VenuesNow 2025 All-Star Honoree: Audrey Fix Schaefer

AUDREY FIX SCHAEFER
President of the Board, National Independent Venue Association
Communications Director, I.M.P.

WAY IN THE BACK:
She likes to be “as far from the stage as I can get. I don’t like to be squished in and I like to be near an exit.”

As communications director for the I.M.P. family of D.C.-area venues — which includes the 9:30 Club, The Atlantis, Lincoln Theatre, The Anthem and the Merriweather Post Pavilion — Audrey Fix Schaefer knows the scene in and around our nation’s capital well.

“People think of L.A., N.Y. and Nashville as music towns, and D.C., for being the seat of government, the Smithsonian Institutions and monuments – but D.C. is the most vibrant music town I know, filled with independent venues that attract fans from across town and across the country,” she says. Schaefer is proud of what independent venues have been able to do for their employees and the world at large.

“My hat is off to I.M.P.’s COO Donna Westmoreland. As soon as the COVID shutdown hit, she formed the I.M.P. Family fund, which enabled furloughed employees experiencing personal hardship a financial grant to get them through. The fund still exists, as personal emergencies still exist,” she says. “Another of Donna’s missions is to do better by the environment, and through her leadership, all five of I.M.P. venues have only reusable cups, which is significant, considering the number of fans we serve each year.”  

Schaefer is taking that enthusiasm for independent venues nationwide as NIVA’s recently elected board president.

“In the words of our co-founder and first board president Dayna Frank, ‘First we survive, then we thrive,’” she says. “Her dictum is coming to fruition as evidenced by another record-breaking NIVA conference this year in Milwaukee. But it’s not just the sheer numbers of people who participate that excite me. It’s the vibe. The determination to fight for what’s right. Together, we’re a force.”   

I.M.P. led efforts resulting in ticketing reform legislation becoming law in Maryland and a push is underway for similar reforms in D.C. That’s experience Schaefer hopes to use on a national level.

“I’m laser-focused on getting legislation passed and enforced that protects fans from deceptive and predatory scalpers and the platforms that host them,” she says.