Texas Music Office Honored at National Independent Venue Association Conference
Texas Music Office (TMO) Director Brendon Anthony received an award on behalf of the TMO's policy efforts and spoke on a panel during the second annual National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) Conference this year in Washington D.C.
At the NIVA Awards Gala, TMO Director Brendon Anthony accepted the Live Entertainment Policy Champion Award on behalf of the TMO, from NIVA's Executive Director, Stephen Parker. The award was given as a recognition of the Texas Music Office's ongoing and extensive policy efforts on behalf of all facets of the Texas Music Industry.
TMO Director Brendon Anthony also represented the TMO at NIVA's Conference, and participated in the panel "Protecting Venues and Festivals: Safety Against Evolving Threats". Through his experience as Chair of the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety (TFCS), Brendon was able to bring unique insight to the panel around concert safety and best practices for mass gatherings. The panel was moderated by Tom DeGeorge, and also featured Maggie Arthur, Ingela Travers-Hayward, Jake Fisher and Win Williams.
About the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA):
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is a trade association that formed in mid-April 2020, just three weeks into the pandemic’s shutdown. NIVA was the driving force behind lobbying and grassroots efforts to pass the bipartisan Save Our Stages Act, now officially known as the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant Program (SVOG), which was the largest ever federal investment in the arts. The program allocated $16 billion in federal emergency relief administered by the Small Business Association, saving the industry from mass collapse. NIVA is currently focused on the implementation of SVOG, reopening, changing relationships with performance rights organizations, and evolving into a sustaining trade association representing and bolstering the independent venues and promoters.