Fast Forward
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersEl Cajon, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
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.
Fast Forward firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Fast Forward industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Fast Forward is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- El Cajon
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Fast Forward business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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).
- 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
Fast Forward product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Fast Forward
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Fast Forward technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Fast Forward partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Fast Forward FuturesminorFast 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
Fast Forward competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Fast Forward social profiles
Digital presenceFast Forward compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Fast Forward financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Fast Forward leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Fast Forward subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Fast Forward funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Fast Forward M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Fast Forward
What does Fast Forward do?
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.
Is Fast Forward a public or private company?
Fast Forward is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Fast Forward founded?
Fast Forward was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Fast Forward based?
Fast Forward is headquartered in El Cajon, United States, in the North America region.
How does Fast Forward make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Event Ticket Sales and Registrations are the primary driver. The others are sponsorship and Brand Partnerships and beverage Expo Floor Space.
Who are Fast Forward's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Heimdall Power Events / Decanter World Wine Awards, Wine Industry Network and Connect Meetings. Broad incumbents are Questex, Informa Markets, Tarsus Group and Emerald Holdings. Bizzabo is listed as an emerging player. Others are Freeman (event production services) and SITE (Society of Incentive & Travel Executives) events operators.
Does Fast Forward have an API?
No public API is recorded for Fast Forward.
What industry is Fast Forward in?
Fast Forward's product category is Live Event Production and Experiential Marketing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAJAC, Event Promotion & Talent Buying (Promoters), with a secondary code of MPAGAHAA, Corporate Meetings & Conferences (Internal/External Business Events). Its NAICS code is 56192 and its SIC code is 7900.