Thank you to those who nominated and voted for these influential leaders. Venues Today is honoring these young professionals who make a difference in sports, music, conventions, family shows and festivals. Our annual Generation Next Awards honoring young leaders 35 or younger will be profiled in the June issue of the magazine. 

Congratulations to our 2013 VT Generation Next Award Recipients! 

Jason Blumenfeld
General Manager for Global Spectrum — Abbotsford (B.C.) Entertainment & Sports Centre

Monty Jones Jr.- Social Butterfly Award
General Manager for Global Spectrum — Augusta (Ga.) Entertainment Complex

Deidra Sibila
Senior Director of Ticketing for Live Nation

Brian Sipe- Reader's Choice Award Winner
General Manager for SMG - Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, W.Va.

Becca Watters
Marketing Manager for Spokane Public Facilities District

To reserve congratulatory ads, please contact your account executive!

Rich DiGiacomo
Western and Northeastern U.S., International
(310) 429-3678 rich@venuestoday.com

Jim McNeil
Southeastern and Midwestern U.S.,
(207) 699-3343 jim@venuestoday.com 

Pictured at the SXSW panel “Going Wide With Ticket Distribution” are Barry Kahn with Qcue, Mark Achler with Redbox, Jim McCarthy from Goldstar and Larry Martin at ScoreBig.

REPORTING FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS — Pricing can only move a ticket so far. Faced with an uptick in messaging for TV shows, movies and restaurants, it’s often impossible to get an offer in front of a consumer, never mind the price.

“If someone doesn’t want to go to a show, then price is totally irrelevant,” said Goldstar CEO Jim McCarthy during the panel “Going Wide With Ticket Distribution” — one of only two panels at this year’s South by Southwest Music Conference (March 12-16) in Austin, Texas to deal with the issue of ticketing.

The other panel was “Rogue Ticketing” with Windish agent Sam Hunt (representing Girl Talk, Chromeo and Matt & Kim) and TicketFly’s Gannon Hall, looking at how acts like comedian Louis CK avoided Ticketmaster with in-house ticketed tours. While the era of the exclusive ticketing contract has not come to an end, many venues are actively seeking new ways to get tickets in front of fans. 

“Distribution is the biggest issue in ticketing that no one is talking about right now,” said Qcue CEO Barry Kahn, who led the distribution panel that included Goldstar’s McCarthy and Mark Achler, SVP, New Business Strategy & Innovation at Redbox and Larry Martin, VP of Sales at ScoreBig.

Many teams and producers confuse their ability to set the costs of an event as their best asset to drive sales, something McCarthy describes as the “myth of price” — the idea that the face value of a ticket drives the consumer’s buying decision.

“If someone doesn’t want to go to a show, then price is totally irrelevant,” McCarthy said, noting that his research shows “awareness is the biggest barrier, and second is answering the question ‘Why should I care?’”

There’s also the logistics and availability, “all the psycho-social things and the question ‘Is this the type of event I should be at based on the person I am?’ Eventually when you get to the bottom of the chain, then you hit price. You can fail multiple times before you ever get to a real price consideration.”

Marketing versus Discounting

It’s hard not to see the distribution power of a company like Redbox, which has more than 44,000 video rental kiosks in North America and email addresses belonging to 45 million customers.

Earlier this year, Redbox launched ticketing initiatives in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Curious about how his organization should pursue messaging, Eckler said his team recently launched two campaigns for the same family show, each marketed differently. Both events were priced the same, but one campaign focused on the fact that service fees for the show were only a $1, while the second campaign highlighted that tickets were marked down 33 percent. The first campaign sold 10-20 tickets per week — the second campaign moved 400 tickets in seven days.

Is that a sign that price is a driver? Not necessarily said Eckler, who noted that the deal could be found on other channels, but when the size of an untapped market was combined with the buzz around getting a great deal, many new consumers were willing to take the plunge and make a ticket purchase. The better the deal the promoter makes for the show, the easier it is to market.

“We charge a dollar fee (for each transaction) and we’re not in the business of setting price— that’s up to the promoter or organizer,” Eckler said. “The better the value, the more aggressive we will market and promote and use our assets.”

And unlike ticketing companies that often silo each client's transactional sales, sites like ScoreBig and Goldstar are able to take a wide approach at setting ticket price, based on their own data.

Goldstar uses a system called Scale Power that determines the price based on matching variables to past events to set the right price and sales goal. ScoreBig uses more of an algorithmic approach, using an individual's past buying history to guess the right price for the consumer against a reserve price.

“ScoreBig is very big on protecting value, making people jump through hoops to get the deal and doing dynamic pricing on the back end. We publicize the deals we make with teams, and we don’t send out press releases,” he said, preferring to work on an “opaque model” where the buyer never quite under-stands where their ticket is coming from.

Shift in sales strategy

McCarthy said he’s seen a shift in the way primary ticketers look at distribution models. Once an adversary to anything that took tickets off Ticketmaster’s own channels, the company and others now see value in third-party distribution and have created integrations to quickly move tickets on and off the platform.

“Its gone from a soviet lockdown to a much more open approach, even at Ticketmaster,” said McCarthy. “They can make money in a whole bunch of different ways – they see value on their side.”
It’s led to a shift in the way promoters approach ticket distribution, he said, noting that Cirque du Soleil often plots out the shows it plans to place on Goldstar a year in advance.

“Organizations need to stop practicing panic marketing — in most cases we know something is going to be a problem pretty far out, so deal with the crisis well in advance,” said Martin from ScoreBig. Shows that are put on sale in a last-ditch effort to grab consumers often fail because fans are now used to buying tickets in advance. The average on ScoreBig is 29 prior to the event — “we are not a last minute channel,” he said.

Do the distribution channels compete with each other? Not really, said McCarthy, who has clients who often use several distribution channels per year depending on their goals.

“It would be stupid for us to shoot our bullets at one another when there’s hundreds of millions of tickets going unsold each year,” he said.

Interviewed for this article: Barry Kahn, (512) 626-5503; Mark Achler (630) 756-8000; Jim McCarthy, (626) 204-3969; Larry Martin, (914) 621-8201

The government in Westminster, London, has appointed Mark Taylor as the new chief executive at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. He will officially begin the new position April 4. Taylor brings more than 30 years of experience to the QEIICC. He has served as assistant director of Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau, Marketing manager of the Wembley Convention and Exhibition Centre (and subsequently of Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena), and director of Sales and Marketing for Wembley International. Taylor also held the chief executive position at Wales Millenium Centre from 2010-2012. Most recently, he worked as an associate at Why Not Consulting, and currently serves as a nonexecutive director of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Taylor will succeed Ernest Vincent, who served as chief executive at the QEIICC for 10 years.

Jason Beckett

TD Garden in Boston, operated by Delaware North Companies Boston, has promoted Jason Beckett to serve as vice president of Operations.  Beckett is no stranger to TD Garden — he's worked there for 20 years. After graduating from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Beckett began working at the venue in 1993. Most recently, he served as director of Operations. In his previous position, Beckett led a restructured operations team that is responsible for executing more than 200 events each year. TD Garden is the home of the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins.

A rendering of Brussels National Arena/Palais 12. (Photo by Alliage Architectes)

Already a popular gathering spot in Europe, Brussels (Belgium) Expo is about to get even busier with opening of the Brussels National Arena in June. The renovation of Palais 12 exhibition hall into a 15,000-seat arena is on budget €20 million ($26 million) and on time (with a four-month construction turnaround).

