The Military Influencer Conference (MIC) 2023 showed up in Las Vegas last week. The annual show welcomed entrepreneurs, educators, and of course, veterans, active-duty service members, and their spouses – all in the name of connecting the right people to the right services and elevating the military community.
Mission Influences
Now in its sixth official year, the idea for the conference came naturally to Curtez Riggs, Founder of MIC. He was a Company First Sergeant in the U.S. Army and Regional Manager of Recruiting and Talent Acquisition, so MIC was a logical next step. While the word “influencer” is embedded in the name of the conference, Riggs was quick to point out that this isn’t about a bunch of pompous attitudes coming together to discuss the latest trends on social media. It’s more about thought leadership and building something special.
“Leadership is a process of influencing others to accomplish a mission, given clear-cut purpose and motivation,” Riggs told us.
“To me, a leader is an influencer … but that word has been hijacked. Now people believe that this is a bunch of people coming together to learn how to use TikTok,” he said. “The ‘I’ is interchangeable. You could look at it as Impact, Innovation, Inspiration, Inclusivity – these are the pillars on which this conference is built.”
Walking around, it’s clear that the gathering is focused on bringing leaders together to elevate each other through classes, seminars, streaming content, and an active marketplace designed to support this community. The biggest sponsor in that active marketplace is USAA, which has been step in step with Riggs since the event started in a single room with just a couple hundred people. The conference has since grown to over 2,500 attendees, but the core mission of elevating veterans and the military community, especially through entrepreneurship, remains the same.
Making an Impact
“The genesis of what we do is bring stories to the top of mind that highlight the challenges and success that veterans and spouses have had in this space,” Mike Kelly, Assistant VP and Deputy of Military Affairs for USAA, told us in an interview. Through these stories, veterans are able to pitch their companies and connect with the right people to make an impact. Kelly was clear that these events aren’t just learning and networking, but there is money on the table.
“They have pitch competitions, and there is a lot of money to be made at these events,” he said. One of the companies Riggs wanted to highlight was Mutt Sauce, a veteran-owned company that went on to “Shark Tank” and became one of Daymond John’s best success stories. But whether you win a pitch competition or not, there is still the marketplace, with companies like Remarkabl ready to help build businesses and empower creators through unique promotions.
“We’re here to hoping we can find some people who can use that cash injection, plug them into our model, and help take their business to the next level,” Eric Basek, Founder of Remarkabl, told us. Basek not only is a sponsor of MIC but also a speaker who presented on mental health with the legendary Chef Rush. And that brings us full circle back to that word: influencer.
While the “I” may be interchangeable, there is no shortage of influencers at the event who are speaking and willing to inspire anyone willing to listen. Whether you’re talking about the larger-than-life Chef Rush, who will challenge you to a pushup contest of one, or the first-ever veteran Miss USA, Deshauna Barber, who will inspire you with a tale of perseverance, there is no shortage of influence at the conference.
The future is bright, too, with the event expanding to the East Coast and Atlanta next year. MIC’s impact and leadership is in tow, ready to embrace and influence a new wave of show attendees.
