Gradated in 2018 with a major in Music Business. Principal instrument: trumpet.
Position: Marketing Manager at Comikaze Entertainment, the 8-person outfit which puts on the annual L.A. Comic Con, which happens every September, featuring around 130,000 guests, close to a thousand exhibitors and artsts, and around 150 temporary staff. Like everyone else there, he’s onsite during the convention itself. But during the rest of the year, “I handle every visual asset, ad push, strategy, website, marchandise,” as one of two people (him and his boss) working in marketing.
Overview: As a Berklee student, Nilsen helped put on house shows. Nilsen wanted to work in the music industry, particularly live entertainment, in L.A. but without a job lined up he moved home to San Francisco and worked two full times jobs (at the Apple Store and Trader Joes) for a year to save money. Then he moved to L.A. to pursue music and to be with his now-wife. He applied to a huge number of positions in the music space, including his job which he thought handled music at the time he applied. But he quickly realized the deal but thought it was a really cool position that would get him valuable experience. He was hired as a Marketing Assistant, generating lots of content, and started his job the day that everything shut down for Covid.
2020 was a major challenge for his employer, as there was no live convention, though federal aid kept his job going until January 2021. 2021 there was an in-person convention, and Nilsen saw that year as his opportunity to really prove himself. At the convention itself Nilsen did a great job handing an awkward situation, which impressed the higher ups. Soon after, he was promoted to Marketing Manager and his responsibilities expanded.
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You can see Nilsen’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “The smiles of the people entering the con is my favorite part of the job! I also like the problem-solving challenges of running the con. It’s stressful and you get yelled at a lot when things don’t go right, but I like figuring out solutions. I never get bored!”
“At Berklee Valencia I took a Music Business class where we had to plan and put on an event. I loved that class so much I realized that’s what I wanted to do. Back in Boston, I started hosting house shows in Allston. That’s how I stated working with events, and I realized I wanted to keep doing it as a career.”
“If you want to work in marketing, do as much as you can without the job. Many folks want an entry-level job, but they have no relevant experience. Had I not put on shows, made show posters for folks for free, helped with graphic design, and so forth, my company wouldn’t have hired me. Try writing up marketing campaigns on your own. If you do enough of this work, you’ll have examples to show brands.”
“Find something you’ll like doing. I”‘m in a role I woudln’t have considered in college, but I’m having fun, and I’m picking more skills and connections than if I were waiting around for the so-called perfect job.
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