Long before founding a company and before the COVID-19 pandemic pulled the country into a “new normal,” Walter Kinzie knew what he wanted to do. And now, with the current crisis, he is hoping to take his live production company to the forefront of digital events, as well as helping others make the virtual switch along the way.
Kinzie’s story is seemingly the epitome of an entrepreneur’s journey. Growing up on a small farm in rural Kansas, life was difficult. However, he learned business sense early on, as he said he got his first loan at the age of seven to buy a pig. But he truly discovered his passion, when at that age his father, who was the entertainment chair at the local county fair put on a concert and Kinzie’s small town of about 137 swelled to several hundred.
He said that was the moment he realized the power music and live events can have and he told his father that one day he would start a production business.
That desire was fostered he said, as he would listen to syndicated radio stations with his brother, hearing sounds from cities he had only heard of.
“[I was] just dreaming about what a big city looked like or what life was like beyond the farm in the middle of the Midwest,” Kinzie told NTX Inno.
However, his journey towards founding Fort Worth-based Encore Live began to really form when he entered university, where he was diagnosed with an illness that kept him largely in the hospital for the next few years. There, he said he met a friend who had a terminal illness. Knowing that small-town Kansas wouldn’t be able to raise the funds to help his friend go to prom and finish school before passing away, Kinzie said he turned back to music production.
A few months later, Kinzie hosted a concert that was able to raise thousands for the friend and his family.
“This was a chance for me to do a concert and I can stand on the stage and let our region of the world know just how sick this kid is, with a whole bunch of people listening to me,” Kinzie said. “It just confirmed I loved the process I loved everything about it, and I love that I can do good for this kid.”
Kinzie himself was still left with his own medical debt, which is what eventually brought him to North Texas to work at Mattress Firm through the help of a cousin. However, he said he promised himself that he would quit that job as soon as he was able to make his music production endeavors (which he took two weeks per year off for) more profitable than the job or once he paid off his medical debts, whichever came first.
That happened in 2010, the same year Encore Live was founded.
“Furniture was not going to be my legacy, but they were going to have the hardest working employee they ever had until that moment happened,” Kinzie said. “I wanted to put on concerts for a living, but I also wanted to harness that philanthropic spirit that I started this thing with back in that rodeo arena back in 2002. And today, we now produce concerts all over the country, we’re also one of the biggest conference planners in the country… and we have never turned a charity down since day one.”
In that time, Encore Live, of which Kinzie serves as CEO, has grown to a 12-person full-time staff. And has grown with an initial investment from Kinzie, as well as a small investment from an undisclosed outside investor.
Beyond producing events for companies like the Pokémon franchise and Facebook to concerts with Garth Brooks to what Kinzie said was “the most significant thing that will ever happen to him”: the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Encore Live has also kept a focus on using its platform to give back. Kinzie said the company receives signed guitars after concerts it produces to give to charities through its nonprofit Encore Love.
“It’s just been an amazing journey so far and I have to pinch myself every day that I get to lead it and be a part of it,” Kinzie said. “If I can create that moment for you, then ultimately I can create change. Either I can create an experience that draws you to be happier and create more joy in this world or I’m creating an experience that empowers you to be smarter, more capable employee and do more good within the company you work for. Either way I’ve changed the world and that’s ultimately what I’m trying to do.”
Then, in December, through some of the international organizations Encore Live works with, it began hearing about the “debilitating” effects a new novel coronavirus was having in China. As scientists identified it as COVID-19 and then a global pandemic, Encore Live was already beginning to move postpone or cancel events and move all other planned events to a digital format. Kinzie said that foresight, along with having long experience in digital events has allowed Encore Live to fair better than other production companies.
But COVID-19 is still having an effect on Encore Live. Kinzie said he doesn’t expect large live events like business conferences or concerts to really begin again for at least 18 months. And the company is now looking at ways to expand more into the virtual sphere.
“I think you’re going to see new trends in how we consume music and how we interact [digitally],” Kinzie said.
Like artists looking to find creative ways to stay in contact with their audiences, many businesses are seeking solutions to moving events and meetings online. One way Encore Live is looking to help local business leaders during the crisis is through the launch of The New Remote Reality, a digital network series in partnership with Executive Connection. The companies plan to present bi-weekly speaking events, hosted by some of Encore Live’s leaders, as well as other company heads on topics related helping companies manage business and digitization during the crisis. The first event is set to air on May 15 at 10 a.m., featuring Steve Goldbach, CSO at Deloitte speaking about pivots and adaptations.
“We understand that if you were a successful CEO 90 days ago running a successful business where people were coming to work every day and customers were coming into your place of establishment, we get that you may not be a pro at this whole virtual game or this remote game and that’s happening to just tens of thousands… where you just have never been forced to work remote or do things remote," Kinzie said.
"If I can create that moment for you, then ultimately I can create change."
In addition to The New Remote Reality, Kinzie has a few tips for local leaders as they make the switch to digital. He said with live events, Encore Live starts by thinking about creating an event they would want to attend, then thinking about ways to simplify the process of signing up and attending, so the person can focus on the experience. And he said many of the same things apply to virtual events.
“We’re not going to be having live events for a long time to come, so I would do whatever I could today, tomorrow or the next day to begin the process of getting those things postponed, or just move postponed to digital” Kinzie said.
He said that leaders should be hosting digital events as much as possible within their companies, as face-to-face interaction is important for understanding and human connection. And to make those meetings and other events go smoother, he said it’s important to be familiarized with most of the virtual meeting technology out there, that way they can communicate through a variety of mediums, as well as work out kinks before hosting a digital event. He also said that pre-taping when possible is a good idea, as it cuts down on bandwidth and users can easily switch to live after playing the recorded part.
“These things don’t have to break to break the bank. You can do them efficiently, but it’s very important that you’re doing them,” Kinzie said.
