By Cara Vanderhook
The Event & Arena Marketing Conference (EAMC) announced that Vanessa Kromer will be honored with the 2022 Gigi Award of Excellence, Kosha Irby and Rosanne Kozerski Brown will be inducted into the EAMC Hall of Fame, and Kelly Lovell-Taylor has been named the 2022 Impact honoree. The honors will be presented at the annual EAMC Awards Luncheon taking place during the conference, June 15-18, 2022, in the Twin Cities, where EAMC will also recognize the most innovative and strategic professionals in the live entertainment industry.
Each year EAMC recognizes professionals for their contributions to the live entertainment industry. The 
top honor is the Gigi Award of Excellence, named after the late Gigi Pilhofer, one of the founders of EAMC. This year’s honoree is former EAMC President and Hall of Famer, Vanessa Kromer. Kromer is Senior Director of Publicity at SoFi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and Hollywood Park and has actively contributed to the conference for over 20 years. During her tenure she has hosted conferences in Anaheim (1999) and Los Angeles (2015), served as the President, Vice President of Agenda, a Board Member, and created the EAMC Awards.
Kosha Irby is EAMC’s 2022 Hall of Fame inductee being recognized for his impact on the live entertainment industry, support for the conference, and influence in marketing trends. Irby currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer for Professional Bull Riders (PBR), where he is responsible for all aspects of PBR’s consumer and live event marketing. A longtime supporter of the annual conference, Irby has participated in several panel discussions and sponsored events through his current and previous companies including WWE, a publicly traded (NYSE: WWE) global media company.
Rosanne Kozerski Brown, a participant in the earliest years of the conference, is the 2020 EAMC Hall of Fame recipient. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Kozerski Brown was a rising star in a relatively new profession, event and sports marketing, serving as Director of Public Relations and Marketing at the legendary Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan. Her career took her on a year-long tour with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Australia and Japan, before ultimately becoming Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing for the Detroit Red Wings. She continually supported EAMC and assisted on the planning committee.
Kelly Lovell-Taylor is the Marketing and PR Officer for the Tempe Center for the Arts and will receive the 2022 Impact Award for her positive influence and contributions within the community. She is currently Vice President and a founding member of the City of Tempe’s Black Employee Alliance (TBEA). TBEA helps connect, influence, empower, and strengthen the relationships of Black employees with each other and city staff at-large, with the goal of fostering inclusion. She has also been involved with EAMC for over 25 years as an attendee, a panelist, and as a sponsor representative.
These honorees, along with the winners for “Marketing and Publicity Campaigns of the Year,” “Best Artist Gift” and “Artist Welcome of the Year” will be recognized at the annual EAMC Awards Luncheon in Minneapolis held on Thursday, June 16, 2022. Register HERE.
Cara Vanderhook is Vice President Marketing & Communications for Crypto.com Area, Microsoft Theater & L.A. LIVE.
