About

Event Santa Cruz is a monthly happening that showcases thriving local businesses, and the people behind them.


Santa Cruz is creative. It’s innovative. It’s funky. It’s adventurous. It’s collaborative. Let’s celebrate that! Event Santa Cruz was born out of a desire to showcase and spread the creative energy that makes Santa Cruz so amazing.

It all started in 2013 as a monthly lightning-talk event series featuring local entrepreneurs and community leaders. Shop owners and chefs, mentors and musicians, athletes, artists, and everyone in between shared the ideas that inspire them, the rocky but rewarding road of entrepreneurship, and that special something that keeps them going.

Event Santa Cruz grew swiftly beyond the bounds of your typical event-hosting company and now serves as a multimedia outpost for all things local. In 2015, Event Santa Cruz adopted The NEXTies awards from Santa Cruz NEXT, bringing a whole new community and a big new energy to Event Santa Cruz. We developed new themed events—like the beloved Big Summer Block Party—and digital marketing avenues to promote Santa Cruz businesses.

Through social media, email engagement, collaborative partnerships, video interviews, radio—and, yes, live events!—Event Santa Cruz keeps turning up the volume on how we celebrate Santa Cruz innovation and entrepreneurship.

Interested in getting involved or being featured through the Event Santa Cruz channels?
Does your business need help getting your story out to the community?
Need help with social media?
Contact Matthew Swinnerton at Matthew@EventSantaCruz.com.

Meet the Team


Ramfrey Rodriguez

Event Photographer

Alicia Rios

Business Development

Jill Stone

Advisor

Matthew Swinnerton

Founder


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