Now it is looking for even further success with a support services agreement with AEG Facilities-Europe, which includes sponsorships and bookings.

The venue is being referred to as Brussels National Arena/Palais 12, or locally as 012, one of 12 halls that was enhanced for the World Expo in 1958 and originally built for the world’s fair in 1935. Since 1936, when the city government began seeking uses for the world’s fair legacy venues, the complex has been privately managed by Brussels Expo and owned by the city.

Now, it is about to be site of the largest arena in Belgium at 15,000 seats. The renovated Palais 12 is, in truth, a €60 million ($77.6 million) project, given the value of the land, existing structure and parking, said Denis Delforge, Brussels Expo CEO. The renovation was paid for from operating surpluses.

Brussels Expo draws about 3 million visitors annually to 100 events a year, Delforge said. Two annual events, the boat show and the real estate fair, use all 12 halls, and that will continue to be the case. But most exhibitions and trade fairs, especially during the holidays, close at 6 p.m., leaving plenty of availability for the 80-100 concerts and events a year Delforge expects will be booked in the arena.

Since the 02 opened in London under AEG seven years ago, AEG Facilities has looked upon Belgium as a great opportunity, said Brian Kabatznick, VP of business development for AEG Facilities-Europe. Converting Palais 12 into an arena makes perfect sense.

AEG Europe is already talking to Feld Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil and WWE, Kabatznick said. Delforge added that there are a couple of big concerts also nailed down, but none will be the grand opening event due to routing and seasonal concerns.

Delforge listed several things that will make Palais 12 stand out as an arena. Because it is a retrofit and to better serve the customer, it will have a large lobby area, which is actually a new building attached to the existing exhibit hall, complete with concessions and other amenities. “It will redefine the benchmark for our business, which is welcoming people,” Delforge said.

VIP seating will also be different. Rather than building suites, Brussels Expo opted to designate a 500-seat VIP area, with a table between seats for easy socializing and eating, but without walls separating “rooms.” The VIP ticketholders will then have access to a private gathering space behind the seating section with bars and restaurants and restrooms.

Tickets will be packaged, but there will be no VIP seats sold on an annual basis with monies kept by the venue. Monies from the VIP tickets will be split with the promoter, as is the rest of the house, Delforge said. The vision is that corporations can buy 60 tickets or two tickets by event, according to the appropriateness of the entertainment to the company’s target demographic. European promoters like that concept, Delforge said.

Of course, some tickets will be packaged with sponsor deals, he said, something Brussels Expo and AEG Facilities are refining as they begin seeking support. AEG Facilities will assist in all premium seating sales under the agreement. AEG will also provide operating support, but Kabatznick said there are no AEG staff on site permanently.

“I think we will change the business model,” Delforge said of the VIP experience.

Architect for the project was a local firm, Alliage. Delforge said work on the project began in August 2011, but the majority of construction was squeezed into a four-month window between big shows.

The first big concert will be by a French singer, Mylene Farmer, Nov. 13, 15, 16. Bookings also include Robin de Bois, May 9-10, 2014, and Tokyo Ballet, May 16-17, 2014.

Brussels Expo has 12,000 parking spaces and is centrally in the heart of Europe. Located near the King Baudoin Stadium, Brussels National Arena, Palais 12, will reach the entire Belgian population and will showcase Belgian, French and International artists, sporting events and family shows, as well as other exhibitions and special events.

Brussels has been in AEG’s plans since initial discussions about building a new national arena commenced in 2007-2008. That prospect is still in the offing, but will not be likely before 2020-2025.

Kabatznick said AEG Facilities Europe now operates or supports 24 buildings, compared to 10 when The O2 opened in London in 2007.

Interviewed for this story: Denis Delforge, + 32.2.474.85.56; Brian Kabatznick, +44.208.463.2190
 

Former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke, wife Bernadette Leiweke, Spice Girls singer Victoria Beckham and husband, soccer player David Beckham, pose at "The David Beckham Academy" launch party at Creative Artists Agency on June 3, 2005 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Now that Tim Leiweke has left AEG, the company he built from scratch as CEO, what does his future hold?

The longtime CEO of AEG led just about every part of the live entertainment business. He took a hands-on approach with the Los Angeles Kings hockey franchise and guided Major League Soccer through a decade of expansion, with his own Los Angeles Galaxy winning back to back championships this year and last. He built a real estate empire around the world with iconic arenas in London, Shanghai, and Sydney and pioneered the transformation of downtown Los Angeles with the formation of the country’s most dynamic mixed-use development, L.A. Live. He helped building the thriving touring division AEG Live, launched a massive ticketing company and dipped his hand in the television business with Mark Cuban and Ryan Seacrest to create AXS TV.

Sports. Mega-real estate. Music. Television. Technology. The list of industries Tim Leiweke brought into the AEG fold as part of his synergistic vision for live entertainment goes well beyond the periphery of most firms. On top of it all, he led a process to bring the National Football League to Los Angeles, and while the vision for Farmers Field has yet to be realized, Leiweke achieved a historical accomplishment when the Los Angeles City Council approved the project in September 2012.

That act alone required intervention by the California State Legislature and newly elected governor Jerry Brown, who passed an environmental exemption to ease the review period of the project after a vigorous lobbying effort by Leiweke, who counts former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and outgoing L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as friends. Every major network from ESPN to ABC to BET has filmed award shows at L.A. Live — even the President of China, Xi Jinping, made a special trip to Los Angeles to see Leiweke, following a Washington D.C. visit to President Barack Obama in February 2012. (Jinping was VP of China at the time)

“He knows so many extremely wealthy and connected people from the network he built and nearly all of them view him as a visionary,” said Tony Tavares, president of Disney Sports from 1993 to 2002 and a former executive with the Dallas Stars.

A scan of the sports landscape presents several obvious opportunities for Leiweke. Madison Square Garden Entertainment is looking for a new President to replace Scott O’Neil, who left last year after four years. The iconic New York arena, like Staples Center, is also home to basketball and hockey teams and real estate and television holdings, including the popular cable network Fuse. There’s also an opening for a CEO at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, home to the Toronto Raptors and the iconic Maple Leafs of hockey.

“He’s a great guy, a very smart businessman and a visionary,” said Bob Hunter, executive VP, Venues & Entertainment, Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment.

“I worked with him a few years ago when he came to Toronto to pitch programming and management, part of a soup and nuts deal that included AXS ticketing,” Hunter said. “I told him thanks, but we’re the fifth biggest market in North America and we’re doing great on our own.”

Hunter said there has been a change in ownership at the MLSE and a search for a new CEO has begun, but Tavares said he doubts the Maples Leafs would hire an American for the job over a Canadian.

“Tim (Leiweke) is very much an outside-the-box kind of thinker. He probably would not want an operational role where he does the same thing day after day,” said Tavares. “He’s a creator and a creative person. Give him a job where he can have a blank canvas and create something. He knows so many people that are extremely wealthy and interested in creative projects that he could take on many roles.”

It’s entirely possible that Leiweke will land somewhere outside of the sports and entertainment industry, where his propensity for large scale deal-making can be put to use. The recorded music industry is in  need of change, although Leiweke might find more upside and opportunity in television and film, which continue to report record profits even as the market realigns through changes to cable television, regional sports networks and on-demand digital networks like Netflix.

