Presenting The 2022 CrowdUltra Event Talent Awards
Since CrowdUltra is focused on connecting crowds to bring everyone closer together, they’ve formed the CrowdUltra Awards to celebrate the best of all things with a crowd.
For those who don’t know, CrowdUltra is
part free all-in-one event and audience interaction app, part ticketing platform, and part social network.
The CrowdUltra Awards features
over 100 categories among segments they provide value to including events, podcasting, event talent, and event planning.
They have now narrowed down the CrowdUltra Event Talent Awards category winners for 2022. The award winners stood out among the rest and should be celebrated
for the quality of their work. Those selected were determined by a mix of submitted nominations along with our expert panel’s assessment on a multitude of considerations
including quality, community, and uniqueness. See who was selected and learn about them below.
The 2022 CrowdUltra Event Talent Awards Feature:
Best Keynote/Public Speaker - Nick Vujicic
Description:
Aussie-American Nick Vujicic is an entrepreneur, internationally known speaker, and author, who has traveled the globe sharing his life story to inspire millions of people. He motivates and equips people of all ages to dream big and never give up, as he shares his faith, values, and the principles of how he transformed his life from a life without limbs into a life without limits! He co-founded multiple non-profit organizations including Life Without Limbs and Unbound Warrior, and through his passion to fight against bullying he, with partners at Noble Education Initiative, developed a full comprehensive, academic, social-emotional learning curriculum for public and private schools and students of all ages. Vujicic has written 6 books, which have sold over 3 million copies in 30+ languages and has had the opportunity to address 10 national governments, as well as meet 21 Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Prime Ministers. Corporations that have had Vujicic motivate their teams include Google, Keller Williams, JP Morgan Chase, Remax, FranklinCovey, NuSkin, Young Living, Monat, Isagenix, Plexus, USANA, Cisco, and countless more.
Best Convention Talent - Matt Mercer
Description:
Matt Miller, better known as Matthew Mercer, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his work with Studiopolis, Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, and NYAV Post in anime, cartoons, and video games.
Best Festival Talent - Slipknot
Description:
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray.
Best Comedian - Big Jay Oakerson
Description:
Big Jay Oakerson is one of the most beloved and easily recognizable comedians in New York City. His easy charm and dirty delivery endear him to audiences every night. Jay’s comedy career spans two decades and a journey from “comic’s comic” to mainstream fame.
Best Athlete Speaker - Laila Ali
Description:
Laila Ali is a world-class athlete, fitness & wellness advocate, TV host, home chef, founder of the Ali Lifestyle Brand, and mother of two. The youngest daughter of late beloved global icon and humanitarian, Muhammad Ali, she is a two-time hall of famer and four-time undefeated boxing world champion, whose stellar record includes 24 wins (21 of which were “knockouts”) and zero losses. Ali is heralded as the most successful female in the history of women’s boxing. Ali is a sought after inspirational speaker and author. She has keynoted speaking events at Harvard University, North Carolina A&T and has spoken to thousands of executives at leadership conferences for multi-billion dollar corporate brands around the world. Her life’s story is chronicled in a dynamic book for young women entitled “Reach!” which has just been re-released to the public.
Best Business Speaker - Daymond John
Description:
Daymond John is CEO, President, and Founder of FUBU, a much-celebrated global lifestyle brand, and a pioneer in the fashion industry with over $6 billion in product sales world-wide. John is an award-winning entrepreneur, and he has received over 35 awards including the Brandweek Marketer of the Year, E&Y’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award and, most recently, was named #4 on LinkedIn’s Top 20 Voices. John is also an author of four best-selling books including his New York Times best-selling books, "The Power of Broke" (2016) and "Rise and Grind" (2018). Finally, he’s celebrating his 12th season on ABC’s hit business show "Shark Tank" by acclaimed producer Mark Burnett, which has reinvigorated entrepreneurship around the world.
Best Finance Speaker - Andrew Lo
Description:
Andrew W. Lo is the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, a Professor of Finance, and the Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to MIT Sloan, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School as the W.P. Carey Assistant Professor of Finance from 1984 to 1987, and as the W.P. Carey Associate Professor of Finance from 1987 to 1988. Lo has published numerous articles in finance and economics journals. He is a co-author of The Econometrics of Financial Markets and A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street, and is the author of Hedge Funds: An Analytic Perspective. His awards include the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Paul A. Samuelson Award, the American Association for Individual Investors Award, the Graham and Dodd Award, the 2001 IAFE-SunGard Financial Engineer of the Year award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the CFA Institute’s James R. Vertin Award, and awards for teaching excellence from both the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and MIT Sloan.
