EXCLUSIVE: What’s happening with the 2020 Electric City Music Conference and Steamtown Music Awards in Scranton
After long deliberations and consideration, we have decided that this year’s Electric City Music Conference and Steamtown Music Awards will be held in an altered fashion due to the coronavirus pandemic and its lasting effects on the local music scene and venues. We have consulted with the local, state, and national experts and believe we have come to a solution. We will lay out the three-part strategy below.
The music festival
We are postponing the festival aspect of the ECMC for 2020 until further notice. Our hope is to host a two-day showcase in January of 2021 that will allow for a weekend of musical performances around the city.
Currently, we do not feel that we can safely and logistically execute the festival portion of the event. Your health and safety is our priority, and we do not feel that bringing bands from all over the country to Scranton and filling venues with concertgoers would be socially responsible.
Once a date is established for the two-day showcase, we will make a formal announcement.
The conference: speakers, mentors, and panels
The conference portion of the ECMC will take place virtually. We will have an interactive Zoom video chat available to the public. We will also live stream this aspect of the conference from our social media page as well as NEPA Scene’s Facebook page. As always, this aspect of the weekend will be 100 percent free.
We are currently coordinating schedules with speakers and will announce them shortly.
The Steamtown Music Awards
The Steamtown Music Awards will be broken up over three days: Sept. 10, 11, and 12. The award ceremony(s) will take place at The V-Spot in Scranton. Awards will be split equally across all days in hopes of allowing the most people possible to safely and comfortably attend the ceremony. We have coordinated with our media sponsors Ionic Development and NEPA Scene to live stream the event as well.
We will still have a red carpet area, there will still be performances, and we will still give out awards. However, for this year, we will not be tenting off the parking lot. Please be aware that we do not know what the capacity limitations will be at The V-Spot as of the second week of September. Whatever they are, we will follow all guidelines.
If you do not feel comfortable attending the ceremony and you are nominated for an award, you may submit an acceptance video to be played if you win.
We understand that the last few months have been trying and recognize that music awards may not have been the first thing on your mind, so we’re extending the nomination process through the end of June. You can submit nominations by visiting electriccitymusicconference.com/awards.
We will announce the nominees on July 17. Public voting will begin on July 20 and run through Aug. 21.
Because of current circumstances and the expenses of putting on an award ceremony, we are currently seeking sponsors. If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the Steamtown Music Awards, please contact joseph.caviston@gmail.com or visit electriccitymusicconference.com/sponsor.
Watch the video explanation below:
See NEPA Scene’s photos from the 2019 Steamtown Music Awards ceremony at The V-Spot here.
