KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

More Details

More Details about this year's IFEA Convention

Opening Keynote Speaker

Scheduled to kick off the first official day of the Convention on Monday, October 5, 2026, the Convention Opening and Keynote traditionally attracts one of our largest gatherings. Our Opening Keynote speaker will share their own unique insights and experiences with an inspirational and educational session.

Closing Keynote Speaker

Scheduled for the final day of the convention on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, the Closing Keynote caps off our IFEA convention attendees' experience with one final energetic and motivating general session speaker, leaving a positive and lasting impression with attendees before sending them home to eagerly try out the new information and ideas they've gathered.

The Joy Audit™ - Your First Step Forward

We’re excited to kick off the IFEA's 71st Annual Convention & Expo, presented by atVenu, with an inspiring and directional setting keynote from author, explorer, speaker, survivor, record breaker, and proud owner of an Elvis-inspired 1960 pink Cadillac, Ryan Campbell.

Coming out of our 70th Anniversary celebration last year, and looking ahead, we do so with a renewed passion and appreciation for the critically important role that the festivals, events, and global industry that we have the privilege of being a part of, continue to play in holding our world together; in laying out the welcome mat for our respective communities, cities, and countries, when they are at their best; and in creating magical milestones and memories for so many.

As we look to the future, in a year full of major national and global events, including many milestone anniversaries for your peers and professional colleagues, we do so in a world of many challenges – some never remotely imagined - but also many new opportunities and possibilities. It is our goal to focus on those possibilities, and to ensure that we continue to be there for all those whom we collectively serve – our attendees; volunteers; sponsors; host cities/markets; staffs; vendor/service providers; tourism partners; and our many other stakeholders, both directly and indirectly.

Whether the challenges seem daunting, or the opportunities seem endless, we encourage everyone to – as Walt Disney noted as his secret to success - always ‘Step Forward’ into the future. Whether it is a small step, or a giant leap, step forward with one new idea; one new sponsor; one new volunteer; one new event improvement; one new, unexpected piece of creativity that will bring your attendees joy and that one special moment that they will remember and talk about for years to come.

That ability to step forward begins with a revisitation within ourselves, to find and reignite the joy and the passion that we had when we first started in this magical industry. Ryan Campbell will help us all search for, remember, and rediscover your joy and your passion, and then to share that joy with your friends, peers, and those around you.

Come join us for a Joy Audit™...Your First Step Forward...as we set the stage for the IFEA 71st Annual Convention & Expo presented by atVenu. Come (re)find your pink Cadillac.

Stepping Forward Into the Future of Live Events

SARAH PANCHERI
President & CEO
Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. / Summerfest

In an increasingly competitive live entertainment landscape, legacy organizations must evolve and continue stepping forward to stay relevant. This special session will explore how Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance (The World’s Largest Music Festival®) is adapting its model - expanding programming, enhancing the guest experience, and embracing new platforms - to engage modern audiences while maintaining its accessibility and impact. The session will also highlight Milwaukee World Festival’s vision for Henry Maier Festival Park, focused on year-round activation and elevated placemaking to create a more dynamic and connected destination. Come join us as we all step forward toward the future.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

Our “Inside the Industry” general sessions (separate from our Opening and Closing sessions), beginning each day, are built around the goal of providing targeted ‘inside perspective’ presentations, led by selected industry professionals/ motivators, with the intent of helping us all to reimagine and rethink the trends, issues, and opportunities that lie before us. Professional insights and inspiration that we can all take home and put to use in our own careers, events and communities. Come join the conversation from “Inside the Industry.”

Moving Forward ...All Together

MAAYAN ZIV
Founder & CEO
AccessNow and AccessFest

Passionate and relentless in her advocacy, Maayan Ziv is reshaping how the world – and events – think about accessibility. Her lived experience with muscular dystrophy and recognition with Canada’s Meritorious Service Cross reflect a lifelong commitment to advancing access for all. Maayan Ziv is an entrepreneur and disability activist dedicated to creating a more accessible world. As the Founder and CEO of AccessNow, and AccessFest – a first-of-its-kind, open-to-all celebration of inclusion, she leads a mission-driven organization that not only maps accessibility but also educates and advocates for inclusive practices globally, empowering communities – and events – through information and innovation. Come join your global peers and help us all move forward with an important inside perspective and clearer understanding of inclusion.

"ie" Live: 20/20 Vision

A Look Back at Lessons Learned from 2026's Mega Events

2026 has been a year filled with mega-events. Many that have been in the planning for years. Many that encompassed multiple communities; states; and countries. Most that depended upon often critical elements not always in the control of the organizers. Events with global, national, and emotional ties for attendees, participants, and other stakeholders. Some that are/were once-in-a-lifetime events and celebrations - for individuals; host communities; and host countries. And all on a national / global stage for everyone, with the power to bring the world together.

Recognizing that (with a broader goal of sustaining our common successes, across our global industry, as we look to ‘Step Forward’) we have a unique opportunity to look back, together, with 20/20 vision, at this unique constellation of mega-events, and to explore what worked; what didn’t; what we learned; and how we can use those lessons to lay valuable new foundations for the future, we created this session. Using our assembled convention brain-trust, moderated and focused by selected industry leaders, together we will identify, discuss, and define a strategic list of best practices/cautionary tips to be referenced and remembered in the decades ahead, in your own communities/events and around the world.

Our conclusions will be shared on-site during the convention and further expanded upon within a special article in our IFEA quarterly magazine, ie: the business of international events, to be shared with everyone for the common good.

Sponsor of the IFEA Annual Convention & Expo