Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter have joined forces to launch their first ever Pride Summit. The inaugural event will take place Aug. 8 at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood and will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and the contributions they have made to the arts and entertainment. The summit will provide attendees with “thoughtful panels and conversations” stemming from editorial information and insight both brands possess about what LGBTQ+ audiences consume.
Pride Summit follows in the footsteps of other inclusive and diverse, live-events such as Billboard’s Latin Week, Women in Music, and Hip-Hop and R&B Summit, as well as The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment and Empowerment in Entertainment. The minds behind the summits, newly hired VP of Pride Alexis Fish, VP of Cultural Media Datwon Thomas, and VP of Latin Leila Cobo “support strategic content pillars with a dedicated focus on short-form video, data, and real-life events.”
In a press release, Billboard–The Hollywood Reporter Media Group president Deanna Brown explained the creation of Pride Summit. “Our company has a year-round dedication to diversity, inclusion, and representation, and we’re proud to establish the summit during this year’s historic summer of pride to honor the LGBTQ in real life,” she said.
“This event, our new hire of Alexis Fish and our comprehensive editorial and data products underscore our commitment and expertise in super-serving the LGBTQ+ community in a multitude of ways.”
Aside from the illuminating panels, Pride Summit, which falls on the same day as Billboard’s annual Pride Issue, will feature the issue’s cover star, top LGBTQ+ artists and industry executives. The panels will discuss a variety of topics such as bringing LGTBQ+ voices into the songwriters’ room, upcoming queer artists, eradicating homophobia, and the best methods on welcoming queer and gender non-conforming people in the workplace.
In addition to the new event that Billboard curated with THR, the brand has announced two, new Pride scholarships that will cover the costs of its Music Industry Essentials course at the NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Students will receive valuable insight on the music industry, from music production to history and marketing; they will also have the opportunity to learn from Billboard staff members and music industry leaders.
The winners of the scholarships will be announced at the summit, and more information about the course and the scholarship (applications are open through July 30) can be found here.
Registration for the summit is open BBTHRPrideSummit.com. Specific participants will be announced in the coming weeks.
