This week, Pat’s special guest is none other than Martin Martinez, Managing Director at Founder Institute Texas, member of the Advisory Board at South By Southwest (SXSW), and founder of A-Player Media.

There’s just no escaping a conversation about COVID-19, especially in the world of festivals. However, these talks are getting more positive with the recent news about a vaccine that could be available to the public before the year’s end; and no one is more excited about that than Martin Martinez. 2020 has been the year of cancellations, but Martin and his team are more determined than ever. While some are packing in their careers in the live events industry, Martin and A-Player Media are digging deeper to come up with new ideas for virtual events, and putting on smaller live events in the future.

As a branded events and entertainment company, A-Player Media has had their sights on the live events industry from the beginning of the pandemic. This has given them confidence in putting on engaging virtual events that audiences can enjoy in the comfort of their homes. Martin himself has been using this time to his advantage by improving his skills in video production and broadcasting. South By Southwest (SXSW), known as “South By” to those in the events industry, is one of the biggest arts festivals in the entire world. As an advisor to the festival since 2017, Martin was devastated to hear the news of it’s cancellation. Still, Pat and Martin share optimism for the prestigious festival’s return next year. That will be something that you won’t want to miss.

Working in the events industry is not for the weak-hearted. Martin shares an unforgettable story with Pat about the time he met Amy Winehouse, and his introduction to the events world. Take our word for it, this story is one of the highlights of the festivalPass Stories Podcast.

“We’re ready to host large scale things, and we're working on some large scale things that are all going to be done virtually.” - Martin Martinez

Catch the interview on Festival Pass Stories! https://festivalpass.com/stories

**You can find Martin on: **

LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinmarteen/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/martinmarteen

**A-Player Media’s Instagram-**https://www.instagram.com/aplayermedia/

A-Player Media’s Website- https://www.aplayermedia.com

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