LOS ANGELES—Entrepreneur, speaker, and internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk, who you probably know as Gary Vee, welcomed 5,000 fans to his conference-meets-festival, VeeCon, for its 2024 iteration. This year, attendees descended on the sprawling, nearly 6 million-square-foot L.A. LIVE entertainment district for the three-day event, which last year took place in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The expanded layout and footprint was the most notable change at the third edition of VeeCon, according to MyLinh Chau, the executive vice president of VeeFriends, Vee’s entertainment company that first gained popularity for selling NFTs and now plays a central role in the production of VeeCon. It also made for one of the biggest challenges in orchestrating the event, as it utilized Peacock Theater and Plaza, The NOVO, Clive Davis Theater, the rooftop of the Grammy Museum, as well as Chick Hearn Court. “It took a lot of marketing, creativity, and communication,” Chau said of the feat.
Aside from VeeCon, Gary Vee's empire includes media company VaynerX, creative digital marketing agency VaynerMedia, five New York Times bestselling books, and a collective social media following upward of 44 million.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
The three-day VeeCon 2024 took over the nearly 6 million-square-foot L.A. LIVE entertainment district, utilizing multiple venues including Peacock Theater and Plaza, The NOVO, Clive Davis Theater, the rooftop of the Grammy Museum, and Chick Hearn Court.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
As expected, VeeCon once again delivered on its promise of bringing together leaders from various sectors to talk innovation across topics like business, technology, marketing, and pop culture, which was made easy by finding a home in LA, Chau said, adding that Zach Nadler, the CEO of VaynerSpeakers—Vee’s speakers bureau—plays a vital role in the “fun puzzle” of speaker selection.
“Gary also has a lot of say in who he thinks would be great to cover our five pillars—marketing, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and pop culture,” Chau said. “From there, we work on speaker availability and what topics we think are relevant in the now and next.”
Vee, 48, has an estimated net worth upward of $200 million.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
VeeCon “was able to stack the programming with celebrities, musicians, athletes, and top business executives,” Chau told BizBash. And “stacked” the lineup was, indeed, with executives such as iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman; State Farm’s head of marketing, Alyson Griffin; Athleta CEO Chris Blakeslee; viral podcast host Bobbi Althoff; and supermodel Ashley Graham—just to name a few—taking the stage. Woven between programming designed to empower entrepreneurs, break down modern storytelling, and dive into how artificial intelligence impacts creativity were performances from T-Pain, Saweetie, Flavor Flav, Mike Posner, and will.i.am.
Woven between educational programming were performances from T-Pain, Saweetie, Flavor Flav, Mike Posner (pictured), and will.i.am.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
Saweetie also performed at VeeCon 2024.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
True to Vee’s reputation as a serial entrepreneur, FriendsFest also made its debut at VeeCon 2024, which Chau described as “an interactive festival village celebrating all things VeeFriends and VeeCon.” FriendsFest was open to the public, Chau noted, which “was a fantastic way to expose new audiences to the brand and events.”
In the spirit of expanding its reach, VeeCon also welcomed 13 new event partners this year (among them Adobe, Truly Hard Seltzer, and Under Armour), joining veteran partners Cheetos, Diageo, Fanatics, and Meta, among others.
Bobbi Althoff, the social media star behind The Really Good Podcast with Bobbi Althoff took the stage during a session titled "Insights on Entertainment in the Social Media Era."Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
It’s safe to say that VeeCon is now solidified within Vee’s empire, which includes media company VaynerX, creative digital marketing agency VaynerMedia, five New York Times bestselling books, and a collective social media following upward of 44 million. Chau teased that there will be more new and noteworthy moments to look forward to at future VeeCons, as “the attendees want more VeeCons and so does Gary. So we have to give them what they want, right?”
New to VeeCon this year was the FriendsFest, which was open to the public and designed to celebrate all things VeeFriends, Vee’s entertainment company that first gained popularity for selling NFTs and now plays a central role in the production of VeeCon.Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
The 250-plus cartoon animals that are part of VeeFriends' NFT collection made an appearance at VeeCon, including the VeeCon Viper (pictured).Photo: Courtesy of VeeCon