Best Health/Wellness Speaker - Wim Hof
Description:
Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof got his nickname 'The Iceman' by breaking a number of records related to cold exposure including: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot, and standing in a container while covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes. Using 'cold, hard nature' as his teacher, his extensive training has enabled him to learn to control his breathing, heartrate, and blood circulation and to withstand extreme temperatures. And so he developed the Wim Hof Method: a combination of breathing, cold therapy and commitment that offers a range of benefits. Armed with his motto 'what I am capable of, everybody can learn', Wim Hof is convinced that everyone can tap into their inner potential without having to invest the same decades worth of study, travel and daring.
Best Leadership Speaker - Adrian Gostick
Description:
New York Times bestselling author Adrian Gostick provides advice to some of the world’s most successful organizations on building culture, managing change, and leading high-performance teams. Gostick is a global thought leader in the fields of corporate culture, leadership, and engagement. He is founder of the workplace training and consulting company The Culture Works and author of the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestsellers "All In," "The Carrot Principle," "Leading with Gratitude," and "Anxiety at Work." His award-winning books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies around the world.
Best Military/Veteran Speaker - Jason Redman
Description:
Retired Navy SEAL and business leader Jason Redman is a severely wounded warrior, NY Times and Amazon bestselling author, veteran advocate, business leader, and acclaimed leadership and resilience speaker. From a potentially career-ending leadership failure, Redman fought back to redemption and respect only to find himself shot eight times including a round to the face in a fierce firefight in Iraq. Redman now motivates and inspires audiences across the country with his remarkable journey of leadership, redemption, and building a relentless Overcome Mindset. After a 21-year career, Redman retired from the Navy in 2013 and founded SOF Spoken, a speaking and coaching company which provides inspirational presentations on leadership, teamwork and overcoming adversity for businesses, first responders, sports teams, and government organizations.
Best Motivational Speaker - Les Brown
Description:
As one of the world’s most renowned motivational speakers, Les Brown is a dynamic personality and highly-sought-after resource in business and professional circles for Fortune 500 CEOs, small business owners, non-profit and community leaders from all sectors of society looking to expand opportunity. For three decades he has not only studied the science of achievement, he’s mastered it by interviewing hundreds of successful business leaders and collaborating with them in the boardroom translating theory into bottom-line results for his clients. As a premier Keynote Speaker and leading authority on achievement for audiences as large as 80,000—Les Brown energizes people to meet the challenges of the world around them. Les Brown is committed to motivating and training today’s generation to be achievers and leaders. Les Brown’s audio series, “Choosing Your Future,” remains his all-time bestseller for its acclaimed impact worldwide. Les Brown is not only an internationally recognized speaker and CEO of Les Brown Unlimited, Inc., he is also the author of the highly acclaimed and successful book, Live Your Dreams, and former host of The Les Brown Show, a nationally syndicated daily television talk show which focused on solutions rather than problems.
Best Psychology/Mindset Speaker - Dan Clark
Description:
Dan Clark is a CEO of an international high-performance communication and leadership development company; a New York Times Best Selling Author; a Hall of Fame Professional Speaker; a University Professor; an Extreme Adventurer; a Gold Record Songwriter; an Award-Winning Athlete; and 2012 Utah Father of the Year, who has become the modern-day Napoleon Hill, having interviewed the world’s most successful business gurus and champion athletes to share their secrets on what works and why. As one of the most in-demand speakers on the planet, Dan delivers customized, cutting edge keynote speeches and transformational training programs to entry-level employees, emerging leaders, seasoned executives, educational administrators, and military officers and NCOs. In the last thirty years Dan has spoken in all 50 states, 61 countries, on 6 continents, to over 5500 audiences, to millions of people, to a ‘who’s who’ list of clients including 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, National Trade Associations, Million Dollar Round Table, Super Bowl Champions, NASA, U.S. and Foreign Government Agencies, and the United Nations.
