Events by Holtermonster
I love cooking up ideas for events I want to attend and then just planing them myself!
I’ve been coordinating community-centered arts events in Memphis since 2007. Here are some highlights!
Events Organized for American Advertising Federation of Memphis 2024-2026
Serving on the board for the Memphis chapter of the American Advertising Federation since 2023, I’ve also led the Events Team since July 2024. This position has given me the platform to plan events that benefit local creatives, bring the community together to learn, and spotlight incredible talent with speaking opportunities. All graphics by Holtermonster unless otherwise credited.
2026 Advertising Awards
Saturday, February 21 2026
Pink Palace Museum
I had the honor of co-organizing the 2026 Advertising Awards hosted by AAF Memphis! The theme was AI— Actual Intelligence, and I got to use my contacts around town to help book our biggest annual event.
graphic by Red Deluxe
The Unknown | Speaker Luncheon with Wiseacre artist Rachel Briggs
Thursday, November 8 2025
Wiseacre Downtown
Rachel Briggs has been creating beautiful handdrawn imagery and typography for Wiseacre Brewing for a decade+. This talk took place in Wiseacre’s taproom surrounded by sigange, logos, posters, merch, and even wallpaper designed by Rachel herself.
Professional Monster Meet-Up
Tuesday October 14, 2025
Monster Market
For the strange serious, oddly-employed, and passionately peculiar! Celebrating the wonderful weirdness of professional creatives of all kinds, this was a fun crossover event between my two passion projects: AAF Memphis and my seasonal pop-up Monster Market.
Opportunities Open Mic
Thursday, September 26 2025
BVO’s River Room on Mud Island
Year 2 of an original event concept of mine! I invited reps from local arts orgs to this open mic-style event to pitch their creative opportunities to local artists and designers.
Brand Blueprint | Personal branding workshop by Jamie Cox
Thursday August 7 2025
Epicenter Memphis
I had the pleasure of booking a brand strategist out of Nashville named Jamie Cox, who brought her quirky personal branding workshop to Memphis! Attendees enjoyed a catered lunch during the workshop, which took place at Epicenter— an entrepreneurial incubator.
Industry Standard | One-day Creative Summit
Friday, June 13 2025
The Zone, University of Memphis
A one-day creative summit featuring a lineup of design and marketing industry professionals, along with a coffee hour, included lunch, expo hall, photo booth, and post-conference happy hour.
Small Business, Big Strategy | Panel on Marketing in Memphis
Thursday, March 20 2025
Minglewood Hall
A casual happy hour overlooking the city skyline from Grind City Brewing to hype up the squad for the AAF Awards!
Awards Pre-Game Happy Hour
Thursday, February 13 2025
Grind City Brewing
A casual happy hour overlooking the city skyline to hype up the squad for the AAF Awards!
graphic by Mary Elizabeth Whitmire
Morning Buzz | Coffee meetup
Wednesday, Jan 22 2025
Dr. Beans Coffee & Tea Emporium
Morning Buzz is a chill social event offering local marketing professionals and creatives free coffee and a chance to network.
AAF Memphis Board Holiday Party
December 17 2024
A private event for our current AAF board to celebrate the past year’s accomplishments & compete in a themed Dirty Santa game.
Go for the Gold | AAF Awards Entry Workshop
December 5 2024
Doug Carpenter & Associates
I organized this workshop as a resource for navigating the entry process for the AAF Awards.
graphic by Ronnie Lewis
Speaker Luncheon: Laws of UX, Jon Yablonski |
Thursday, November 14 2024
Central Station Hotel
I invited award-winning UX designer, author, and thought leader Jon Yablonksi to speak on the basic principles of user experience design. A homecoming of sorts, as Yablonski is a fellow MCA alum.
Scarily Professional: A Haunted Happy Hour
Tuesday, October 15 2024
Monster Market
A special intersection of my projects, this was a fun social hour for creative professionals right at Monster Market’s 2024 pop-up.
Opportunities Open Mic
Thursday, September 26 2024
Palladio Interiors
A new original event concept, I invited reps from local arts orgs to this open mic-style event to pitch their creative opportunities to local artists and designers.
