Fast Forward

What Fast Forward does

Fast Forward (legal entity: Fast Forward Events) is a privately-held live media and experiences company founded in 2004 by Michelle Metter and Ken Loyst and headquartered in El Cajon, California. The company designs, produces, and operates a portfolio of consumer-facing festivals, B2B trade conferences, expo halls, and industry forums concentrated in passion-led verticals including culinary, beverage alcohol, hospitality, content creation, low/no ABV, and travel and tourism. The portfolio spans the flagship San Diego Food + Wine Festival, SommCon (a B2B conference and Beverage Expo for wine and adult beverage professionals), Craft Beverage Expo (acquired 2024), Tasting and Tap Room Expo (launched May 2024), DC Food + Wine Festival (preview 2026, full launch 2027), and a set of niche events including Creator Live, Women in Craft, SommGo, Concours d'Vin, and Concours d'Spirits. Fast Forward Futures, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by the company in 2017, has awarded over $700,000 in culinary and hospitality scholarships.

The business model is transaction-based across three primary revenue streams: consumer and trade ticket/registration fees, sponsorship and brand partnership income, and trade show exhibitor booth fees. Co-location of trade and consumer events (e.g., SommCon and San Diego Food + Wine Festival sharing a Grand Weekend) is the central go-to-market mechanism, designed to deliver B2B2C access to brands in a single footprint. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; Fast Forward's stated customer segments are beverage industry professionals (buyers, distributors, sommeliers with purchasing power reportedly above $50,000 per professional), culinary and food enthusiast consumers, beverage and food brand sponsors, and culinary industry talent. Distribution is direct via owned event platforms, supplemented by content marketing, email newsletters, social, podcast partnerships, PR/earned media, and conference speaking. Operationally the company runs on a lean team of 11-50 employees and has not disclosed external funding; it has deployed an internal ChatGPT-based generative AI assistant for content, email, and research workflows.

Name

Fast Forward

Legal name

Fast Forward Events

Website

https://fastforwardevents.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fast Forward Events is a privately-held, San Diego-based live media and experiences company that designs and operates B2B conferences, consumer festivals, and trade shows for the culinary, beverage alcohol, and hospitality industries, serving trade professionals, brand sponsors, and consumer audiences across a multi-event portfolio.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Event Production and Experiential Marketing

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Event Promotion & Talent Buying (Promoters) (MPAGAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events) (MPAGAHAA), Premium / VIP Ticketing & Hospitality Packages (HSACALAL)

Keywords

• Live event production
• Consumer food festivals
• B2B beverage conferences
• Trade show exhibitions
• Experiential marketing services

Headquarters

HQ city

El Cajon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Ticket Sales and Registrations: Revenue generated from consumer festival tickets and B2B trade show/ conference registrations. San Diego Food + Wine Festival, DC Food + Wine Festival (launching), SommCon, Craft Beverage Expo, and other portfolio events.
2. Sponsorship and Brand Partnerships: Brands sponsor and activate at events. Corporate sponsors use events as backdrop to convene communities, curate private tastings, and engage key accounts. Exhibitor participation at trade events (75+ exhibitors at SommCon 2023 Beverage Expo).
3. Beverage Expo Floor Space: Exhibitor fees for trade show floor space. At SommCon 2023, the Beverage Expo occupied 40,000 square feet with 75 exhibiting companies representing leading brands, products, and innovations in the wine and adult beverage category.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Fast Forward is a live media and experiences company that designs, produces, and operates a portfolio of B2B conferences and trade shows (e.g., SommCon, Craft Beverage Expo, Tasting & Tap Room Expo) and consumer festivals (e.g., San Diego Food + Wine Festival, DC Food + Wine Festival). The company sells event tickets and registrations, sponsorship packages, and exhibitor floor space, while also operating Fast Forward Futures, a nonprofit scholarship arm that has awarded over $700,000 to culinary and hospitality students.

Product overview

Fast Forward is a live media and experiences company operating at the intersection of culture, commerce, and community. The company owns and operates a diverse portfolio of premium live and digital experiences spanning B2B conferences, consumer festivals, trade shows, and industry forums. The core portfolio includes San Diego Food + Wine Festival (flagship consumer festival), SommCon (B2B conference and expo for wine/beverage professionals), Craft Beverage Expo (acquired brand), Tasting & Tap Room Expo (launching 2024), and various niche events including Creator Live, Women in Craft, SommGo, Concours d'Spirits, and Concours d'Vin. Additionally, Fast Forward Futures is a nonprofit scholarship arm that has awarded over $700,000 in culinary and hospitality scholarships. The company also plans to expand into Washington D.C. with DC Food + Wine Festival (preview 2026, full launch 2027). Services span event production, experiential activations, sponsorship sales, marketing, and public relations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SommCon: Leading conference and expo for wine and adult beverage professionals
• San Diego Food + Wine Festival
• Craft Beverage Expo
• Tasting & Tap Room Expo

