XLIVE is proud to present its first-ever list of Emerging Leaders in Event Tech. Our group of 2021 winners includes young event professionals — in both B2B and live events — whose innovation, creativity, and drive are pushing the industry forward. We will be featuring all of the winners over the coming weeks, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for what they do next!
Stephanie Rosa has been a music fan for as long as she can remember — she went to her first music festival (Warped Tour 2004) in high school and attended her first camping festival (Bonnaroo) in 2007. “I loved the world of music and festivals and continued to travel around the country to attend them,” she says.
However, she actually began her professional career in medical device sales before deciding in 2015 that the world of corporate medical sales wasn’t the right fit for her. After leaving her position, she took a year off to travel the world by herself and attend music festivals abroad, including Glastonbury in the UK, Exit in Serbia, Melt! In Germany, and Splendour in the Grass in Australia.
It was on that trip that she first discovered and began using Festicket. She also started a blog, which eventually allowed her to launch an experiential marketing company, Festivate, with a business partner. “I kept pivoting in the industry, discovering new paths that were getting me closer and closer to where I belonged,” says Rosa.
Her rightful place in the industry has now been made clear: ticketing. In 2019, she was hired as a Business Development Manager for Festicket to help build the company’s growing client base in the US for primary ticketing, travel and cashless solutions. She has since been promoted to VP of Sales for North America and serves as a role model for young women in the festival, events, tech and music industries in which she has worked.
“I can confidently say I found what I had been looking for in my career,” she says. “A perfect blend of business, events, technology, and music. I love ticketing and I love this company for constantly challenging the norm, building out new ideas and changing the experience for both the promoter and, the most important piece in events, the fan.”
Rosa notes that one of the best things about working in events and in ticketing is that no two days are the same. In her current role, she frequently meets with promoters and is always looking for ways to improve their events using the Event Genius tech offering that Festicket acquired in Autumn 2019.
The pandemic presented seemingly insurmountable challenges for the entire events industry, and Rosa was prepared to sink with the ship. However, she shares that Festicket and Event Genius were able to pivot, which included creating a livestream platform for its partners and ticketing drive-in concerts and vertical festivals in the US.
One of Rosa’s career goals is “to continue to push forward as a leader at one of the most innovative companies in the space and to continue to work with integrity and fairness to ticket holders and promoters alike.” She believes that the future of events will be driven by data and technology, and that the companies that build, innovate and explore mutually beneficial partnerships will survive.
“We will begin to see blockchain technology and NFTs incorporated in events, and events will become a paradise where everything is handed to you based on your individual profile, built from previous purchases, music tastes, favorite artists and so much more,” she says.
In terms of industry leaders that Rosa herself admires, she names Festicket President Zack Sabban, whom she credits with keeping the company afloat during an extremely difficult time, the Fey Family — namely Barry Fey, Tyler Fey and the Feyline team — from whom she has learned a lot about the music industry, and Marsha Vlasic, “for being one of the top women in this industry, a complete powerhouse of a businesswoman balancing business life flawlessly with marriage and motherhood.”
Rosa is almost always thinking about or attending events, whether for work or for fun, but outside of the event world, she enjoys snowboarding in the winter, traveling internationally during the summer, purchasing new pieces of art at a local gallery, or cuddling with he