IEBA Award Winners Include AEG Presents’ Ali Harnell, WME’s Jay Williams & Madison Entertainment’s Roger LeBlanc


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AEG Presents’ Ali Harnell and IEBA executive director Pam Matthews pose with entrepreneur/author Jesse Itzler, who gave a keynote speech at the 2018 IEBA conference in Nashville Oct. 1.

IEBA wrapped its 48th annual conference Oct. 2 with its Honors & Awards Ceremony, celebrating executives in the music industry such as AEG Presents’ Ali Harnell as Promoter of the Year, WME’s Jay Williams as Talent Agent of the Year and Madison Entertainment’s Roger LeBlanc as Festival Buyer of the Year, along with venues of all sizes including Nashville’s Marathon Music Works as Club of the Year and Tulsa, Okla.’s BOK Center as Arena of the Year. 

“Winning the Festival Buyer of the Year award came as a complete surprise considering all the other talented nominees,” LeBlanc told Pollstar. “I’m honored, humbled and grateful to be part of a wonderful team of professionals who help make everything possible.  Big thanks to our clients, Adam Spriggs, Julie Rose and the rest of the Madison Entertainment team. Also huge kudos to IEBA for not only the recognition but the relationships and friendships they have helped me develop over the years. Without these, I could not possibly have accomplished anything in this business. Thank you.” 

LeBlanc is the talent buyer for KAABOO Del Mar and next year’s inaugural KAABOO Texas and KAABOO Cayman editions, along with this weekend’s Mempho Music Festival in Memphis, Tenn., which features Beck, Post Malone, Janelle Monae and others.
Along with awards given out in 17 categories, the ceremony at the JW Marriott in Nashville featured the IEBA Hall of Fame officially inducting Lynyrd Skynyrd, APA booking agents Ray Shelide and Bonnie Sugarman, and longtime Great Allentown Fair marketing director/talent buyer Bonnie Brosious. 

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Talent buyer Roger LeBlanc talks KAABOO.
The event also included a presentation announcing the endowment of permanent scholarships at New York University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Belmont University through IEBA’s Educational Outreach Fund.
Here is the list of winners: 

Club of the Year – Marathon Music Works – Nashville, TN
Casino of the Year – Talking Stick Resort and Casino – Scottsdale, AZ
Ryman Auditorium Theater of the Year – DPAC – Durham, NC

Arena of the Year – BOK Center – Tulsa, OK
Amphitheater of the Year – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Fair of the Year – Minnesota State Fair – St. Paul, MN
Festival of the Year – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – New Orleans, LA
Club Buyer of the Year – Jim Mallonee – House of Blues
Casino Buyer of the Year (TIE) – Kell Houston – Houston Productions and Randy Wright – Integrity Events
Corporate Buyer of the Year – Michael Boltzman – AEG Presents
International Buyer of the Year – Ron Sakamoto – Gold & Gold Productions
Fair Buyer of the Year – R.J. Romeo – Romeo Entertainment Group
Festival Buyer of the Year – Roger LeBlanc – Madison Entertainment
Venue Executive of the Year – Kim Bedier – Tacoma Venues & Events
Young Professional of the Year – Paige Ryan – Paradigm Talent Agency

Talent Agent of the Year – Jay Williams – WME

Promoter of the Year – Ali Harnell – AEG Presents

The 2019 IEBA conference is set for Oct. 27-29 at the JW Marriott Nashville.

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