There's also plenty of opportunity to continue to reshape California and even L.A., which is starting to emerge from a five-year drop in housing prices with a slight tick upwards and talk of higher interest rates at the Federal Reserve. 

“Just look at the footprint downtown and LA Live," said Alex Hodges, CEO of Nederlander Concerts. "It went from an idea, to drawing board, to happening; and Tim Leiweke was the commander on the ground, leading and driving the troops to make it happen.”

Wherever he surfaces, he’ll have to ride out any lingering contract clauses he has with his former employer AEG. Last year Leiweke re-signed a five-year contract as CEO, meaning there was likely a big buyout to end his contract. Does that mean he has a no-compete clause barring him from working in the industry for the next one, two or even 10 years? Hard to tell said Tavares, who noted that states like California greatly restrict non-compete clauses, but large severance packages typically include the waiving of certain rights, and that might be one of them.

“Whatever happens, I think Tim will eventually come out and talk, but I doubt he’ll spend a lot of time dwelling on the past,” said Tavares, noting the forner CEO is more of a visionary than a historical revisionist.

“He’ll land on his feet and start moving forward very quickly. He’s a very bright guy.” 

Interviewed for this article: Tony Tavares, (775) 853-4712; Bob Hunter, (416) 815-5738; Alex Hodges, (323) 817-6100

Kelsey Morgan was named 2013 Florida Strawberry Queen at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City.

In spite of some “cold” temperatures that dipped into the 50s and 40s in the evenings, attendance at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City was on par with last year’s, slightly higher at 526,100, compared to last year’s 525,300.

“It’s good because last year was the best year we ever had, not just attendancewise,” said GM Paul Davis. “It was the best year we had having a successful event. Spending was up 14 percent and we were coming off a high the year before. This went up again, about 4 percent.”

Weather was “a concern” during the first several days of the Feb. 28-March 10 fair, Davis said, when temperatures dipped down into the 50s and even into the 40s in the evenings.

“We were down the first weekend,“ he added. “And then we had a strong end of the week and a record-breaking Saturday and Sunday to finish our season out.”

Recording the number of fairgoers has improved in the past few years with the implementation of a ticketing system that scans bar codes.

“It really does feel more accurate than ever,” Davis said. “Before then it was kind of a sophisticated guess.”

Etix has been doing the festival’s tickets for four years and after clearing a few hurdles – such as getting wireless coverage at every gate – the system has been getting an accurate count of paying fairgoers as well as anyone who gets comp tickets, for instance, through a sponsoring radio station. Media and those going to the agricultural areas are not counted, Davis said.

On the last Saturday, attendance broke a single-day record with 88,000 fairgoers passing through the gates, only to be broken again on Sunday when that figure was exceeded by 10,000 at 98,000.

That Sunday, March 10 figure was aided by two sell-out concerts – the only two in a 26-act lineup – when country singer Hunter Hayes played in the afternoon, followed by Blake Shelton in the evening.

“We have 3,000 free seats, so we had many people on the grounds,” Davis said.

Concerts take place in the Wish Farms Soundstage, an old football stadium that has a capacity of about 12,000, with 8,500 paid seats and 3,000 free seats, Davis said.

“We had all those people leaving after the Hunter Hayes concert and coming for Blake Shelton,” he added. “It caused quite a traffic jam. We did everything we could. We had law enforcement trying to keep it smooth but we need more parking.

“That’s a good problem to have.”

The fair has about 60 acres of parking, charges $5 a spot and runs a shuttle. Some fairgoers end up having to park in neighboring church parking lots and even in neighbors’ yards, generally for $5 or maybe $10 for closer spots, Davis said.

The concert budget came to $2 million, Davis said, on par with last year. That meant most days there were two or three concerts. Opening day, Feb. 28, was one example. It was senior day and the first two concerts – polka musician Jimmy Sturr in the morning for free and Chubby Checker in the afternoon for $15 or $20; both were popular with senior citizens who took advantage of the gate discount.

“We gear a lot of stuff toward seniors that day,” Davis said. “We put out a dance floor for the polka band.”

Then that evening, rock band Foreigner played.

“Seniors usually leave by 6:30 p.m.”

Other acts that hit at least 10,000 in attendance were “American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery and Alan Jackson, Davis said. Oldies act Bobby Vinton also did well.

Other well-known acts included Casting Crowns, Lorrie Morgan and Pam Tillis on a shared billing; Dwight Yoakam; Martina McBride; Neal McCoy; Trace Adkins; Mel Tillis; Brantley Gilbert; T.G. Sheppard/Janie Fricke; Gaither Vocal Band and Bret Michaels.

Deltona, Fla.-based Belle City Amusements placed more than 90 rides on the midway, Davis said. The carnival was up. Armbands cost $20 most days and $25 on Sunday, but patrons who brought in cans of Mountain Dew got $5 off.

Owner Charles Panacek said he has not finished doing the math yet but he expects the numbers to be high.

“We were up over last year,” he said. “It looks like this year is the biggest year we’ve had there.”

This was the fifth year Belle City Amusements has played the Florida Strawberry Festival.

New rides included a Sky Swing, a Zamperla Air Raid, the Fun Factory, and a new funhouse called Big Bamboo, Panacek said.

Gate admission remained the same as last year, Davis said, at $8 and $4 for ages 7-12, and $10 and $5 at the gate. “It’s been the same for about 10 years,” he added.

The year-round operating budget is $7 million, Davis said. The budget for marketing is in the $700,000-$800,000 range. All types of media are utilized, including billboards, newspaper, TV and radio. The marketing theme for the year was “Our Masterpiece of Fun,” with the festival’s Mr. Strawberry character shown with a painter’s hat and mustache painting on a canvas that said “Florida Strawberry Festival.”

Next year’s dates are Feb. 27 to March 9.

Interviewed for this article: Paul Davis, (813) 752-9194; Charles Panacek, (407) 399-1831

A mock-up of the new signage on the ShowPlex at Washington State Fair.

It’s new names all around at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, which made headlines last year when deciding to change its name from the Western Washington Fair. The fairgrounds’ ShowPlex exhibition building will also be renamed this year, becoming the Sleep Country ShowPlex in a 10-year deal.

If the name Sleep Country USA sounds familiar, it’s for good reason. Its parent company, Sleep Train Inc., has been snapping up naming rights deals on the West Coast. Just two months ago, Sleep Train Mattress Centers added Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, Calif., to the list of venues bearing its moniker. The home of the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings was branded Sleep Train Arena not long before that.

Sleep Country USA is a family-oriented, regional division of the company. It has had a previous partnership with the Washington State Fair, making deals to receive fair tickets to supplement philanthropic efforts, including the company’s work with the Sleep Country Foster Kids program.

According to Paula Beadle, fair sponsorship manager, the fairgrounds’ relationship with Sleep Country USA extends many years.

“Last year, we had a promotion where we brought in several organizations and foster families to have a behind-the-scenes experience of being at the fair for the day,” she said. “Sleep Country USA provided those families the chance to see the fair from a different perspective.”

Sleep Country USA was interested in sponsoring a building at the state fair due to its family-friendly nature.

“For the Foster Kids program in previous years, Sleep Country has worked with the fair to get free tickets for foster kids and their families,” said Jennifer Ritchie with Revolution PR for Sleep Country USA.

She said that the partnership made sense because the area doesn’t have many amusement parks or other places that families congregate.

“I would say the family-friendly aspect was very important,” said Ritchie.

