We recently connected with Austin Moore and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Austin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Mansfield Music Fest began as a fundraising event in a field of the drummers back yard for the band to travel to a festival. After a couple years of that style event I got involved heavily and we moved it to small venue in town. It moved around based on availability small bar venues and after I deployed with the Air Force the opportunity to take the event to Snow Trails Ski Resort came up. I had a meeting with their team and they thought the event was a cool and unique way for them (Snow Trails) to support local music. The event was always primarily a showcase of local talent with some bands from out of town. But now the event has grown to be a showcase of incredibly talented bands from all over Ohio.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am born and raised in Mansfield and love our small town. I’ve been involved with the music scene here locally since around 2006, started my first band in 2009 and have been playing live music ever since. In 2012 I got involved in Mansfield Music Fest and in 2013 began booking the event myself and in the recent years the team has grown.
Mansfield Music Fest is a homegrown event that is heavily supported by the local community, put on by the community and has grown into a fun event.
I am most proud about being able to take this event from a small fundraising show in a field with a stage made of cinder blocks and boards to a main yearly event in Mansfield.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I wouldn’t by any means call myself a social media or marketing expert but I have learned a lot when it comes to social media and marketing from playing in bands since the late 2000’s and I apply those lessons learned to our marketing today. Our marketing has its own identity and stands out.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Getting Mansfield Music Fest to where it is today was no easy task. The music/live event industry is not an easy one. I’ve had bands show up late for their set, bands play much longer than their allotted time, struggles with booking bands, and people committing to take over aspects of the event without performing. You have have an incredible drive to make something like this happen and to build a team of individuals that work well together with a common goal. I love this event and what it provides to the community and I hope to continue to provide a quality event for years to come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mansfieldmusicfest23?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MansfieldMusicFest?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: @mansmusicfest
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@MansfieldMusicFest?si=IAfXNN6b3lcs3eU3
Image Credits
Photos by Josh Brown https://instagram.com/thedumbpunk?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==