The growing popularity of InvestFest and Dream Con is a win for the Black business world. Outside of the Bronner Bros. International Beauty Show, Odunde Festival, CurlsFest and the Essence Festival of Culture, there haven’t been Black-owned, non-musically-based expositions and conventions of the magnitude of 20,000 attendees.
InvestFest, started by the financial podcast hosts of “Earn Your Leisure,” Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, just wrapped a weekend in Atlanta of the top names in entertainment and business sharing gems with attendees. Speakers included billionaire Robert Smith, Diddy, Steve Harvey, Tabitha Brown, Jeezy, Cam Newton, Lonzo Ball, Rich Paul and Maverick Carter. There was also a room of Black-owned vendors promoting their businesses and selling services, while the attendance of over 20,000 people allowed like-minded professionals to build empires together.
20,000 people peacefully came together under one roof for financial literacy.
Let the record reflect that history was made. #investfest2023 #thebiggestever pic.twitter.com/gzckg17rm4
— Earn Your Leisure (@EarnYourLeisure) August 28, 2023
In July, Dream Con was held in Austin, Texas. The convention was hosted by John Newton and Mark Philips of the popular social-media collective RDCWorld. The event provides a safe space for fans of anime, gaming and pop culture to come together for a weekend and share interests like cosplaying to be among like-minded people. In addition to RDC, other popular creatives in attendance included Latto, TiaCorine, Kai Cenat, AMP, Kalani Rodgers, Krystalogy, storymodebae, King Vader, Caleb City and Berleezy.
Dream Con 2023. #DreamCon pic.twitter.com/UK9o3qbXBJ
— Dream Con (@dreamconvention) August 5, 2023
The actual events have gone well and get larger in terms of the crowd every year, which is ironically where there’s room for improvement. Multiple attendees from both conferences took their grievances online, claiming there wasn’t adequate staffing for the fast growing events.
Realistically speaking: DreamCon was unorganized this year. The app wasn’t the greatest, there was confusion with the map and registration for various events. The capacity jump was a lot. But was it still enjoyable? Yes. Very much so. I enjoyed seeing people more than anything.
— you betta lay low! (@jayathesensei) July 30, 2023
https://twitter.com/amusedpepper/status/1685349305840783361?s=20
@therealkima This “Dreamcon” more like nightmare had no decorum at all. I cannot believe i wasted my money coming to this event. Somebros please make your own event❤️#dreamcon #dreamcon2023 #dreamcon2k23 #somebros #berleezy #corykenshin #rdc #viral #fyp #canceldreamcon
2nd day at #InvestFest such a wonderful experience, learning a lot already, but I am disappointed that they really haven’t thought about people with #physicaldisabilites in terms of seating or guides to elevators and lines, etc
— K-Loving-Music (@KLovingMusic) August 26, 2023
“I ain’t even gon hold y’all,” KenansWorld posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Them speakers at InvestFest wasn’t saying s—.”
On Instagram, as reported by Empower Atlanta, Charisma Cares called InvestFest the “worst conference I’ve ever attended” and detailed how the pre-registration process took as long as two hours. Other social media users also had critiques of how cramped the vendor room felt when foot traffic was high.
Dream Con and InvestFest are two needed conventions for the Black community and their pros have outweighed the cons, but as the popularity of RDC World and “Earn Your Leisure” continue to grow, some of the budget allocated to landing some of the biggest names in their respective fields should go to allocating more staffing to create a smoother experience for everyone.
Nothing in life is perfect, and the works of these Black visionaries should rightfully be celebrated, but no one should be above criticism, and honest critiques will help to sharpen the events’ focus and impact.