Best Science Speaker - Garrett Reisman
Description:
Dr. Reisman was selected by NASA as a mission specialist astronaut in 1998. Dr. Reisman performed 3 spacewalks, operated the Space Station Robot Arm and was a flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle. After leaving NASA in 2011, Dr. Reisman joined SpaceX where he worked for Elon Musk and prepared SpaceX for human spaceflight as the Director of Space Operations. Currently he is a Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and a Senior Advisor at SpaceX.
Best Technology Speaker - Ray Wang
Description:
Ray Wang is the Founder, Chairman and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley based Constellation Research Inc., a research and advisory firm which studies disruptive business and exponential technology trends. Wang’s the co-host and co-founder of the widely watched DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode. He’s also the author of the popular business strategy and technology blog “A Software Insider’s Point of View” that has received millions of page views per month. Wang also serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council's GeoTech Center. Since 2003, Wang has delivered thousands of live and virtual keynotes around the world that are inspiring and legendary.
Best Anime Convention Talent - Chris Sabat
Description:
Chris Sabat is an American voice actor, voice director, ADR engineer, and line producer working for Funimation, and OkraTron 5000.
Best Comic Convention Talent - Tara Strong
Description:
Tara Strong is known for her voice work in animation, websites and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as The New Batman Adventures, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, Rugrats, The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly OddParents, The Proud Family, Xiaolin Showdown, Ben 10, Chowder, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, DC Super Hero Girls, and Unikitty!. She has also voiced characters in the video games Mortal Kombat X, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy X, X-2, Blue Dragon, and Batman: Arkham. She has earned Annie Award and Daytime Emmy nominations and won an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
Best Live Band - Slipknot
Description:
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, drummer Joey Jordison and bassist Paul Gray.
Best Live DJ - Jauz
Description:
Jauz is Sam Vogel, a Los Angeles-based EDM producer whose motto "music has no boundaries" is matched by his eclectic range of styles. From his music to the artists he brings up on stage, it’s clear that Jauz is a dominant force in dance music.
Best Live Rapper - Lil Baby
Description:
Atlanta-bred rapper Lil Baby is charismatic, confident, and overwhelmingly popular on a worldwide level, consistently topping the charts with his rough-yet-accessible commercially geared sound. Following a series of mixtapes, his popularity exploded in 2018, the year he released his first proper album, Harder Than Ever (which included the Drake-featuring hit "Yes Indeed"), and Drip Harder (a collaborative mixtape with Gunna), both of which entered the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. He hit number one in 2020 with second studio album My Turn and again the next year with The Voice of the Heroes, a collaborative studio effort with Lil Durk. Lil Baby made a habit of dominating the charts, debuting in the top spot once more in 2022 with third studio album It's Only Me.
Best Comedy Special - Ari Shaffir: Jew
Description:
This is my 4th special. Passive Aggressive, Paid Regular, Double Negative, and now this, Ari Shaffir: Jew. In addition to my first release, an album called Revenge for the Holocaust. All the details in this special were meticulously researched and fact checked. This is my love letter to the culture and religion that raised me. I worked on it harder than I've ever worked on anything. And I'm giving it to all of you because I want you to have it. Please talk about it with each other. Share laughs with your friends and family while you talk about this special. Ari Shaffir: Jew was made to bring people together. Let's have some fun!
Best Comedy Content - Gilly and Keeves
Description:
Gilly and Keeves is a sketch-comedy show written by John McKeever, a comedian turned show writer and producer. Shane Gillis is the face of the sketches and is joined by a hilarious cast of Philly comics including Tim Butterly, Lemaire Lee, Matt McCusker, Ryan Shaner, Mike Rainey, and more. Gilly and Keeves released their first season of 12 episodes in 2021 on YouTube and garnered over 12 million views. Season two was released October 4th privately at https://gillyandkeeves.tv/.
Best Up And Coming Comedian - Zac Amico
Description:
Zac Amico is one of the most underrated comedians set to become a household name in the world of comedy. He may be the funniest and quick-witted person in comedy, which is something die-hard east coast comedy podcast fans will attest to. Aside from being hilarious, Zac is as unique and hard-working of a person you’ll come across. He is truly an enigmatic renaissance man whose talent goes far beyond comedy. Zac is involved in many different artistic pursuits including hosting his popular and unique comedy podcasts, performing comedy at The Stand in NYC along with touring the country with comedians like Luis J. Gomez and Aaron Berg, writing/film-making in the horror movie industry, as well as participating in pro wrestling.
