Utah Valley University alumnus Matt Farr is in the business of nerdiness on a grand scale.

He is the head of business development for FanX Salt Lake, Utah’s premiere multi-genre pop culture expo that celebrates nerd culture through comic books, movies, sitcoms, anime, and video games.

FanX Salt Lake Comic & Pop Culture Convention is Dan Farr Productions’ annual event. It is the most attended convention in Utah and the largest comic convention in North America per capita. The conventions have attracted celebrities like Stan Lee, Chris Evans, Mark Hamill, Jeremy Renner, Elijah Wood, Dick Van Dyke, Tom Felton, Jason Momoa, Matt Smith, Sir Patrick Stewart, Buzz Aldrin, and so many more.

Matt’s dad, Dan Farr, began producing the event in 2012. Dan hired Matt after he graduated from UVU to oversee the development of the Utah-based convention as well as similar gatherings in Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Tampa.

According to Matt, this role requires no shortage of business savvy, networking, and confidence, something he learned at UVU. “Because of my UVU classes, I felt confident I could do it,” he said.

While Matt said he never gravitated toward the fandoms that garner hundreds of thousands of visitors to FanX every year, he appreciates the outpouring of love, excitement, and community building he sees in the annual convention’s visitors.

This appreciation came in the form of an experience Matt had six years ago while introducing actor Elijah Wood, who portrayed Frodo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, to a crowd of over 4,500 fans at a FanX panel.

“I was terrified,” Matt said. “But it was really cool to go up on stage and introduce him. That was a really, really fun experience for me, definitely a highlight.”

During his time at UVU, Matt said he looked for a major that involved business in some way. “I slowly moved into the business management field, and I would dip my toes in different classes. Even after I declared business management as my major, I still didn’t know if it was right for me,” he said.

He eventually took an entrepreneurship class, where his professor taught him about taking risks and being confident, which ultimately helped him pursue the field that he is in now. Matt cited his time at UVU as a watershed moment in his career path — a key moment in his story that sent him on a path in the family business.

“I honestly never had a bad professor at UVU,” Matt said. “Every class that I had was with a professor that made the effort. I could have a relationship with every professor; that was definitely something that helped me get through school and get my education.”

Matt recalled a conversation where his dad invited him to be part of the family business.

“A few months before I graduated, he approached me and asked me to step into the [business development] role. I don’t think he would have felt confident in my ability to step into the position had I not developed the way I did at UVU.”

FanX’s social media pages and groups reach 1-2 million people each week and play host to one of the most engaged and active comic convention social media communities in the world.

UVU and FanX have aligned visions in curating spaces where everyone is welcome to be themselves. Whether you’re attending college as a returning student, new student, or first-generation student, there’s a place for you at UVU.

Learn more about Utah’s largest comic book and pop culture convention, FanX.

 Learn more about the UVU Woodbury School of Business.