“The fair tends to be kind of a big draw here because there aren’t many other things like that available,” she added.

The number of events in addition to the state fair also served as a draw. In 2012, the events center hosted 261 event days during 151 interim events. More than 500,000 guests go through its doors during interim events each year. Last year, more than 1.1 million visitors attended the fair.

Sleep Country USA is also a sponsor of the spring fair, a four-day event on the fairgrounds each year.

In addition to signage outside the building, which will increase from two signs to six large signs around the building, the ShowPlex will also increase signage inside the building.

“We even reconfigured the inside of the building to create a circular centerpiece-type booth for Sleep Country USA in the middle,” said Beadle.

“They also have marketing benefits, including promotional rights, inclusion and visibility on our website, and will be featured in a lot of our marketing collateral materials,” she added. “We’ll also do a program each year specifically to support their efforts around the Foster Kids campaign, which was a very important piece to them, and we’re providing them with lots of tickets to distribute to the families.”

Previously, the facility had a naming rights deal with Americraft Cookware. That company decided not to renew its contract.

“They’re still a partner with the fair and an old friend,” said Beadle. “Their business has changed and their objectives have changed, so we were really happy about Sleep Country USA having an interest in taking over that naming rights.”

“We always have appreciated our brand alignment with Sleep Country USA because of their efforts around the community, particularly around the Foster Kids program,” added Beadle.

The Washington State Fair runs Sept. 6-22, with the Spring Fair in Puyallup taking place April 18-21.

Interviewed for this story: Paula Beadle, (253) 845-1771; Jennifer Ritchie, (206) 354-8049
 

Prior to his sold-out show at Staples Center, Los Angeles, on March 24, Vicente Fernandez is met by Emily Simonitsch, Sr. VP of talent for Live Nation; Christy Butcher, vice president of events at Staples Center; and Lee Zeidman, GM, Staples Center.

A couple of enormous grosses for one-off shows stood out in this week's chart. George Strait capped off Rodeo Houston with his March 17 performance at Reliant Stadium at Reliant Park. More than 80,000 people attended the show, which is part of Strait's farewell tour. The single performance grossed more than $8 million. Next up for Strait is a show at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., April 5. Vicente Fernandez had a huge date at Staples Center in Los Angeles, bringing more than 17,000 fans out on March 24. The king of Mexico's ranchera music grossed more than $3.1 million. Fernandez continues through California in April, with shows at Selland Arena in Fresno on April 12, Stockton Arena on April 13, and HP Pavilion in San Jose on April 14.

Mike Tyson scored a knock-out with his Mike Tyson: The Undisputed Truth show. The one-man show, directed by film maker Spike Lee, landed on our Hot Tickets chart for its run at Los Angeles'Pantages Theater. More than 7,000 attendees came over three performances, with tickets starting at just $25 for a gross of more than $400,000. Next, Tyson heads to Peabody Opera House in St. Louis for an April 5 show, and stops in Detroit the next night for a performance at Fox Theatre.

HOT TICKETS is a weekly summary of the top acts and ticket sales as reported to VT PULSE. Following are the top 20 concerts and events, the top 5 in each seating capacity category, which took place between March 6-27.

The Cover photo on Dallas' Granada Theater's Facebook page features some of the staff on Halloween.

Facebook and other social networks have become a necessity for marketing at venues — so much so that Venues Today even created the SMP 100 chart to rank social media presence in the industry. Now the cover photo, one of the most visible images on your Facebook page, has one big restriction: no more than 20 percent text.

The restriction has actually been in place since December 2012, but was part of a list of rules that has been pared down. The previous rules also included bans on pricing information and contact information.

“I don’t think people realized there are those rules,” said Andy Sternberg, chief innovation officer at Adler Integrated. “They were there to set guidelines, but Facebook never really took the time to enforce them.”

“I think it’s a good thing that they made the rules more realistic,” he added.

Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia has traditionally kept the same format for its cover photo, said Cody Snider, marketing manager for Comcast-Spectacor, which manages the facility. The right side of the cover image has the logos of the three franchise teams at the building, and there are three photos of upcoming bands or events with small text underneath.

“Certainly the rule is going to be an adjustment for everybody, but we’re in a lucky position in that a lot of what we do is based on images, anyway,” said Snider.

“We’ve stuck to images because visually, it makes sense,” he added. “People see the logos and the colors in them and immediately associate them with the teams.”

One time the marketing team did change the entire cover photo on the Wells Fargo Center’s Facebook page. The switch involved their Big Ticket promotion, in which the building gave away a prize of two tickets to every event at the building for 2013. The contest was based on the social networking site and generated 22,436 new fans on their Facebook, an increase of 49 percent.

“When we had the Big Ticket promotion or if we have some huge, unexpected concert we make it our cover photo, but the majority of the time we keep the same format and change what’s being featured in it,” he clarified.

Gavin Mulloy, marketing manager at the Granada Theater in Dallas, said that he hasn’t noticed any enforcement of Facebook restrictions regarding cover photo content.

“We’ve used images with almost 90 percent text and kept them there for a long time, and no one’s ever contacted us about it,” he said. “A lot of times, we have photos up that don’t necessarily tie in to an upcoming event. Like right now, it’s a Halloween photo of a bunch of girls who work at the theater.”

Facebook has started pushing promoted posts, where pages can pay to have certain status updates or photos shown to more users. Mulloy said that the restrictions seem to be a way to encourage users to buy ads instead of using their cover photo as an advertisement.

“We don’t even use promoted posts,” Mulloy added. “We’ve tried to use them, but it didn’t really do anything for us.”

The Granada Theater doesn’t usually use text-heavy photos for their cover. Occasionally, the image will be a photo of the building marquee, which will have text on it.

Sternberg said that the rule clarification serves as Facebook's way of encouraging its users to properly use the site. Fans don’t want to constantly feel marketed to, which can happen if the cover photo is an advertisement.

“You don’t want to annoy your fans. You don’t want to sound desperate, and you don’t want to plead with them or patronize them,” he advised. “First and foremost, your fan page is a community-building tool and a place for fans to congregate, comment and react.”

He pointed out that Belly Up in Aspen, Colo., changes its cover photo fairly regularly, but does so in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s pushing an ad onto the fans. Sometimes, the photo includes no text at all.

“A lot of times, they’ll change their cover photo into a picture of the band that’s playing that night,” he said. “By changing the cover photo, all of their fans get a notification that it’s been updated.”

Sternberg recommended changing the cover photo regularly, but keeping a venue’s Facebook profile photo as a static image.

“The profile photo is something you always want to keep steady as the way to represent your identity across Facebook. That’s your brand,” he said.

Mulloy said that Granada Theater actually looked to the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, Calif., the flagship project of the Adler Integrated team, as a great example of how to use social media. Based on the Sunset Strip theater’s example, Granada Theater uses its Facebook page as sort of a content farm.

‘”We’re not just telling people what’s going on at our venue, but what’s happening around the area,” said Mulloy. “If we tell everybody about everything, more people will want to come to our page.”

The Granada Theater changes its cover photo at least once a week.

Snider said he sees the rule clarification as a good thing if it shifts the focus more toward visual images, which historically have higher interaction rates.

“Images engage people. We get a lot better interactions through images when we look at the analytics,” he said. “They’re enormously more potent than the average text.”

Sternberg also sees the restriction in a positive light.

