Five, four, three, two, one …. welcome to the launch of VenuesNow and a new era of venue trade media. The publication you hold in your hands (or are reading online, please indulge me a bit of drama) is the result of a massive effort on the part of a lot of people from coast to coast who worked together to bring a wide range of scattered concepts, strong opinions, crazy ideas, wishful thinking and more than a few twisted pipe dreams to life, in brilliant color and updated fonts.
When we embarked on this process, we had two relatively simple goals in mind. The first was to give venues superlative information that helps them operate more effectively and profitably. That includes useful stories and charts on operations, security, technology, concessions, and bookings. With increased competition in the venue world, the latter is more challenging than ever. The connections between venues and the people who can bring them business—agents, managers, promoters and producers—are critical. We will not be satisfied until VenuesNow sits in the offices of every agency, management firm and content provider in the world. (Uh, someone let us know when we achieve that.)
The second was to look damn good doing it.
Our intent is to not only build on the foundation laid in this publication’s first 15 years under the Venues Today banner, but to take venue-centric coverage into new realms. In fact, “VenuesNow” is somewhat a misnomer. We are very much dedicated to showing you where venues are headed. Where you should be going to maintain a competitive edge.
To that end, VN will focus on data-driven content, and broaden our horizons beyond arenas, stadiums, theaters, PACs and convention centers into the world of festivals, amphitheaters, clubs, and alternative venues. These venues share common challenges and opportunities, and the people who run them can and should learn from each other. We embrace all venues, and will not sacrifice attention focused on the traditional facilities this publication has covered in the past.
Certainly, VenuesNow looks vastly different from its predecessor, but much remains the same. As promised last summer, VenuesNow will devote increased focus on two areas that are both ever-evolving and beyond critical to venues and the live business at large: security and technology. Without proper attention to the former, venues risk their most important asset, their fans. And to ignore shifts in technology and what it offers venues is to be left behind. We will cover issues related to both topics from front-of-house to back-of-house, including sponsorships, ticketing, operations, content, tenants, and beyond.
In terms of technology, there is no better box office data collection mechanism in live entertainment than that built by our sister publication, Pollstar, which has for 30 years been laser-focused on building and maintaining a box office database second to none. Combined with VenuesNow’s legacy information, and reconfigured to provide monthly data charts specifically designed as a tool for venues, VenuesNow box office charts offer intel truly unique and unparalleled in entertainment trade media. Part of that shift is ranking venues by attendance as opposed to gross: unless the promoter owns the venue (and often even then), the well-worn “butts in seats” mantra is truly the metric of success for venues, and what drives profit. Whether ticket revenue is $10,000 or $10 million, a full house is what matters most to venue operators.
And we are not done. OVG is committing resources and building partnerships that will lead us to an even more powerful information technology media platform, one that has global relevancy, metrics and datapoints that run the spectrum of revenue streams and serve as an even more telling barometer of performance. If information is power, we intend to be the Superman of live entertainment and sports media brands, which spills into our conferences Pollstar Live!, Pollstar Midem, VenuesNow (returning in June), the various live events of our partner SportTechie.com, and more events to be announced around the globe.
Launching VenuesNow has been a monumental, often thrilling, occasionally frustrating, task, and with any such endeavor there are many people to thank. First, my former Billboard editor Bill Werde, now in the academic ranks as director of the Bandier Program for Music at Syracuse University, brought his vast experience and insight and did a tremendous job steering this redesign program from an initial conversation to fruition.
Art Director Andrew Horton, the Pride of Brisbane, converted abstract ideas and napkin blueprints into an eye-popping, contemporary magazine. Then the cavalry arrived with the new year when Rob Knapp and Don Muret, Managing Editor and Senior Editor at Ven¬uesNow, respectively (and both veterans of respected trade Sports Business Journal), came in. Finally, OVG CEO Tim Leiweke, board member Irving Azoff, President of Business Development Francesca Bodie, and the entire OVG team of over-achievers in L.A., had our backs throughout, and provided us the resources and vision to pull this off.
These are exciting times for OVG’s Media & Conferences division and, as Tim told me recently, “only the first chapter.” I don’t know if I should be excited or scared witless. Fear and enthusiasm notwithstanding, through this cyclone of “positive disruption” we are constantly aware of our responsibility to lean in with journalistic integrity and unwavering commitment to evenhanded, knowledgeable, insightful and, most importantly, accurate coverage of the live entertainment industry through the lens of venue professionals. Your trust and our credibility are our most valuable assets, and we will continue to cover this industry in an unbiased way. VenuesNow is for all live stakeholders, the people who make the magic happen, and we will never tilt in favor of one concern over another. Don’t take my word for it—read VenuesNow and let us know if we ever veer from the concourse.
Sincerely
Ray Waddell
PRESIDENT, OVG MEDIA & CONFERENCES