The Bash (formerly GigMasters) is an event services booking platform. Its headquarters are in

South Norwalk, Connecticut South Norwalk is a neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut which corresponds to the city's Second Taxing District. Often referred to as SoNo, the neighborhood was originally settled as Old Well, then chartered as the city of South Norwalk on Augus ...

, U.S. The Bash matches entertainers with planners of weddings, dances, parties, festivals, celebrations, and corporate events.

History

GigMasters was founded in 1997 by entrepreneurs Michael Caldwell and Kevin Kinyon who were based near New York. The company launched the first version of its website in February 1997. In September 2010, GigMasters raised $200,000 in expansion funding from investor James Marciano. In 2013, about half of the company's bookings were wedding-related. In November 2013, the company raised $1.3 million in series A funding by

XO Group The Knot Worldwide, formerly XO Group and The Knot Inc., is an American media and technology company that provides content, tools, products and services for couples who are planning weddings, creating a home, and starting a family. The company ge ...

, parent company of TheKnot.com. Kristin Savilia, XO Group's Executive Vice President, joined GigMasters' board of directors. In September 2014, Inc. Magazine ranked GigMasters as one of the nation's 5000 fastest growing private companies. In October, 2015, the Caldwell and Kinyon, creators of GigMasters, sold the company for $8.5 million to

. In June 2018, GigMasters launched The Bash in New York City to test a one-stop party planning platform. The team learned a lot and validated findings around a complete booking experience while learning that the brand name ‘The Bash’ resonated well with party planners. In July 2019, The Bash was expanded nationwide by merging it with GigMasters, and rebranded the combined site as The Bash (www.thebash.com). In January 2020, The Bash launched venues in New York and Los Angeles and began removing references to GigMasters across the site. In April, 2020, The Bash launched venues in Chicago and other major markets, revealed an official new logo, a redesigned navigation and footer, and color updates to the site to reflect the new brand style.

Features

The Bash sorts entries by instrument and by event or service type. Musicians create profiles and describe their services. Potential customers can enter their location and search for the service they need."25 Places to Hire a Santa Claus for Your Small Business"
''Small Business Trends'', Nov 25, 2016 by Annie Pilon

References

{{reflist Event management Companies established in 1997 Online marketplaces of the United States Companies based in New York (state) Freelance marketplace websites