#intix

5 Episodes of “The Business of Fun” That Have New Value Due to the Pandemic

I got this question this morning, “Which podcast episodes are important to listen to now, due to the impact of the pandemic?”

I hadn’t thought about that but I have a few suggestions if you are trying to think through how to deal with the fallout from the pandemic and the shutdown of live events.

Danny Frank:

We recorded this right before the INTIX conference in NYC in January…which…

Q&A with Me After INTIX

In NYC last week for INTIX, I got a bunch of questions and there were certainly themes. So I wanted to take a few moments to flesh these questions out because I might not have been able to give a complete answer last week or I didn’t give a great answer because it was very busy.

Here are a few of the questions I received and my answers:

What are you working on now and how do you get so much done?

In NYC last week for INTIX, I got a bunch of questions and there were certainly themes. So I wanted to take a few moments to flesh these questions out because I might not have been able to give a complete answer last week or I didn’t give a great answer because it was very busy.

Here are a few of the questions I received and my answers:

What are you working on now and how do you get so much done?

This question was something I got a lot of in Australia as well.

To answer the first part, I’m working on helping more people create and capture new opportunities this year and I will be delivering new workshops, workbooks, webinars, talks, and content with the express focus on helping people create and capture more opportunities than ever before.

In the context of INTIX, the two big projects I’m focusing on are my new newsletter, ‘Talking Tickets‘ and the continued growth of ‘The Business of Fun’ podcast.

I’ll also be doing more workshops and sales training as well. I did a really great one at the end of the year and the work that I did with the sales team seemed to really strike a chord with both me and the team.

The second part, how do I get so much stuff done.

Two simple answers: one, I’m super aggressive with my schedule. Meaning I try to block out the time for everything that needs to get done.

Two, I’m a big fan of David Allen’s Getting Things Done method and have every edition of the book and workbook at this point.

Keeping a schedule that is pretty tight and knowing where and when I am going to do things, along with processing things quickly is a key to my success.

What do I think is going to happen in tickets this year? Or, what trends are popping up?

I’ve been talking about the data points that a few people throughout the industry have shared with me about growing concern that as the year progresses, selling tickets will become more and more difficult for a number of reasons, but here are three:

An election year will steal attention and cause uncertainty.

Consumer spending is strained by the continued impact of lower consumer spending power in the United States.

Confusion, pricing, and other factors that impact ease of purchase, knowledge of events, and other factors in helping people make the decision to attend.

If you think about this in terms of trends, the trend of reduced purchasing power has been on display for more than a decade. So I’m not out on a limb here.

Other trends, consumers’ tastes for entertainment continue to change and the way that live entertainment is marketing their products and services isn’t keeping up.

How can venues, teams, and performers better serve their audience?

I think putting the customer at the center of your thinking has always been good business. I think with advances in social media and comfort with sharing your experiences, good and bad, online becoming the regular course of business, putting the customer at the center of your business is just a necessity.

That’s going to play out in a number of ways like pricing, marketing, the in-venue experience, follow up afterward, and more.

I don’t have a pat answer for this, but I can say that a good starting off point that I’ve used around the world now is to think through your experience and ask questions about things that are happening to your customer.

The best questions I’ve been using is to ask are:

“How would I feel if this happened to me?”

“How would I feel if this happened to my family?”

I think that thinking through your experience using this lens will change your views.

Are there any tools, technologies, or other ideas that you are excited about seeing in action this year? 

Last year I was on the technology committee at INTIX, so I got used to asking people this question and folks turned around and asked me the same thing.

I did a little bit on this in my INTIX review, but I’ll offer you up three suggestions with an explanation:

I’m excited to see how the continued ability for venues and ticketing companies to integrate partners into the buying journey will help ease the purchase for consumers. As a long-time partner of Booking Protect, I’ve been screaming about the need to offer your guests a more personalized buying journey for years and we are seeing that come to fruition. At INTIX, I had Frederic Auoad from Stay22 on a panel and their service is one I’m curious to see impact how venues offer accommodations. I’ll also be excited to see how add-ons like parking, merchandise, and F&B are used to customize the pre-purchase or pre-event experience.

One of the nice things about going to Australia last year was getting to spend 10 days with Einar from Activity Stream. All of this traveling led me to have an even better understanding of the power of data when used well to impact your entire marketing organization. Looking at tools like Activity Stream for AI, Vatic and Qcue for dynamic pricing, and Queue-it for the waiting room, I’m excited to see how the buying experience continues to evolve.

More secondary market players are going to continue to enter the market and established players are going to continue to evolve and find ways to add value. I met Jeff from Ticketsmarter and saw the Tickets4Less folks at INTIX in NYC, I’d really never met any of them before. On top of that, I saw my old friends from Prolific1, Broker Genius, and other places and that made me excited because I’m hopeful this competition will end up being a good thing for the industry because the secondary market has done a pretty good job of innovating on digital marketing, pricing technology, and the buyer’s journey.

“How was Australia?”

Australia was amazing and there were 5 Australians at INTIX. I met them all.

I think I got so jammed up with the holidays after I returned from Australia that I never had the opportunity to recap my trip properly.

So I will do a podcast with Angela Higgins in a few weeks and we will talk about the Ticketing Professionals Conference Australia’s path forward.

As for me, I thought Australia was magical. Everyone should have the chance to see Sydney once, at least.

On top of that, I had the chance to give a keynote address at the opening of Angela and Jo’s conference, to do a workshop in Melbourne, and to give a keynote at the Australian Football League’s league day.

Professionally, that was an amazing week or so.

I also came out of the trip with some new friends like Angela’s partner, Richard. Trishan, Tom, Oli, and, I think, the entire sales and marketing team of my new favorite Australian Rules Football Side, Melbourne FC. And, Ryan Wallman, one of the best marketing and advertising people in the world.

