The International Ticketing Association’s 35th Annual Conference & Exhibition, INTIX@35 Years: Defining Ticket Management was held in Chicago this past January. There were over 950 conference participants from around the world with the exhibition featuring the latest in products and services specifically for the ticketing industry.
Led by Conference Committee Chair Angus Watson, director of Ticket Operations of the Ravinia Festival Association, this three-day event featured 25 educational sessions, two keynotes, a general session and eight breakout sessions by type of organization. Key learning tracks included Managing Money, Managing Staff, Managing Audience, Managing Technology and Managing Me.
Professional Futurist Garry Golden was with us throughout the conference starting with a general session on how to tap into our inner futurist and continuing with four unique groups of conference attendees, crowdsourcing the future of ticketing. Based on keen insight and the crowdsourced information, Garry then delivered trends that are shaping the future of ticketing during the closing keynote. Not to be outdone, the Opening Keynote, Creating a More Powerful Workplace, was presented by Chicago’s own Second City. Three improv artists lead the audience through demonstrations that provided tools to be more nimble, adaptive and confident. Naturally there were plenty of laughs along the way.
The pinnacle of the conference week is the presentation of the INTIX Awards, created to honor those members who have demonstrated exceptional professionalism and achievement through innovative, informative and creative management. The five distinguished 2014 recipients are profiled in this month’s issue and as you can tell from their accomplishments, each has played a valuable role strengthening both our association and the ticketing industry.
The 2014 Board of Directors was installed during the annual business meeting. The gavel was passed from Mardi Dilger of the Miami Marlins to Jennifer Aprea of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas, who is now serving as Board Chair. Mardi continues as Past Chair and Gary Lustig of Ticket Philadelphia is Chair-Elect. Serving a first term on the Board is Amy Constantine Kline of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Jazz. Returning for a second term is Joe Carter of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Peter Monks of the Ambassador Theatre Group and Laura Zehe of BIG3 Entertainment.
Plans are already underway for the 36th Annual Conference & Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Denver Convention Center in Colorado Jan. 13-15, 2015.
Visit www.intix.org or call +1 212.629.4036 for information on becoming a member and INTIX’s 36th Annual Conference & Exhibition, including registration, sponsorship, exhibiting and advertising.