What started as a borderline internet joke from Erick Erickson in 2009 has become one of the largest conservative conventions in America, now known as The Gathering.
After working at the digital outlet RedState for nearly five years, Erickson published an article on the conservative outlet asking if readers would be interested in coming to Atlanta for a beer.
Roughly 1,000 people said that sounded like a swell idea. And The Gathering was born.
In a conversation with Barrett Media, Erickson joked that the humble beginnings had quite the star-studded lineup.
“Our very first one, we had a group of people that were all running for office. There was a guy named Marco Rubio. Another guy named Ted Cruz. A lady named Nikki Haley. Even Liz Cheney, Pat Toomey, who went on to be in the Senate from Pennsylvania. They all showed up,” said Erickson. “When I got into radio, I realized I really, really believe radio is the most intimate medium because you have to listen to someone’s voice to know if it’s sarcasm or excitement or what. So people feel like they really know their favorite radio hosts. So I thought ‘I should do this with my listeners. And get them in person.’ Once I started my WSB show, I kept it going, even after I had left RedState. It’s kind of taken on a life of its own now.”
In 2023, The Gathering featured several prominent figures seeking the Republican Party nomination for President which ultimately went to Donald Trump, who was one of the few who did not attend the Atlanta conference.
The 2024 version features another lineup of well-known conservatives with the likes of former Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Rep. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), among others.
Erick Erickson believes the success of the event shows the power that terrestrial radio still has despite many believing the medium’s best days are behind it.
“We have people coming from 47 of 50 states. We have people from every one of my radio markets around the country coming,” he noted. “I think I’m the only guy in radios who’s done this. I’ve been doing it now for more than a decade. And it’s just it’s a way for me to connect more meaningfully with listeners and also provide them something beyond just being a passive listener on the radio.”
Erickson freely admitted that the event is a bit different than other conservative events. He shared that The Gathering has to be different due to the demographics of his listener base.
“My audience tends to be a little different in that a lot of the conservatives will go to CPAC. And it checks all the boxes. You don’t need another conference,” he said. “My listeners tend to be in their 30s and 40s. They’re working, they got kids, they can’t do politics, they’d rather do sports. So they listen to me for the news and otherwise tune out. This was a way for them to come together and hear some politics. They wouldn’t go to CPAC. They’re not going to a Republican convention. But they do want to be involved, so this is a perfect fit for my audience to do something like this.”
As founder of The Gathering, Erick Erickson hopes the event remains an intimate event. Roughly 1,000 attendees will come to the Grand Hyatt Buckhead during the conference. And he hopes it stays at roughly that size to mimic the attachment and familiarity radio listeners have with not only him but the noteworthy speakers.
“I would never want this thing to get to like a 10,000-person crowd, because then it couldn’t be intimate. But knowing that I can get 1,000 people in a room at a reasonable price for them, plus travel and hotel, to hang out with me — who they listen to every day, and the people I talk about on the radio — it’s why I like radio,” he said. “It’s so much more personal than even TV.”
The Gathering is scheduled for a kickoff party on Thursday, August 8th before running all day on Friday, August 9th and concluding on Saturday, August 10th. Erick Erickson admitted planning will then begin for the 2025 event in the aftermath of the August date.
“Our first planning meeting begins the week after The Gathering,” he shared. “So many big radio companies do big music concerts, but nobody wants to do anything political these days. So its a void I can fill.”
And if 2025 is anything like 2024 and 2023, it will be another star-studded event that brings conservative radio listeners closer to the newsmakers they yearn to interact with.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
