Dayna Frank, CEO, First Avenue and Board President, NIVA
Dayna Frank
Dayna Frank had an unbelievable year, going from running one of the most iconic venues in the country in Minneapolis’ First Avenue to landing in the national spotlight in her role as board president of the newly formed and essential National Independent Venue Association. Consisting of some 3,000 venues, promoters and festivals in every state in the union, NIVA was wildly successful in galvanizing support for independent venues to the tune of $16.125 billion in federal funding – the largest arts grant ever by the U.S. government.
In truth, Frank, last year’s Pollstar Impact 50 cover subject, is tired of getting disproportionate credit for NIVA’s accomplishments, which are strategized and executed by a veritable army of brilliant members. “I just feel like I am getting a lot of undeserved and undue personal attention,” she says. “It is a team effort. And there are so many people that all contributed equally to the effort.”
Consequently, for this year’s Impact 50, Frank insisted on giving shine to the band of “superheroes” who have enabled NIVA’s success. Here, then, are some of NIVA’s superheroes
and their vital superhero stats:

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Superhero Name: The Queen
Superpower: Credibility
NIVA Gig: Director of Communications

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Superhero Name: The Prime Mover
Superpower: Uniting people
NIVA Gig: Executive Director
In Brief: “He’s incredible at bringing people together, having them collaborate and effectively work together.”
Birth Name: Rev. Moose
In Brief: “He got all the Kansas representatives to care about live music. When we saw that, it blew our minds. Kansas Senator Moran called the Congressional hearing.”
Superpower: Persuasion, herding Type A cats
Birth Name: Katie Tuten
Birth Name: Amy Madrigali
Day Gig: Head of Booking, The Troubadour, Los Angeles
Day Gig: Lawyer; Owner of The Mix, Limelight, Floore’s Country Store and 502 Bar, San Antonio
Superpower: Relentless battlers
Day Gigs: Artist Relations & Promotions, The Iridium; Co-founder, Director of Operations, (Le) Poisson Rouge; Owner, Artistic Director, MeanRed Productions
Day Gig: Owner, The Exit/Inn, Nashville
Day Gig: Owner, xBk Live, Des Moines, Iowa
Other Notable NIVA SUPERHEROES
Lindsay “Fortitude Fosterer” Brandt
Mary “Marketing Guardian” Wilson
Jason “Voice of Calm” Anderson
Sean “Checklist Charlie” Watterson
Liz “Pinnacle of Patience” Tallent
Jim “Soul Soother” Brunberg
Adam “The Kid” Valen
Tom “Force For Change” DeGeorge
Hal “The Head & The Heart” Real
Patrick “Artist Whisperer” Wilson
Jamie “Video Genie” Loeb
Jason “Creative Force” Griel
Stephen “Rainmaker” Sternschein
Stephen “Savior of Stages” Chilton
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