When Live Nation Entertainment commenced its Diversity Department (September 2015), the first ERG we started the across the group was our LGBT ERG, known as PRIDE Nation. The group is global, with chapters across our international market including the US and the UK. However, PRIDE Nation in the UK has proven to be our most dynamic and influential ERG chapter, effectively proving with a compelling story the business case and inclusion creation cases for Diversity at Live Nation Entertainment globally.
Launch: PRIDE Nation’s launch event welcomed the entire company and was represented by very senior executives, while planning sessions for our Manchester PRIDE float encouraged sexual orientation awareness as it was planning communications with the entire employee population to get involved with the event.
PRIDE Manchester: Having a team in Manchester, LNE was able to sponsor a float in the Manchester PRIDE parade. Over 50 staff from the London and Manchester teams contributed to the construction, decoration and creative direction of the float, with about 30 of those staff participating in the parade, aboard the float on the day including staff from the LGBT community and allies. In the lead up to the event, staff in both the London and Manchester offices were invited to participate in the involvement of creating the PRIDE float, costume design, float construction and taking part in the parade. Internal communications were sent out by News Wire, an all staff mail from our Diversity Division, advertised on Yammer and promoted on the internal blog.
Inclusion: All staff are encouraged to participate in ERG activities. The Diversity initiatives of PRIDE Nation were firstly able to offer a voice to the LGBT community with the organisation, namely Live Nation Music UK and Ticketmaster UK. As the momentum of the ERG grew, we were able to use our exciting events, partnerships with charities and commitment to diversity and inclusion as a company. Mark Yovich, President of Ticketmaster International, said, “With a global staff base as diverse as our fans, I am personally grateful to the contributions of our LGBTQI community, in every part of our business. Our partnership with Manchester PRIDE represents a commitment from our company to contribute to positive, actionable change for the LGBTQI community, and support for a greater conversation around diversity and inclusion in business.”
