Centralized box offices, counterfeit tickets, king-sized shows, taking chances and improving nonprofits are involved in the impetus that propelled five people to winning the 2015 INTIX awards, presented in Denver at the annual convention. Following are the stories of standouts in the ticketing profession.
Outstanding Ticketing Professional
Aren Murray, director of ticketing & TOBi Services Tobin Center, San Antonio, Texas
When Texas A&M University’s Rudder Theatre Complex spent most of 2007 under asbestos abatement, its MSC Box Office needed to find other venues to work with.
“We ticketed events in churches, civic buildings, parks, museums and arenas, most of which did not have an established ticketing provider,” said Aren Murray, now director of ticketing and TOBi services for San Antonio’s Tobin Center. “Our focus was on ticketing for organizations, rather than venues.”
During this period, the MSC Box Office ticketed for more than 80 organizations, while also utilizing the ticketing system to sell books, T-shirts, posters and “just about anything to enhance our revenue,” said Murray.
As a result, Murray built up the box office to become a centralized source for area tickets.
“We grew from something small to something larger, and we were managing many more events,” she said.
When the Tobin Center was completed last September, Murray was chosen to spearhead the creation of its centralized box office format. The right person was chosen for the job. In its first four months of operation, the center’s box office handled 168 ticketed events.
“Being centralized has its challenges, especially with having 10 residents as part of our venue,” said Murray. “Everyone needs to agree on how ticketing will be handled, so it’s quite a balancing act.”
It’s a balancing act that pays dividends for Murray.
“Our goal is to make sure our offerings are specifically meeting everyone’s needs,” she said. “By doing this, we’re bringing great entertainment to San Antonio.”
Box Office of the Year
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Toronto
Scott Phillips, director of ticket operations
When more than 400 fans showed up at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Valentine’s Day 2014 for a Justin Timberlake concert with what they soon discovered were counterfeit tickets, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment had an unprecedented situation on its hands.
“We’ll typically get no more than 50 or 60 counterfeit tickets for one event,” said Scott Phillips, director of ticket operations for MLSE.
For a larger venue, it wouldn’t be difficult to accommodate the overflow, but for the 20,000-seat Air Canada Centre, it was quite the challenge.
Yet, the parent company of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and AHL’s Toronto Marlies worked with the show’s promoter and Timberlake himself, opening up suites and adding seats to the floor to get the duped fans in for the sold-out show.
“We had police here interviewing people to try and track down the counterfeiter, who was found and charged,” said Phillips.
For the small operation, which consists of 12 selling windows and only four full-time box office employees, making all customers happy has always been the goal, even during the most hectic situations.
Patricia G. Spira Lifetime Achievement
Dan DeMato, president/founder
FutureTix, Selden, N.Y.
After 23 seasons working in the New York Mets’ ticketing sales and service department, Dan DeMato decided to branch out as a consultant in 2008, at the start of The Great Recession.
“Most people go into consulting because they retire, are let go from a job or are in between jobs, but establishing FutureTix was by design,” said DeMato. “In this $20-billion industry, there are so many technological changes and not many resources to help ticketing companies get from point A to point B.”
“We worked hard to cross over into different verticals,” said DeMato. “I pride myself on understanding the subtleties and idiosyncrasies of various genres.”
As a decades-long veteran of the ticketing industry, DeMato said the biggest change is that today’s ticket buyers want options.
“We dictated to fans in the past, but now they’re helping to determine ticket prices and the buying method, whether via e-mail, at the box office or snail mail,” he said.
DeMato credits his mentor, Bill Ianiciello, former Mets vice president of ticket sales and service, with taking him under his wing and providing him with the guidance that has been integral to his career.
Spirit Award
Marcy Coe Edenfield, associate director, ticketing and theatre operations
Duke University, Durham, N.C.
Aside from a two-year stint during the recession where she learned to make a mean mocha as a barista, Marcy Coe Edenfield has worked in many facets of the nonprofit segment.
She began her ticketing career as a stage manager for San Jose (Calif.) State, San Jose Stage and Mexican Heritage Plaza while finishing undergraduate studies at San Jose University. After serving as managing director of several small nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay area, Edenfield enrolled in graduate school at Carnegie Mellon, where she received a Masters of Arts management degree.
After moving with her family from California to North Carolina, Edenfield stepped in as box office manager at Duke University when the ticketing operations were transitioning to a new software.
“This allowed the web sales and back office sales to be merged into one operation, so it was a bit of an overhaul,” said Edenfield. “I worked through the procedures and policies to get us to where we are today.”
After eight years in her position, Edenfield transitioned to the associate director role three years ago.
“I started this regional group, the Carolina Regional Ticketing Association (CaRTA) as a nice idea and it turned into something more than that,” said Edenfield. “We’ve been chosen to participate in a beta test with INTIX to develop a model for partnering in a more formal and meaningful way with a national organization. It’s an exciting partnership.”
Young Ticketing Professional
Jenifer Thomas, manager, sales and ticketing
Disney Theatrical Group, New York
Jenifer Thomas decided early on that she wanted a career in performing arts, but knew the stage was not an option.
“I have a degree in music, an off-the-wall degree of the type that’s pretty common for ticketing professionals,” said Thomas. “I was lucky enough to be able to explore the business side of the arts as an undergrad and pursue this path while working towards an MBA in arts and administration at the University of Cincinnati.”
Under her two-year reign as Disney Theatrical Group’s manager of sales and ticketing, its Lion King property became the highest grossing Broadway musical over the last decade, the company’s highest grossing entertainment property of all time over the last two years, and the first Broadway show ever to gross over $100 million, which it accomplished in 2014.
She credits her success to the mentors she has had in the last several years, including Nick Falzon, director of sales and ticketing at the Disney Theatrical Group, and Steven Roth, president of The Pricing Institute, Weston, Mass.
Interviewed for this story: Marcy Coe Edenfield, (919) 660-1726; Dan DeMato, (516) 578-3588; Aren Murray, (979) 218-0107; Scott Phillips, (916) 815-5543; Jenifer Thomas, (212) 703-1091