From the Drum Kit to Tech: 10 Years of FestForums with Melanie Leis

By: Holly Owen, FestForums | October 21, 2026

As FestForums celebrates its 10th year, we sat down with FestForums veteran Melanie Leis, Head of Music & Entertainment at WMT Digital and FestForums advisory board member, to talk about her journey from the drum kit to tech, a decade of FestForums, and where she sees fan engagement heading next.

How did you first get into the technology world, and what drew you to music and live entertainment?

I’ve been a musician for as long as I could walk. I remember being behind a drum set very early in life, and I took to it like a fish to water. When I was young, my dad would take me to NYC to play gigs. I went on to study at Berklee College of Music and then worked in fine dining. Working in hospitality gave me a back door into the performing sector and kept me connected to the industry I love.

Leaving restaurant management, I found myself in technology. When I found my way into event tech first in ticketing, access + crowd control and then in mobile,. I loved that I could bring together music and technology while working in live events. Eventually I moved into fan engagement, which felt like a natural fit for someone who loves music as much as I do.

How did you come to WMT Digital, and what drives your vision for fan engagement?

Thinking back, I’ve always been preaching the importance of fan engagement and moving away from a transactional experience. It’s about understanding your audience and what moves them.

At PDC, I was overseeing leisure and entertainment, which meant working with attractions and resort properties in addition to live events. I was always trying to inspire from within: how can we elevate the experience for fans, understand who they are, and curate the experience around them?

Then while doing research for a client, I came across a company called Tappit, which focused on fan engagement and ended up talking my way into a job there. I oversaw all of their North American events and fan experience. After that, I was ready to find my next adventure and joined WMT to develop the Music & Entertainment channel. Now, I am eating and sleeping “Fan Intelligence” which I believe will be a huge “unlock” for the M&E industry. Everyone has data, but most are lacking the intelligence to act on.

Sports and music & entertainment both run on live moments, but they speak different languages. The conversations are different, the budgets are different, it’s a very different animal. My role is to help navigate and engage this space, building our M&E business and the partnerships behind it. I get to work with some of the smartest people I know, and every one of them is passionate about live events and delivering solutions that move the needle for our clients.

How have you grown alongside FestForums over the past 10 years?

I’m so inspired by Laurie. The way she navigates the world always comes from a “how can I help” perspective, and I’ve watched her build FestForums into a community that’s second to none. The best way I’ve heard it put: most conferences you go to are handshakes, FestForums are hugs. It’s a reunion, it's a community, and you still make new connections.

I’ve been part of FestForums across four different companies, and it’s the one event I always insist my organization attends. FestForums has challenged me, and I’ve seen the results. It’s helped me grow as a subject matter expert in this space, and I’ve learned from incredible thought leaders because of it. I’ve had the opportunity to be challenged and to grow, I’m so proud to be on the advisory board and to be part of something I believe in so firmly.

Do you have a favorite moment from the past 10 years at FestForums?

There are so many fun ones, but the best was when FestForums honored Michael McDonald. Kenny Loggins got on stage, with Michael McDonald on keys, and they sang their biggest hits to an audience of maybe 500 people. I still get shivers thinking about it. “Takin’ It to the Streets” was one of the first songs I played at age 7. I grew up playing the Doobie Brothers.

There are so many amazing experiences you can have at FestForums. I’ve had the opportunity to have exchanges with people like Matthew Modine, Alicia Silverstone, and Sophie B. Hawkins. Both legends and some of my heroes. Those are moments that have only happened for me at FestForums.

Where do you see fan engagement heading for festivals in the next 10 years?

I think it’s going to be a moment where the music industry needs to make a decision to invest the way sports has. The biggest pain point has been budgets, so we need to educate the masses. Investing in digital intelligence can make back tenfold what you need, because the data points and rich fan behaviors are exactly what sponsors want. Without investing in these tools and the insights they bring, festivals are missing out on a much larger picture and actually leaving money on the proverbial table.

An intelligence strategy is not a cost, it’s an investment. The only reason sports has all those insights and increased onsite spending is that it invested in the tools to support it.

And a mobile app is a start… It brings engagement in real time, but leveraging all the data is like going from a bicycle to a Harley Davidson. It’s about taking everyone who’s buying a ticket and asking: how many times have they visited the website? How many have thought about a VIP ticket? How much are they spending onsite and on what? Merch? F&B? Sports has it all, with the case studies to back it up.

So I see the music industry following in sports’ footsteps. The festivals that invest in really understanding their fans will be the ones that grow. It’s about investing in Intelligence… that will change the game.

What are you most excited about for the 10th year of FestForums?

A 10th anniversary is a big deal in itself, and it’s three days of celebration. But what I’m most excited about is the conversations, and seeing how far they’ve come. Ten years ago, we were just starting to talk about fan engagement. Now the industry is really digging into understanding the audience and why the experience is so critical.

That matters more than ever. Inventory is saturated, and anyone thinking about sustaining their brand needs to know who their fans are and which brands resonate with them. If 70% of my audience is buying a certain beer and I haven’t shared that data, that’s a missed Sponsor opportunity. All aspects of our industry's experiences, from budget to marketing, strategy and growth, are the kinds of conversations I see happen at FestForums, so if you haven’t registered yet, you’re missing out.