Today, I’m joined by Nick Marinelli. He’s an important figure in the VGM scene for a lot of reasons, but I’ll leave the introductions to him. Nick?

Nick: My name is Nick Marinelli. In one lifetime, I was a software engineer. In another lifetime, I was the executive director of Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest). Now, I am a freelance event management/business operations/organization leadership consultant. Also, I do music booking mostly under the banner of Video Games In Concert.

OK, awesome. So, how did you get into the video game music community?

Nick: I’ve loved video game music ever since I was a kid. I was the kind of guy who would fall asleep listening to the end credits of Flashback: The Quest for Identity with the headphones plugged into the Genesis. I was at AnimeUSA, an anime convention, when I met Brendan Becker, who was the head of MAGFest at the time. Eventually, I was able to make it out to MAGFest 2006.

So, where did you start in the MAGFest structure?

Nick: I would go down to Brendan’s place in Charlottesville, VA to help test systems, coil cables, pack things up, etc., and eventually I became the head of promo. My main theory was that if I did a whole bunch of work outside of the event, then I could just enjoy the event and not work during the event.

And how did that work out for you?

Nick: Fat lot of good. (laughs)

So yeah, I got more and more involved, and I became the guy who would solve problems. Eventually, I joined the board of directors around 2013. After two years of working as Chief Operating Officer, we had some employee turnover, and it was a good opportunity for restructuring. I worked some things out with my boss so I could take his place as executive director.

What were some of the biggest challenges that you had to face as executive director?

Nick: My biggest things were sustainability and operational efficiency. The first two years, there was some immense distrust in the leadership. The board of directors and employees felt at odds with the volunteer base because we had gone through explosive growth. For perspective, it took us 10 years to get to 3,000 people, and then from there, we grew by 3,000 people each year. We were not prepared for that at all, and there were a lot of growing pains.

That makes sense. I think this year’s attendance was 22,000?

Nick: 25,000 actually.

Wow, and despite the size, MAGFest still has a certain charm. I think the charm of MAGFest is that it’s this intersection of so many subcultures like anime fans, cosplayers, and  video game fans. It’s this huge melting pot of nerdom.

Nick: Yeah, and one thing that makes MAGFest unique is that pretty much all the content is decided by volunteers. The company just supports the volunteers who do the bookings.

So, going back to the organization of MAGFest, can you give me a day in the life of an executive director? What kinds of coordination have to happen before, during, and after MAGFest?

Nick: What I did, what the employees did, we did all the boring stuff. (laughs) We did the taxes, the procedures, the policies, and the documentation. We built the infrastructure so that all the volunteers could do the fun stuff. Really, the event was, from my perspective, the easiest part of the job because that just kind of ran itself thanks to awesome community.

So, besides yourself, what was the size of the MAGFest staff before you left?

Nick: Five? Six? We had just lost a couple of people, and we were in the process of hiring three more people.

Then, would it be safe to say the majority of the staff at MAGFest are volunteers?

Nick: 99.8%. Yeah.

Wow. I can’t even imagine the logistics of trying to coordinate that many volunteers.

Nick: Well, a lot of conventions and companies rightfully get a bad rap for using unpaid labor to do stuff that should otherwise be paid, but MAGFest is supposed to be inverted on its head.

Imagine if you, Allen, wanted to put on a huge concert. Imagine how much you would have to put on the line to finance that and make that happen, whereas with MAGFest, it’s like “Oh. Here’s $100,000. Make a concert hall happen.”

Now, you’re giving me some dangerous ideas here. (laughs) Because, I just might try and do that.

Nick: I am also in event production, so if you want to work together on a show, I’d be more than happy to talk about that.

We’ll see. Still, I can’t imagine coordinating the efforts of hundreds of people from all over the world. We need a Lifetime series for MAGFest.

Nick: You wouldn’t be the first person to propose a documentary.

Well, maybe not Lifetime. I want to see something a little grittier—the 3 am drunken LAN parties or whatever.

Nick: (laughs)

So, how has MAGFest changed you, specifically? Or has it changed you?

Nick: That’s a big, radical question. It has certainly been the catalyst for me improving myself a lot. I won’t say that I had to go to therapy because of MAGFest, but it gave me the shove that I needed. I was very stressed with trying to prove myself and worrying that I wasn’t good enough. But then, I was able to come to terms with the fact that I’m good at a lot of things and bad at some things, but I’m doing the best I can. So, it’s all about knowing my limits, respecting my limits, and demanding that others respect my limits.

Beyond that, I learned a whole lot about organizational culture and empowering people to make things their own. I learned that I don’t have to be in control of everything. The less that I’m in control of, the better, because it breeds more creativity, and it lets people grow more.

Now, you’re sounding like a parent. MAGFest is all grown up, and it wants to go to college.

Nick: Yeah, kick it out of the nest. (laughs)

I will say I have grown a huge amount in the relatively short time that I worked for MAGFest. It was only four years, which in the grand scheme of things, is nothing, but I crammed about 15 years of life lessons in those 4 years.

So, here’s the most pretentious question you’re going to get for this interview. What is your legacy? What did you leave MAGFest?

Nick: It’s like anything that you borrow in life—return it in the same or better condition than what was handed to you.

That’s actually not bad. I like that.

Nick: Yeah, I’d like to think that MAGFest is in a lot more stable, sustainable place while maintaining, I’d like to think, all the positive aspects of the MAGFest culture.

So, on that note, you left MAGFest last July, and you have moved on to some big things. What is it that you’re working on now?

Nick: The big project is Video Games In Concert, and it’s the world’s first and only video game music band booking agency.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time and chatting with me, and we’ll definitely talk about Video Games In Concert soon.