Las Vegas is a city built on spectacle, but some of its best stories happen off the Strip. Josh Abelson is proof: he took an empty warehouse with no infrastructure and turned it into The Industrial Event Space, a venue that has hosted Microsoft, Ferrari, the NFL, and even a sitting U.S. President. He joined Sean Kelly on the Digital Social Hour to explain how he pulled it off.
The conversation ranges from helicopters and fireworks to a 2,500-person pizza festival, with detours into surviving COVID, what Formula 1 really means for locals, and why live podcasts may be the next frontier in event programming.
About Josh Abelson
Josh Abelson came to Las Vegas by way of Chicago and California and built The Industrial Event Space from the ground up — literally, starting with a warehouse that had zero infrastructure. The venue grew into a trusted home for corporate gatherings and large-scale productions, and it weathered the near-total collapse of the events industry during COVID.
Abelson is also the force behind the Las Vegas Pizza Festival, a 2,500-person celebration of a pizza scene he argues quietly ranks among the best in America. Between events, he stays sharp with sauna sessions, cold plunges, and a full slate of biohacking routines.
What Josh Abelson and Sean Kelly Talked About
- How Josh Abelson turned an empty warehouse into a venue trusted by Microsoft, Ferrari, and the NFL
- What it takes to host a sitting U.S. President at a private Las Vegas venue
- Why Las Vegas quietly became one of the strongest pizza cities in America
- Inside the Las Vegas Pizza Festival, where 2,500 people turn out for local chefs
- How the events business survived COVID, and what the collapse taught Abelson
- The real impact of Formula 1 weekend on Vegas locals and business owners
- Why live podcasts are emerging as the next big thing in event programming
- The sauna, cold plunge, and biohacking habits that keep a venue founder sharp
Why This Conversation Matters
Most coverage of Las Vegas stops at the Strip; this episode shows the entrepreneurial engine underneath it. Josh Abelson's path from bare warehouse to presidential host is a practical lesson in betting on a city, surviving a shutdown, and building events people cross the country for — pizza included.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
Related Digital Social Hour Episodes
About Sean Kelly & the Digital Social Hour
Sean Kelly is an entrepreneur and the host of the Digital Social Hour, one of the fastest-growing interview podcasts in the world, where he sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and cultural voices for candid, long-form conversations. The show draws over 100 million views a month across platforms. Explore more guest features on SeanKelly.io.
About The Author