“The cover photo is one of the greatest tools that Facebook offers on the fan-facing side,” he said. “The more people that know the rules, the more that will use their cover photo really creatively in a way that will benefit their community-building.”

Interviewed for this story: Gavin Mulloy, (214) 824-9933; Cody Snider, (215) 952-5441; Andy Sternberg, (213) 444-1330

In late January, the Markham (Ontario) Arena Project took another step toward making a proposed $325-million arena into a reality. Named the GTA Centre, plans for the building got a boost in January when the Markham City Council approved its Site Plan Application, bringing GTASE closer to its ultimate goal of building a state-of-the-art arena in Markham and, eventually, bringing a second National Hockey League team to the Toronto market. 

As the project continues to push forward, GTA Sports & Entertainment has launched a website GTACentre.ca to provide information about the potential multipurpose project.

The website features information about the 20,000-seat design, parking, the arena’s potential dimensions, luxury suites and special features for events and concerts. GTACentre.ca includes maps to show how the arena will fit into the downtown Markham area as well as Ontario.

“After the approval of the Site Plan Application in January, we felt that creating a place where the public can learn about the project and get continued updates was the logical next step,” Ray Lalonde, Executive Vice President and Management Strategist for GTASE said.

The site also includes biographies of Lalonde, GTA’s CEO W. Graeme Roustan as well as a list of potential benefits to Markham and testimonials from several major hockey names such as former NHL Players Association Executive Director Paul Kelly and NHL player Igor Larionov and Markham’s mayor Frank Scarpitti.

“Mayor Scarpitti has been a long and passionate supporter,” Lalonde said. “Scarpitti has worked incredibly hard to move this project forward and we are continuing our efforts on the public private partnership.”

The proposed framework has the city borrowing $325 million and having half paid back over 20 years. The city would raise the money through development feeds on builders and ticketing surcharges.

The major concern from Markham taxpayers is that they could be exposed to losses without an NHL cash cow. GTA has insisted the arena doesn’t need an NHL team immediately in order to bring in revenue. They estimate the arena will be used for 130 days without a full-time hockey team.

Whether they can actually attract a tenant is unclear. But NHL owners could be motivated by the idea of expansion because they are set to begin receiving a higher percentage of the league’s total revenue under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“You have to consider with the new plan for realignment, there are uneven divisions,” Southern Illinois Sports Administration Professor and former NHL Lawyer Jeff Levine said. “That kind of opens the door to adding two more teams. It seems in everyone’s interest to want to have things be competitively balanced, and expansion could help do that.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman has said that building an arena will not guarantee Markham a team. And Toronto’s ownership may balk at the idea of having competition close by.

“If a franchise is going to be granted access to Markham, it would likely have to be approved by the existing team in the market,” Levine said. “The Maple Leafs might be skeptical of signing off on that.”

Even if the arena is able to produce an NHL tenant, there is still worry that the situation could become like that of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes have suffered major losses that have been passed on to the public.

Levine said he wouldn’t expect the same struggles if Markham were able to bring in a team.

“You’re talking about the epicenter of hockey,” he said. “You’re talking about the New York or Chicago of Canada. It certainly has enough hockey fans to support another franchise.”

Another concern that was mitigated during the latest council meeting is that the arena’s potential operator Global Spectrum is expected to cover operating losses.

The project still has plenty of hurdles to clear before construction can begin. Lalonde said the plan going forward is to keep followers up on the latest news.

“We wanted to be able to share all the facts of the project in a transparent manner,” he said. “GTACentre.ca allows us to achieve that.”

Interviewed for this story: Ray Lalonde, (416) 566-4502; Jeff Levine, (248) 939-7864
 

The National Conference Center in Leesburg, Va., said 60 percent of its business comes from federal contracts. The sequestration could be a disaster for convention spaces like the NCC.

When the U.S. government enacted mandatory spending cuts in the federal budget on March 1, the trickledown effects slowly began to be felt in various parts of the U.S. economy, including the  venue industry. Canceled government trade shows and curtailed travel have resulted in the industry facing millions of dollars in lost revenue.

“Our convention center was impacted prior to the cuts,” said Jan Addison, deputy GM of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. “On Feb. 25, the 2013 GSA Training and Expo, which was scheduled at our venue in May, was canceled. It is very unusual for an event to be canceled so last minute.”

The General Services Administration Show, an annual training and networking event that provides education on government acquisition processes, was to bring in 7,000 attendees to the convention center and provide approximately $13.3 million in economic impact to the area.

Sequestration was a couple of years in the making. It resulted from a deficit reduction deal between the White House and Congress to allow for the government’s borrowing limit to be raised. After the deal was approved, both parties agreed to raise the debt ceiling but also added spending caps over the next several years. A committee consisting of members from both parties was created to further trim the deficit. Because the deficit reduction plan was not met by March 1, $85 billion in Federal spending cuts ensued. Any business with a contract with the federal government — including convention centers — faced a potential breach of contract and a freeze on funds.

Some buildings, like the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Va., were hit very hard. About 60 percent of the National Conference Center business, or $15 million on average annually, came from federal government meetings.

“[The sequestration] is a disaster,” said Kurt Krause, general manager of the conference center. He said the poorly planned budget cut was supposed to have been a last resort for the White House and Congress, and now thousands of entities are suffering due to a lack of leadership in Washington, and many jobs will be unnecessarily lost. 

“Most people believe the greatest asset in business is humans, but what we’re finding out is corporations and the government are finding less time and money to invest in their human capital,” Krause said.

With its proximity to the MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa (Fla.) Convention Center hosts its fair share of military conferences and events. As a result, the sequestration has led to the convention center's losing three contract groups, which equals a loss of approximately $2 million in revenue, and revenue streams that represent food and beverage, retail and exhibitor-related services.

“One of these events was canceled a month out, and it’s a tough thing to deal with,” said Eric Blanc, convention center director of sales, marketing and convention services. “This doesn’t leave us a lot of time to do anything other than replace events with local business. Yet, there are not many groups out there looking for destinations to host events in August.”

Despite losing the GSA event, Addison said the Orange County Convention Center is one of the lucky ones.

“We have a lot of business on our books this year and are able to withstand the sequestration better than smaller venues,” she said.

The million-dollar question is the long-term effect of sequestration. If a deal isn’t reached and cuts retracted, many predict the impact will be much more far-reaching than the conventions and meetings industry.

“For example, if security at the airports is cut, it will make it more difficult for people to fly and add another deterrent for face-to-face meetings,” Addison said. “Meetings add a lot to the economy and, as an industry, we need to keep relaying that message.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, half of the sequester cuts relate to defense spending, while another portion encompasses housing, education and transportation programs. Agencies including the departments of energy, state, defense, labor, transportation, justice, and the National Institutes of Health are affected, and travel is one of the first to be eliminated or cut.

“In a Wall Street Journal article last month, it was relayed that the U.S. Government spent about $3.5 trillion last fiscal year, so trimming $85 billion is only a little more than 2 percent of the federal budget,” Addison said. “When we look at associations, convention centers are almost like educational institutions. The training provided at these facilities is invaluable. Cutting travel and training is short-term thinking.”

Benchmark Hospitality International (BHI) in The Woodlands, Texas, is seeing the effect of the sequestration on its hotel and resort properties located by military bases and major government centers.

