Local Creators Connect at 805 Media Day

Isla Vista Community Center bounced with an electric energy on Saturday, August 3, for the inaugural 805 Media Day. Clusters of tents packed the interior, spilling outdoors onto the grassy lot beyond, alongside dozens of attendees. Music pulsed softly in the background, complementing a steady rumble of conversation that crisscrossed amongst attendees.

Conceptualized by Anthony Alvarado, 805 Media Day can best be described as a networking event for small creators throughout the 805. When explaining his inspiration for 805 Media Day, Alvarado recounted his background as a part of the local music industry, where his role has always been to bolster other artists, helping them to connect with those in the field and grow their careers.

Alvarado outlined his vision for the event as an extension of these efforts. He intended to craft a space that would foster professional relationships between budding music artists and emerging media professionals, such as podcasters, bloggers, photographers, and videographers, across the 805 region.

“The 805 area is such a huge space. It’s actually the biggest area code in the whole state. But, there’s been a big disconnection in communication between southern counties of the 805 and the northern counties,” Alvarado said.

He continued, “The idea was really to bring everybody together, so we can meet our neighbors and build up our music community that has been overlooked by Los Angeles and the Bay. We want to mesh everybody. We want everybody to meet.”

Alvarado started to envision and organize the event about nine months ago. Using social media, he slowly reached out to creatives along the Central Coast. As he put out more teasers, he attracted more interest.

“People started coming out of the shadows, asking like ‘Hey, we noticed that this event is a space for us. Is that true?’” Alvarado recalled. Because the 805 has never seen an event like this before, something so open to everybody and dedicated to uplifting smaller, underrepresented talent, there was some initial hesitation among those interested about whether or not they could join.

This tentativeness was short-lived, though, and Alvarado described how, gradually, the wingspan of the event grew and 805 Media Day came to integrate around 40 creators and media platforms. Moreover, as the numbers grew, so did the level of collaboration among those involved.

“I had the idea. I had the vision,” Alvarado explained, “But I had to collaborate with other brains. I had to collaborate with people that can bring ideas. And that’s what we did. Everybody felt entitled to put their hands on the wheel.”

He expressed that organizing was not just logistical, but also involved prepping artists and media about what to expect for 805 Media Day and how to engage with one another, in order to ensure that the event would be useful for all in attendance.

“We didn’t want to have that situation that happens at prom, where some people are on one side and the rest are on the other side and nobody wants to dance. We did a lot of artist development. We promoted how the artists should come prepared. And we educated the media people,” Alvarado said.

Even only a few hours into 805 Media Day, Alvarado and his fiancé, Brittany Macaluso, who was helping to host the event, were already glimpsing success.

“There are already so many people that are now following each other and planning future appointments,” Alvarado observed.

He hopes that this is just the first 805 Media Day of many. With so many independent workers across the 805, these sorts of events are crucial in building up new creators and cultivating a strong local music community. The talent is here; it’s now simply a matter of coming together. By encouraging music artists and media to join forces and involve each other in projects, 805 Media Day is sure to have a lasting impact and will undoubtedly allow the 805’s creative industry to exponentially flourish.

As Alvarado put it, “You can work with the people in your own backyard. So, my goal is really to bring the music community in the 805 together so we can embrace each other.”