You Need an AAF’n Drink!
Aug 29 2024
Wiseacre on Broad
A playful low-key happy hour to kick off a new board year.
graphic by Ronnie Lewis
Creative for Hire: Lunch and Panel Talk on Creative Freelance
May 23 2024
Black Lodge
My first time organizing a panel + my first time moderating one! This panel brought together 4 creative professionals doing freelance work in Memphis.
The Edge District’s First Ever Art Crawl
December 19, 2025 in the Edge District
Memphis Flyer | Edge District Has Its First Art Crawl
Take a self-guided tour through Marshall Arts, Sheet Cake, Ugly Art Co., and Solid Ground.
https://www.memphisflyer.com/edge-district-has-its-first-art-crawl
“We want to let people know that the Edge is an active third space,” Lee says of his hopes for the art crawl. “The district’s still in its formation, but it’s a walkable locale with interesting things to do.”
“And it’s cool to show off that we have a blooming arts district popping up with some old heads, like Marshall Arts, and all these new bloods,” adds Holtermann. “It’s really exciting.”
Miscellaneous In-Store Events at Monster Market 2017-2025
Monster Market is an annual seasonal pop-up I’ve been organizing each October in Memphis since 2017! This short spooky shop is packed with weird art and strange novelties, all from artists and makers. I organize fun events at the shop to draw folks in, spotlight cool projects, and partner with rad brands in Memphis. Here’s some of my favorites!
Monster Collage Party with Like Really Creative
Thursday October 15, 2025
A special edition of Like Really Creative’s popular collage parties at Monster Market, featuring spooky curated tunes and fun monster collage materials.
Free screening of Dracula (1931) with Beale Street Monster Club
Sunday October 12, 2025
A special edition of Like Really Creative’s popular collage parties at Monster Market, featuring spooky curated tunes and fun monster collage materials.
Locally-Made Live Game Demo with the Game Creators
Sunday October 12, 2024
A live demonstration of a locally-designed games by their creators, featuring Rumors and Legends (a take on Clue, but with cryptids!) and Fledge’s one-page TTRPGs.
Professional Monster Meet-Up
Tuesday October 14, 2025
For the strange serious, oddly-employed, and passionately peculiar! Celebrating the wonderful weirdness of professional creatives of all kinds.
Monster Market Mini-Mart at Slowdown Cinema Club
Thursday, October 30 2025
A curated vendor market of movie-related vendors who also had work in Monster Market!
Twisted Terrors | Free screening of Hellraiser (1987) + pretzel pop-up
Tuesday October 15, 2024
A free movie night featuring horror classic Hellraiser (1987), with a soft pretzel pop-up by Whisks of Doom’s side project Twisted Sissies.
Wake and Bake Pastry Pop-Up with Whisks of Doom
Sunday October 13, 2024
A highly-anticipated pastry pop-up from local heavy metal baking brand Whisks of Doom that always draws a crowd— we’ve hosted this one every year!
Monster Market 2022 Kick-Off Party
Saturdday, October 1 2022
Returning from 2 years fully online during the pandemic, we did a hybrid year to test the waters with a one-night-only party and mini-mart.
Satanic Sundays | Weekly Handpie Delivery
October 2021
During the pandemic, Monster Market collected online preorders for Whisks of Doom’s weekly specials. We would then organize the addresses into a delivery route and hand-deliver orders!
Scribble: Monster Edition | Open Social Drawing Night by Hive Collective
Wednesday October 16, 2019
Hive Collective mostly existed as an online community, but also hosted occasional events! Scribble was a chill open drawing night, and we had the pleasure of hosting a monster edition.
Café du Monster | In-store coffee tasting at Monster Market
Sunday October 22, 2017
One of our first makers to believe in us was local coffee roaster Launch Process Coffee, who also worked at the corn maze scaring kids! We hosted a couple of these events where he served free coffee to customers in full costume.
Creature Cocktails at Monster Market
Saturday October 28, 2017
One of our first events at our very first Monster Market pop-up! Simple and sweet, it was just a low-key happy hour event at the shop that promised fun smoking bubbling dry ice cocktails to customers as they browsed!