“Although the impact is certainly property/region specific, the uncertainty of the influence on budgets is delaying decisions on meetings, reducing attendance commitments and shortening the booking cycle,” said Alex Cabañas president of BHI’s Business Development & Finance and current secretary of the IACC-Americas Board of Directors. “I don’t think anyone knows the long-term effects at this point. We are simply dealing with the short-term uncertainty effects for now.”

This has resulted in the Feb. 14 cancellation of the 2013 ANSO Convention, which was scheduled to take place May 6-10 in Arlington, Va. The event, which fosters the recognition and advancement of Hispanic officers in the uniformed naval services, is still on for next year in Washington, D.C.

The sequestration also has impacted local air shows. The Navy recently canceled a Blue Angels show in Vidalia, Ga. and similar events in three other cities. It is expected that dozens more will get the ax in the coming months, a major problem for festivals.

It also has been reported that close to 200 performances scheduled by the Air Force's formation-flying Thunderbirds and the Army's Golden Knights skydivers have been canceled.

Still, the full impact of sequestration has yet to be felt on the industry as a whole. IAVM is currently collecting data through its VenueDataSource research tool in order to report the broader impact to the venue industry.

“While the potential for event cancellations at our member venues due to sequestration is a real possibility, we have yet to hear significant reports of its impact,” said Susan Ferraro, IAVM’s marketing communications manager. “IAVM is confident that our member venues will be agile enough to adapt to the challenges set in motion by the sequester. As an association, we will continue to advocate for the benefits of face-to-face meetings and live events, and their value to the attendees, our member venues, and the industries, cities and towns that gain revenues from these types of events.”

Others in the industry are hopeful that the sequestration will be temporary and a new budget will be passed that results in more money for travel.

“I don’t foresee it getting better any time soon,” Blanc said. “From all indications in Washington, they are content with the sequestration process. We’re hunkering down like everyone else till the end of the year and hope things will turn a corner in 2014. If not, venues like us dependent on government business will have to refocus our efforts.”

Interviewed for this article: Jan Addison, (407) 685-9874; Eric Blanc, (813) 274-8511; Alex Cabañas, (281) 367-5757; Susan Ferraro, (972) 538-1011; Kurt Krause, (703) 724-5648

Inside the Young MacDonald's farm at the 2012 Virginia State Fair

The State Fair of Virginia has undergone new ownership for the third time in less than a year, with the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, a private organization that represents farmers, taking over the beleaguered event with the hope of growing it.

The Virginia Farm Bureau actually had been a 50-percent owner when the fair presented its 2012 event Sept. 28-Oct. 5 at Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Va. The bureau had approached Cordova, Tenn.-based Universal Fairs, which had purchased the physical, and some of the intellectual, property of the fair at a bankruptcy auction last spring.

After that, “We contacted them and asked them if we could talk to them about it,” said Greg Hicks, the vice president of the State Fair of Virginia and vice president of communications for the Virginia Farm Bureau. “We wanted to get involved. When we heard the State Fair was going bankrupt, we said to ourselves, ‘The Virginia Farm Bureau has to step up.’

“Our mission is to preserve and protect and prosper. We don’t want to see a 150-year tradition go by the wayside. It’s a showcase for agriculture.”

A few months after the fair, the Virginia Farm Bureau approached Universal Fairs about taking over the other 50 percent.

“All along, Universal Fairs said it was an investment for them and that they were open to talks about selling,” Hicks said. “We kept that in mind from the beginning, that they were always open to talk about it. We approached them back in the winter and just brought up the subject and we started negotiating.”

The purchase agreement was finalized March 15, said Hicks, who declined to disclose details.
And the bureau was able to bring an agricultural component to the fair although, for the 2012 event, the 4-H and FFA events already had moved competitions to another venue which, along with other factors, did not help attendance which was estimated to be 160,000-200,000.

The 2011 fair, the last one presented by the previous owner, had an attendance of 268,930, 19 percent up from 226,000 in 2010.

Hicks has higher expectations for 2013. “FFA and 4-H, we’re expecting them to come back this year,” he said. “It hasn’t been made official, but we do expect them to come back.”

Until 2008, the State Fair of Virginia was held at the site of the current Richmond International Raceway. In 1999, the fair sold the site to the Sawyer family for $47 million, used in part to buy new land in 2003, The Meadow, which had been the birthplace of famed Triple Crown winner Secretariat.

The fair now is held 25 miles north of Richmond in Doswell, on property adjacent to Kings Dominion.

Fair officials borrowed $80 million for infrastructure improvements, which they planned to repay from the ensuing cash flow from the investment’s portfolio and dividends. But the stock market crashed in March 2009, and lenders demanded that the fair liquidate the portfolio. That prevented the State Fair of Virginia from being able to take advantage of the ride backup when the stock market improved.

Last May, Motley’s Auction and Realty Group sold the fair’s physical and intellectual property, and Universal Fairs, owned by Mark Lovell, paid $5,671,000 for the land and the use of the fair’s name.

Universal Fairs also runs the Georgia State Fair in Macon, Ga.; the King County Fair in Enumclaw, Wash.; the Ostrich Festival in Chandler, Ariz.; and the Delta Fair & Musical Festival in Memphis.

Lovell did not return a call for this story.

Although the Virginia Farm Bureau knows agriculture, fairs are a somewhat new prospect for them. The State Fair already has joined the Virginia Assn. of Fairs, Hicks said, and has plans to also seek membership in the Springfield, Mo.-based International Assn. of Fairs and Expositions.
The bureau also hopes to increase the number of year-round events at the fair, Hicks added.
Although the previous State Fair of Virginia owners had invested in infrastructure, more needs to be done, Hicks said.

Currently, the ground features a 63,000 square foot exhibition hall, the Farm Bureau Center, the site for exhibits; as well as a 7,000-square-foot pavilion that housed agricultural commodity groups; 173 horse stalls in a stable; and a mansion that is used for various events.

Livestock events are held under tents, and a stage is brought in for concerts. Last year, acts who played the State Fair of Virginia included Foghat, Dustin Lynch, and the Kentucky Headhunters, performances that were all free with the price of admission.

“Infrastructure is lacking,” Hicks said. “We need some more covered horse-show rings and more stables. We have 173 horse stalls and we need more than that for equine shows and we need a livestock building for cattle shows and we’re working on all of that.”

As the State Fair of Virginia is privately owned, Hicks declined to give any budget details or any information about the negotiations with Universal Fairs for full ownership.

Stuart, Fla.-based Deggeller Amusements, which has been the State Fair of Virginia’s midway provider for several years, played the fair last year and is expected to return for the 2013 event, which will take place Sept. 27-Oct. 6, Hicks said. Owner Andy Deggeller did not return a phone call in time for this story, but last year he expressed hope for the continuation of the fair.

In an effort to raise money and cultivate sponsors, naming rights for buildings and the concert series are up for grabs, Hicks said, including the only building with a name, the Farm Bureau Center.

“I would hope to have them all taken care of before the fair this year,” he added.
Also planned for the grounds this weekend is a 40th anniversary celebration of Secretariat’s 1973 Triple Crown win, which is expected to be attended by Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery. It also will be the 43rd anniversary of the birth of Secretariat, who was born March 30, 1970.

Meadow Farms also was the birthplace of Riva Ridge, the winner of the 1972 Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

“We had two legendary thoroughbreds that were born here,” Hicks said. “Riva Ridge had two of the three Triple Crown (events), and the money from those wins saved the farm and allowed Secretariat to win the Triple Crown.” – By Mary Wade Burnside

Interviewed for this article: Greg Hicks, (804) 290-1000. 

