Billy Ludwig

Creative Director | Event & Experiential Marketing | Convention & Brand Specialist

Massillon / Northeast Ohio | Open to Relocation

Instagram: @billyludwig
LinkedIn: billyludwig
Portfolio: billyludwig.net

Contact

Professional Summary

Creative and event professional with 10+ years of experience operating within the convention, festival, and experiential-event world through brand development, merchandising, live-event sales, audience engagement, and independent event production. Founder and Creative Director of Thirteenth Floor, an independent art and apparel brand with experience across 100+ conventions, festivals, art fairs, and live events throughout North America and internationally. Brings firsthand understanding of fan culture, exhibitor operations, visual merchandising, event branding, merchandise strategy, and live audience engagement from both the creative and operational sides of the industry.

Professional Experience:

Founder & Creative Director

Thirteenth Floor — July 2010 – Present

  • Founded and operated independent art and apparel brand focused on pop culture, merchandise, live events, and direct-to-consumer sales.

  • Participated in 100+ conventions, festivals, art fairs, and experiential events across North America and internationally over a 10+ year period.

  • Managed all aspects of event participation including booth design, merchandising, inventory coordination, setup/teardown, logistics, staffing coordination, payment processing, and customer engagement.

  • Developed and launched original merchandise lines including prints, apparel, collectibles, and mixed media artwork.

  • Built and managed brand audience across social media and direct marketing platforms, including 15,000+ email subscribers and a combined social audience of 100,000+ followers across platforms.

  • Executed product launches, convention exclusives, and event-specific releases tied to major conventions and live events.

  • Participated in major conventions and festivals including New York Comic Con, C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con, MegaCon, Riot Fest, Fan Expo events, and Okinawa Comic-Con in Japan.

  • Collaborated with entertainment industry clients and celebrity-associated projects, including merchandise collaborations connected to Norman Reedus and commissioned artwork for John Dolmayan of System of a Down, among others.

  • Managed direct-to-consumer online sales through Shopify and in-person live-event sales environments.

  • Designed promotional graphics, social campaigns, merchandise visuals, booth-display materials, and event branding assets using Adobe Photoshop and digital marketing platforms.

Independent Artist & Brand Collaborator

Self-Employed — July 2010 – Present

  • Produced and sold original mixed media artwork through galleries, conventions, online releases, and art fairs nationally and internationally.

  • Maintained gallery relationships and direct collector sales while developing long-term audience engagement through visual branding and experiential presentation.

  • Physically sold artwork internationally while participating in events and creative projects abroad, including Japan and Canada.

  • Developed a recognizable visual identity and merchandise ecosystem centered around original intellectual property and pop-culture-inspired artwork.

Event Producer & Organizer

Gravediggers Ball — Annual Event Series

  • Produced and hosted long-running annual Halloween-themed experiential event featuring live music, visual art, vendors, performers, immersive attractions, and community engagement elements.

  • Coordinated entertainment booking, vendor participation, event promotion, visual branding, layout planning, logistics, and live-event operations.

  • Grew event into a heavily attended recurring community experience drawing hundreds of attendees annually over a 10-year run.

Core Skills

  • Event Marketing

  • Experiential Marketing

  • Convention Operations

  • Exhibitor Relations

  • Brand Development

  • Merchandise Strategy

  • Audience Engagement

  • Visual Merchandising

  • Live Event Sales

  • Event Production

  • Social Media Marketing

  • Product Launches

  • Fan Engagement

  • Booth Design & Presentation

  • Customer Relations

  • Creative Direction

  • Community Building

  • Vendor Coordination

Platforms & Tools

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Adobe InDesign

  • Shopify

  • Squarespace

  • Mailchimp

  • Meta Ads

  • Instagram

  • Facebook

  • YouTube

  • Square

  • VideoShop

Additional Experience Highlights

  • 10+ years of convention and experiential-event industry experience

  • International event and sales experience including Japan and Canada

  • Experience working across conventions, festivals, galleries, pop-ups, art fairs, and live-event environments

  • Extensive understanding of fan culture, event audiences, merchandising, and experiential brand engagement