key, too.
“It feels like that first wave of fear is passing. Companies may now realize, okay, we’re figuring this out,” said Truscott.