Dave Howard, executive vice president for business operations at Major League Baseball's New York Mets, will move offices from Queens to Manhattan as he becomes president of MSG Sports at Madison Square Garden Company. The position will be effective April 9, putting Howard in charge of the business operations of the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks, National Hockey League's New York Rangers, Women's National Basketball Association's New York Liberty, and American Hockey League's Connecticut Whale. Previously, Howard spent more than two decades with the Mets and MLB. During his time with the team, he helped move the organization from Shea Stadium to Citi Field, where he played a key role in securing concerts and other sporting events. He was also responsible for the minor league business operations of the St. Lucie (Fla.) Mets and the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Cyclones. Before his time with the team, Howard served as associate counsel in the commissioner's office at MLB, and was also an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He is a graduate of Fordham University of Law in New York and earned his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. 

We need your nominations! Venues Today magazine is preparing for the seventh annual Venues Today Women of Influence Awards! The chosen three women will have made a difference in the sports, entertainment, fair and meetings industries.
Submit nominations to nominations@venuestoday.com
Please include her name, title, affiliation, location and a brief description of accomplishments (preferably 200 words max in the email, not a separate attachment).

SUBMIT NOMINATIONS BY: Monday, April 15, 2013

The 2013 winners will be selected by a vote of Venues Today subscribers, staff and advisors. Once nominees are announced, subscribers can sign in to our website and cast votes.
Winners will be announced on our website and in VT Pulse.

Thank you to our 2013 Women of Influence Sponsors:

Congratulations to our previous Women of Influence winners: (from 2007-2012)

Sandie Aaron
Jo-Ann Armstrong
Kim Bedier
Liza Cartmell
Christy Castillo Butcher
Peggy Daidakis
Donna Dowless
Nicole Feld
Sydney Greenblatt
Barbara Hubbard
Susette Hunter
Jane Kleinberger
Tammy Koolbeck
Vanessa Kromer
Shura Lindgren-Garnett
Cyndee Pennington
Sally Roach
Claire Rothman
Patti-Anne Tarlton
Brenda Tinnen
Carol Wallace
Robyn Williams 

The theatrical rights to Marvel’s large library of superheroes is one of the most coveted assets in touring. After over a decade of pursuit, entertainment mogul Kenneth Feld has secured the rights to take Spiderman, Thor, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, all of the X-Men and the insufferable Doctor Doom on the road for an epic traveling battle between good and evil — that until recently, many had believed to be impossible to stage.

Leave it to Mr. Fantastic to pull it off. Like the elastic patriarch of the Fantastic Four, Kenneth Feld is stretching the tour all over the globe, with a 2014 summer launch for the four-year tour, beginning with a two-year run of North American arenas before heading overseas.

“The greatest thing about Marvel is their characters,” said Juliette Feld, daughter to Kenneth and producer of Marvel Universe Live. "The Marvel superheros are complex — they are heroes but they have real vulnerabilities. That makes them very relatable.”

Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2009 helped make the deal possible — Feld tours several Disney-themed ice shows every year. The storyline for the piece and concept is still in development, but Juliette Feld said the show brings “together the most Marvel villains and superheroes” ever to share a stage in a theatrical production. The Marvel deal gives Feld creative access to Marvel's entire catalogue of superheroes and villains.

The show will be directed by Shanda Sawyer, whose credits include Feld’s “Dragons – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus” and will be mounted at Feld’s new Florida campus in Ellenton, outside of Sarasota. Details on the feel of the show are sparse, and Juliette Feld said the company plans to “tease out the details as we get close to our opening date. Right now we’re working closely with the editors at Marvel to create something authentic.”

The upside potential for merchandising and VIP experiences could surpass anything ever done in family shows. Fans should likely expect a special effects bonanza — advances in live show theatrical effects, many developed by Feld, make it easy to imagine Silver Surfer flying across the arena or The Thing teaming up with Captain America to clobber a super villain.

“This is the largest and most complex show that Feld Entertainment has ever done," said Juliette Feld. “The creative efforts and R&D we are putting into the show are absolutely genre-busting.”

Contact: (630) 566-6100
  

When a theater or a sports team offers a discount to senior citizens or military veterans, what was intended to reward a customer sometimes can take more effort than it is worth.

“So many venues that offer special discounts or free tickets to military service members and families or students, most, if not all, of those tickets, in terms of customer experience, means that you come here on the day of the event, wait in line at the box office, show an ID and gain access to a special price,” said Jake Weatherly, co-founder and CEO of SheerID.

In existence for about a year now, SheerID gives clients access to an increasing array of documents that can verify whether or not a potential client is a student, a teacher, a member of the military or a member of whatever group has been offered a discount or a special deal. 

“What we’ve done is help our clients selling tickets online and via mobile apps so they can prove someone’s eligibility instantly and allow someone to use their mobile device and not wait in line.”

So far, clients include retailers like Fathead, but SheerID has begun the move into venue-based, ticket-issuing operations such as sports and entertainment.

“Our database is our fundamental pivot point in terms of our service and our secret sauce,” Weatherly said. 

Weatherly and his business partners, David Shear, co-founder and president; and Marci Hansen, co-founder and chief marketing officer, have a software background and struck up the idea for SheerID dealing with businesses that wanted to give customers discounts but lost sales because of the time it would take to check out credentials.

“We saw that as a broken model, (frustration) ends up culminating in lost sales.”

The idea behind SheerID is not to challenge a customer’s claim to be a student or a teacher or a member of the military, Weatherly said, but instead to make purchases easier for them. 

“The other thing is we didn’t want to require a Social Security number,” he added. “We didn’t want to go outside the comfort zone of the average customer. We didn’t want to add discomfort to the shopping process.”

SheerID has negotiated for files from a variety of entities, from universities and public school systems to the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Education. SheerID has access to information on almost 20 million enrolled students and almost 30 million active duty military members and veterans.

“And we are constantly rolling out other groups,” he added.

Some relationships yield a larger number of records than others. For instance, a relationship with the University of California system can mean access to documents for about 350,000 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members and employees.

Gaps do exist, however, Weatherly said – about seven percent of college and universities are not on the SheerID system. 

In the instance a discount "doesn’t go through, we offer to have (the student or military member) upload a document for review,” Weatherly said. “We have a document review team that turns those around on average in two to four minutes.

“That’s an area we’ve looked at as a necessity in order to have 100-percent coverage.”

When SheerID takes on a client, their engineers work with the venue as well as that venue’s ticketing platform in order to implement the system, Weatherly said. For now, though, the venues are the clients.

So far, SheerID has 28 customers and about 20 in various phases of implementation.

Dan DeMato, president of FutureTix, a consulting firm whose customers include the New York Mets, has touted SheerID to his clients.

"That’s a feather in my cap if I have a client and I can bring them a product that keeps them happy,” DeMato said. “My job is to find them things that work so they can sell more tickets.”

Interviewed for this article: Jake Weatherly, (855) 743-3743; Dan DeMato, (516) 608-0626  

Mesa, Ariz-firm TicketForce has signed seven new performing arts centers in 2013.

The arts are a growing chunk of TicketForce’s venue business, fueled by an explosion in CRM technology and improvements to donor analytics in the arts. Box office professionals are looking for new ways to crunch sales data, track the life cycle of their customers and coordinate with departments like Development and Marketing for a more unified organizational view.

