The 2024 NAB Show introduces 30-session track for digital content creators

The National Association of Broadcasters‘ longtime trade event NAB Show has welcomed content creators for years now.

But its 2024 event is carving out real space for them with its new Creator Lab, a “dedicated experience to foster collaboration, learning and networking through panels, workshops, fireside chats and more,” NAB Show says.

Creator Lab, sponsored by Blackmagic Design, will feature nearly 30 sessions about things like content monetization, the video production pipeline, and how our industry is being affected by AI.

Those sessions will be led by creators and other industry experts including Marc Hustvedt, President at MrBeast, whose panel–moderated by VidCon CEO Jim Louderback–will cover “the current state of the creator economy, the content strategy behind creating viral sensations, landing lucrative sponsorships, innovative windowing strategies, expanding to traditional TV and diving deep into audience development,” per its official description.

Along with the 29 sessions that are part of Creator Lab, NAB Show is hosting a range of other creator economy-focused panels led by creators and industry members like Casey Neistat, Scott Dunn (VP of Talent and Business Development at Doing Things Media), and real estate-focused talent management/production company Estate Media.

It’s also offering the Create Zone, an area of the show floor that will host happy hours and peer-to-peer educational sessions focused on the day-to-day workflow of making videos, from pre- to post-production.

NAB Show says it’s embracing creators as a driving force in media because they’re “direct to consumer” by nature, and because they’re great at “harnessing fandoms and communities.” It points to a recent Goldman Sachs report

predicting the creator economy as a whole could reach $480 billion in 2027, with a 10-20% growth in the number of global content creators over the next five years.

“The creator economy continues to challenge traditional media creation, production, advertising and distribution while borrowing the best of past models,” Karen Chupka, NAB Global Connections and Events’ incoming EVP and managing director, said in a statement. “NAB Show brings this new generation of creators together with the companies that can help them continue to push the boundaries with new technology and tools for storytelling and expanding their reach.”

Robin Raskin, founder at The Virtual Events Group and a content partner for the Creator Lab, added, “We’ve got front-row seats as a new industry is being born. The creator economy is powered by the creative efforts of a new generation of media entrepreneurs. Video is their lingua franca, and an entire ecosystem of hardware, talent, distribution platforms, and monetization is being born to support them. We built the Creator Lab at the NAB Show to provide an immersive look at the tools, the talent, and the services powering this transition.”

This year’s NAB Show runs April 13-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with Exhibits open April 14-17. Those who register as an attendee with the code CL17 can get a free Exhibits Pass. You can see info about all programming, types of passes, and pricing here.