Touring Career Workshop (TCW) is now ECCHO Live, an acronym for Education, Community, Connection, Health, and Opportunity and symbolizes the ripple effect of mentorship in the live event industry. For over a decade, the nonprofit organization has supported live event professionals at all levels by providing access to crucial information and assistance for significant career and life issues with goals of supporting professionals, guiding the next generation, and fostering stewardship and collaboration. The rebranding is the result of a year-long process that included research, industry interviews, workshops, and member surveys.
The rebrand reflects the organization’s ongoing mission to offer essential resources, mental health support, and career tools – at no cost – to live event professionals. “With our industry’s evolving demands, TCW’s identity needed to adapt,” said ECCHO Live Founder and Executive Director Chris Lisle. “Collaborating with our board, partners, and staff, we developed a name and brand that reflects our current resources and future vision. ECCHO Live supports every aspect of a live event professional’s career.”
Key components of ECCHO Live’s outreach include the All Access Program which provides four free confidential counseling sessions with pre-approved therapists to all professionals, their spouses or partners, and dependents. In 2023, All Access on Site (AAOS) expanded its mental health services to festivals, fairs, and large music events where artists, crews, and staff could schedule on site sessions with therapists. AAOS aims to grow from three festivals in 2023 and nine in 2024, to a goal of 18 events this year. The flagship Touring Career Workshop returns later this year as the ECCHO Live Fall Workshop.
Day Off events occur consistently on the second Monday of each month and provide a casual, semi-active opportunity for industry professionals to meet up and network while enjoying things like karaoke, TopGolf, trivia, or a chili cookoff. Networking Nights are regularly organized solely for industry networking.
Since its creation, more than 5,000 people have attended the Touring Career Workshop yearly event, benefitting from sessions led by industry leaders on topics including fiscal health, work/life balance, creating a business plan, updating a resume, security issues, and networking.
“Our mission has always been to empower live event professionals,” said ECCHO Live General Manager Kara Kemp. “The rebrand will strengthen this mission with continuous year-round programming to support our industry.” ECCHO Live is 100% supported, sponsored, and funded by industry professionals and their rapid growth and success would not be possible without the generous support of long-term partners. They were recently selected as a recipient of a $100K donation from the Country Music Association (CMA) as part of that organization’s investment in mental health organizations within the music industry.
This year will continue to be a year of growth and innovation for ECCHO Live as they continue to build a supportive and thriving environment for all who bring live events to life.
Further information from ECCHO Live: www.eccholive.com
About ECCHO Live
ECCHO Live, a 501c3, offers human resources for live event professionals. Created as Touring Career Workshop in 2011 by Chris Lisle, owner of concert event design, production, and management firm CLLD (Keith Urban, Robert Plant, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, NFL Draft, Nashville’s New Year’s Eve Bash, among others) and industry professional Erik Parker to educate and mentor their colleagues in the touring music industry by providing access to experts on topics including health insurance, financial planning, mental and physical health self-care, home ownership, and work/life balance through their annual Q4 Touring Career Workshop in Nashville (now the Fall Workshop). Rebranded as ECCHO Live in 2025, the organization has grown to include year-round resources through their All Access Program which offers four free, and totally confidential, counseling sessions with pre-approved therapists, their All Access on Site Program (AAOS) which expanded their counseling offerings to major U.S. festivals, fairs and large music gatherings including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and CMA Music Festival. Their Day Off and Networking Nights events offer monthly networking social events. For more about ECCHO Live or to make a donation, please visit www.eccholive.com.