Products and services

• San Diego Food + Wine Festival A large-scale consumer food and wine festival celebrating the culinary connection between San Diego and Baja California, featuring flagship events including Grand Fiesta and Grand Tasting. Targeted at culinary and food enthusiasts.
• SommCon Conference & Beverage Expo The leading B2B conference and expo for wine and adult beverage professionals, featuring educational seminars, networking events, panel discussions, and the Beverage Expo. Targeted at wine directors, sommeliers, beverage directors, buyers, distributors, importers, and brand professionals.
• Craft Beverage Expo A trade show expo serving craft beverage industry professionals, acquired by Fast Forward Events in 2023 as part of the company's portfolio expansion in the beverage industry.
• Tasting & Tap Room Expo An inaugural B2B expo launching in May 2024 focused on the craft beverage industry and tasting room / tap room hospitality segment.
• Creator Live An event experience focused on content creators and influencers within the passion-led industries Fast Forward serves.
• Concours d'Spirits A spirits competition and showcase event for spirits brands and industry professionals.
• Concours d'Vin A wine competition and showcase event for wine producers and industry professionals.
• Women in Craft An event and platform celebrating and supporting women in the craft beverage and culinary industries.
• SommGo A sommelier-focused event and experience platform within the Fast Forward portfolio.
• DC Food + Wine Festival A consumer culinary festival launching in the Washington D.C. area with a 2026 preview experience followed by a full commercial launch in 2027, designed to serve Maryland and Virginia regions.
• Fast Forward Futures A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by Fast Forward that awards scholarships of $250 to $5,000 per selected finalist in the culinary, enology, and hospitality industries; over $700,000 in scholarships have been awarded to date.

Quantifiable outcome

• SommCon 2023 achieved 110% growth in registrations compared to previous year, with over 1,000 attendees and 60% first-time attendees
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Fast Forward FuturesminorOthersFast Forward Futures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to making access to educational opportunities available through scholarships awarded in the culinary, enology and hospitality industries. Fast Forward founded and supports this nonprofit.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Heimdall Power Events / Decanter World Wine Awards: Decanter operates premium wine events, competitions, and consumer-facing wine experiences globally. Comparable to Fast Forward's Concours d'Vin wine competition and consumer wine festival components of the portfolio.
• Wine Industry Network: Wine Industry Network operates wine industry events, trade shows (including the Wine Industry Expo), and digital media. Most directly comparable niche trade show operator to Fast Forward's SommCon B2B wine and beverage expo.
• Connect Meetings: Connect is a meetings, events, and trade show media company producing conferences and awards programs for the events industry. Comparable to Fast Forward's conference and expo production model, particularly for industry education and networking events.

Broad incumbents

• Questex: Questex operates B2B events, conferences, and media properties across hospitality, travel, and lifestyle verticals. Directly comparable operating model to Fast Forward's owned-event portfolio approach.
• Informa Markets: Informa Markets is the world's largest B2B events organizer running thousands of trade shows across food, beverage, hospitality, and lifestyle verticals. Directly comparable as an incumbent competitor to Fast Forward's SommCon and Craft Beverage Expo trade events, though operating at massively larger scale.
• Tarsus Group: Tarsus Group is an international B2B events and media organizer operating trade shows across multiple verticals including food/beverage and lifestyle. Comparable business model of owning and operating B2B trade shows, though with broader geographic reach.
• Emerald Holdings: Emerald is a B2B event and media owner operating large trade shows and conferences across multiple verticals including food and hospitality. Comparable to Fast Forward's B2B conference and expo business model, but at portfolio scale dozens of times larger.

Emerging players

• Bizzabo: Bizzabo is an event experience platform serving event organizers with registration, marketing, and analytics software. Comparable as an enabling technology platform used by event organizers, though Bizzabo competes in the technology layer rather than event ownership.

Others

• Freeman (event production services): Freeman is the largest event production and experiential services company in North America, providing AV, logistics, and on-site services to trade shows and corporate events. Comparable as an events-industry ecosystem participant providing infrastructure Fast Forward would contract for execution.
• SITE (Society of Incentive & Travel Executives) events operators: SITE and member-organizers produce incentive travel and corporate hospitality events. Indirectly comparable as a community-driven B2B events organizer with adjacent corporate hospitality and culinary programming overlap with Fast Forward's corporate events work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/F2VEvents
• Facebookfacebook.com/fastforwardventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fastforward-events-pr

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fast Forward