“It’s a great vertical we can expand in because arts organizations are beginning to seek out new software and ticket solutions,” said CEO Lynne King Smith.

Growth areas include demand for box office integrations with third party distributers and customizable sales widgets that function inside the application. Demands for mobile ticketing solutions are on the rise, along with a growing market for data analytics and Salesforce.com-style CRM.

“Arts organizations are reaching into new technologies as a way to meet consumer expectations and break down silos,” said Dan DeMato, a ticketing consultant with FutureTix, helping clients identify ticketing solutions for their business.

Improvements to ticketing in sports from mobile tickets to stored value for concessions is driving up patron expectations and DeMato said a new round of instant upgrade products like pogoseat that allow fans the ability to upgrade their seats from their mobile phone will mean an increase in demand for experiential mobile apps.

“And in many cases, arts organizations tend to work in silos. Marketing doesn’t know what ticketing is doing, and ticketing doesn’t know what’s going on in development,” he said. “You want your box office employee to know that the person who’s having a problem at the ticketing window happens to be one of your biggest donors. Technology in arts breaks down those barriers.”

King Smith said TicketForce is seeing an increase in demand for marketing software, especially as eyeballs move online and advertising analytics begin to drive revenue.

“Many organizations are used to traditional marketing messages, but now they’re trying to reach the next generation,” King Smith said.

Ticketforces new clients include:

Pepperdine University Center for the Arts, a 450-seat venue in Malibu, Calif.

The Herberger Theatre Center, in Phoenix, which will utilize TicketForce’s donations and memberships software suite at Herberger’s LunchTime Theatre.

Niswonger Performing Arts Center (NPAC) in Greeneville, Tenn. TicketForce already provides ticketing services to Niswonger’s sister center in Van Wert, Ohio.

Mercury Summer Stock, a performing arts theatre in Cleveland specializing in family friendly fare.

The West Houston Performing Arts Center, located inside the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas.

Johnson City Symphony, under the musical direction of Robert Seebacher in Johnson City, Tenn.

Flickinger Center for Performing Arts, a 590-seat theater in Alamogordo, N.M.

The next area of growth? King Smith believes it’s going to be e-commerce opportunities on Facebook. Her company was one of the first to roll out a fully integrated ticket purchase system that sites inside the social networks and allows buyers to surf through event calendars and pick out their seats without leaving the Facebook site.

Facebook ticket sales capability is now offered by TicketWeb, TicketFly and Ticketmaster and Audienceview although the technology is still in its early stages and a bit clunky. While firms like TicketMob and TicketForce have the capability to build better social media integrations, many are waiting for improvements to the Facebook API and direction on the companies strategy around e-commerce.

“I see two things that Facebook is doing that indicate where it plans to go with ticketing,” said King Smith. “They’ve improved their Events section so that fans can buy tickets from the RSVP, and they’ve expanded their gift platform, allowing users an easy way to buy gifts for their friends.”

Interviewed for this article: Lynne King Smith, (877) 840-0457; Dan Demato, (516) 608-0626 

The industry had an earthquake this month. The landscape has changed.

Tim Leiweke, high profile visionary and a past Publisher’s Pick in Venues Today, abruptly left AEG, where he was CEO from nearly its inception and architect of its development. Leiweke brought all the elements of this business, from promoting concerts to owning and managing venues to operating sports teams, aided by ticketing, merchandise and sponsorship and premium seating sales teams, to create a global powerhouse in live entertainment and sports.

Leiweke’s cellphone is cut off, he’s left the office and he’s probably enjoying a severance-package-fueled respite before making his next move, but the conventional wisdom is that he’ll be back. The rumor mill has him in Toronto building a new empire… or Denver, back with Stan Kroenke… or in New York at his revered competitor Madison Square Garden Enterprises, which now has an L.A. foothold in the Forum. 

Wherever he goes, we need visionary leaders like Tim, always willing to take risks. Check out what John Meglen has to say on Tim’s immediate grasp 10 years ago of the vision for the Colosseum in Las Vegas as a residency for Celine Dion and others of her ilk, when most were naysayers of the concept. Who ever heard of the audience traveling instead of the artist? Dave Brooks conducted a fascinating Q&A with Meglen about the evolution of the Colosseum, published on page 51.

Published and murmured rumor has it Leiweke exited because he was unable to bring AEG to market for the $8- to $10-billion owner Phil Anschutz desired. The best offers on the table were in the $5- to $6-billion range. It’s mindboggling.

Knowing your market is the key to the success of business worldwide, on any scale. In Malaysia, they have identified and served a unique market need.

AEG Ogden’s Harvey Lister noted that “in Malaysia, food is a fundamental part of any meeting. It is a country that lives on its stomachs.” The city is also jam-packed with high rises housing the corporate headquarters located downtown and space is at a premium.

So, knowing the market, wise management at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre combined a cluster of meeting rooms and a buffet that runs up to 18 hours a day and turned that space into every company’s conference room. Businesses don’t need to set aside valuable real estate for a lot of dead meeting rooms put aside in office towers. With as little as 30 minutes notice, they can book a meeting at the nearby convention center.

In a building that is operating at very near its potential capacity, this has resulted in not only incremental income but also a high profile among businesses that might influence peer group associations to meet in Malaysia. VT Reporter Jessica Boudevin provides further details on page 59 in this issue.

Whatever the scale of the problem, God grant you many years to know your market.

REPORTING FROM SAN DIEGO — Garry Golden likes to call it the filter bubble — the propensity by most people to receive news and information designed to match their worldview. It’s getting easier for consumers to carefully control the messages that break through their inbox — and it’s getting increasingly harder for marketers and producers to reach them.

“Your opportunity is getting people to want new experiences,” said Golden, a professional futurist who made keynote remarks at this year’s AVConnect. He noted that professional tastemakers like newspaper critics are increasingly waning in influence as automated programs like Pandora and user reviews have become the go-to source for music discovery. “Venues that thrive in the future will be those that understand how to align themselves with those vehicles.”

“The solutions to getting outside of the filter bubble are having access to information and having the right recommendations to introduce new concepts to people,” he said.

Golden’s speech was a look into the future of commerce, and an invitation to make one’s own predictions about the future of the industry. So what will entertainment look like in the next 10 years? Attendees at AVConnect were split into five groups, representing even numbered years between 2014 and 2024. Here are a few predictions they came up with.

2014 

Ticket fulfillment through mobile barcodes and RFID will surpass print-at-home tickets.
Broadway will see its first crowd-sourced musical, with thousands of “producers” from all over the world making small donations averaging $5-$10.

2016 

A majority of ticket buyers will indicate they would prefer to be reached over Twitter or text message instead of email.

Revenue from live-streaming sold-out events will become an important funding source, especially for the arts.

2018 

Advances in biotechnology will lead to a prototype for the first “living cellphone” where users can make a call simply through thought and batteries are replaced with kinetic energy.

Box offices will incorporate the first retina scanners at the ticketing window.

2020 

The last box office at a major sports venue in North America closes, replaced by kiosks and door scanners that can also take purchases at the door. Mobile purchase and fulfillment rates start to hover around 80 percent.

2022 

Silent disco creators develop new silent concert series, where special digital enabled glasses coupled with wireless headphones let thousands of concert attendees experience different performances at the same time.

Backlash against Tweeting during events will create a performing arts movement called “think and watch,” that encourages people to put down their phones.