How are creators bringing communities together IRL?
In this week’s episode of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Jessie Young, Director of Brand Marketing at Eventbrite.
In Ep. 160 of Earned, CreatorIQ CMO Brit Starr sits down with Jessie Young, Director of Brand Marketing at Eventbrite. To start, we dive into Eventbrite's remarkable transformation from a simple ticketing platform to a pivotal partner in fostering genuine human connections. Jessie shares how Eventbrite is countering digital loneliness by bringing online communities to life through unique, niche events—ranging from dill pickle making classes to themed gatherings. We learn about the powerful synergy between creators and live events, and how these gatherings allow creators to authentically express themselves beyond online brand partnerships. Jessie highlights the concept of "collective joy," the shared emotions and memories that live events foster, and how brands can engage authentically with audiences by aligning with creators' stories. Switching gears, Jessie highlights the emergence of "Fourth Spaces" and the cultural shift towards meaningful in-person engagements, especially among Gen Z, supported by Eventbrite’s research. To close the show, Jessie and Brit reinforce the importance of celebrating human connections in our increasingly digital world, inviting listeners to reimagine social spaces and embrace the power of live experiences.
Check out highlights from the episode below, or or tune into the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen!
The following interview has been lightly edited for concision.
Brit Starr: Why do you think in-person events in real life are more important today than ever? Can you talk me through some of the research that has been guiding the focus the company is putting on in-person events?
Jessie Young: At the core, I would say, we are a founder-led company by Julia Hartz. It’s my favorite when she talks about the importance of our mission, which is bringing the world together through live experiences. There's just been this really interesting cultural shift that happened, in the early 2010s. Culturally, the world turned towards digital communities, and it was an exciting time. When the explosion and emergence of all these digital spaces came about with Instagram and, of course, TikTok, but also video games. There's this digital space for people to have these niche communities, and we as a culture, collectively in the world, have really created these digital personas, alter egos. It's been wonderful.
However, I've noticed and we've got data to back this up. In a post-pandemic world, people are craving to take those digital communities and those digital passions and bring them into IRL experiences. We can pull up the data around the loneliness epidemic and digital cannot solve for that, so it's not an either-or. Eventbrite's point of view is ‘great, we've got these passionate digital communities. Let's also nurture those offline so we can have human connection.’ It feels tangible and there's just something about being with other people in real life. That's why we are here together at this podcast recording. We could have done this virtually, but just being here in person, reading somebody's energy, connecting, seeing their smile in person, seeing their whole body, you get a totally different experience. I think Eventbrite is poised for such a great opportunity. With any trend that's happening right now, you can find those in events on our platform right now.
Brit Starr: I love that. We've definitely been seeing that again. The return to in-person events, especially through creators and really using creators to bring communities together.
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