And, I can’t forget the time I got to hang out with old friends like Simon Mabb, Andrew Thomas, and Derek Palmer.

Plus, traveling with Einar was a real highlight.

What did I learn?

I’ll give you three things that seem important now:

Good people are good people. The people I met in Australia were world-class nice folks. I’d miss people and I apologize in advance but Sheila Moloney, Amy Maiden, and the folks from Today Tix helped me tremendously with the prep for my talks. Malcolm Auld helped me understand the marketing landscape. And, again, so many people were so generous with their time and attention.

The Australian sports business community is really progressive. I was really taken by the things I learned at the AFL’s Fan Day. The openness to learn and the honesty about what they were dealing with to grow the game was refreshing considering what passes for similar sometimes in the States.

Getting outside of your comfort zone is powerful. I was walking in downtown Sydney with Einar on the Saturday of our trip and I said to him, “This is amazing and the idea that everyone in the world doesn’t embrace travel when they have a chance is just really sad.”

I have so much to say about Australia and I can’t possibly do it justice.

And, since this is now getting long, I’ll leave this Q&A for now.

Any other questions or you like this format, send me an email to [email protected]

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20 Takeaways From the 2020 INTIX Conference In NYC

I’m back from INTIX 2020 and everything is bigger and better in NYC!

I’m not sure of the final numbers, but I think over 1,400 people attended this year’s conference in midtown Manhattan and I met hundreds of folks on the trade show floor, in sessions, and wandering around.

In fact, I’m still a little dazed from all the connecting and networking.

But I wanted to share with y’all a few takeaways…

I’m back from INTIX 2020 and everything is bigger and better in NYC!

I’m not sure of the final numbers, but I think over 1,400 people attended this year’s conference in midtown Manhattan and I met hundreds of folks on the trade show floor, in sessions, and wandering around.

In fact, I’m still a little dazed from all the connecting and networking.

But I wanted to share with y’all a few takeaways from this year’s conference. In fact, being 2020…why not 20?

1. There was a large international presence: 

I know that making sure all the world’s ticket folks have a home has been the goal of INTIX’s board and CEO, Maureen Andersen, for the last few years and this year’s conference really delivered a much greater international flavor.

I met folks from Iceland, Denmark, England, Central Europe, Canada, and 6 Australians!

2. Leading panels of all international guests helped stimulate new conversations:

I never mentioned this during my trip to INTIX, but I managed to create two panels that had almost all voices that brought an international flavor and it really brought a great dynamic to our conversations.

I never mentioned it to the panelists that the prerequisite was having an international background but Simon, Angela, Martin, Gabe, Guislaine, and Frederic…surprise, you were part of my desire to bring a more diverse and international perspective to my conversations!

3. Danny Frank can throw a party! 

Many people came up to me to talk about the Wednesday night celebration. One person exclaimed, “Danny Frank can throw a party!”

Maybe the Anaheim committee can top Wednesday’s performance?

4. Venue tours were a big hit:

The tour of Radio City Musical Hall was especially popular with folks.

Having been in Radio City and around Radio City a lot of times over the years, hearing how special the experience was for folks reminded me that this is a good lesson for all of us to remain conscious that something that is old hat to us could be a once in a lifetime or first time thing for someone else.

5. Strategy passed many people’s lips:

Strategy and the impact of having the right strategy and communicating it up and down the organization came up at more points than I’d ever heard before.

I was happy because I think making sure that you have a strong strategy that is communicated up and down the organization is likely a real key to success.

6. The keynotes were both big hits:

I’m not sure if it was the first time someone sang to open INTIX, but if it was…it shouldn’t be the last time.

And, after Jimmy Roberts, several people mentioned to me that, “I’m not even a golfer and I can use…”

Which I think is the highlight of a good speaker.

7. The backdrop of NYC added a sense of excitement that people really enjoyed:

Opening night on Broadway was great!

Having the chance to hang out on Broadway with the lights and action of Broadway below everyone was a really great way to open the show and for many people another once in a lifetime experience.

8. Presenting in Manhattan gave folks a thrill:

On more than one occasion, I saw folks tweet or post to social media about their “opening” or “playing” Broadway for the first time.

9. The conversations between the primary and the secondary market are continuing to become more productive:

Nothing happens in a straight line, but I saw a lot more productive conversations taking place between and about the primary market and their relationship with the secondary market than I have before.

That can only benefit the customer because I think both sides of the market can learn from each other.

10. People really have listened and learned from “The Business of Fun”: 

Allow me to plug myself, but I am always amazed and grateful at the response that people give me about listening to my podcast and learning from it.

Over the last several days, I had people reference my conversation with Stephen Glicken from Project Admission, Tony Knopp from Ticketmanager, and many others. And, the fact that people listen and learn from all these great people is

I also had one person have a friend of mine asked if he could get her on the podcast! The answer was, “yes!” Duh!

11. Never forget people:

I was chatting with my friend, Michael L from the New Amsterdam and we got to talking about old school ticket selling.

(Spoiler: he’s one of the folks that taught me about Broadway and Broadway box offices many years ago.)

Our conversation reminded me how important people are and to try and quote Michael, “we are just around to make a little magic.”

12. There were a lot of new faces and voices:

I know that my friend Jacob from FC Copenhagen made his debut. Samuel Biscoe from the UK was there and speaking for the first time, I think. And, I had Frederic Auoad from Stay 22 on my panel.

And, scrolling through the agenda, I think newer voices were a theme.

Which is great.

The more voices, the more diverse the industry and the ideas that have a chance to take hold.

13. So many great tools and technologies are available:

To piggyback and the conversation with Michael L, the technology is a tool to help us do more of the human stuff, but the technology has shot forward and gives us greater freedom than ever before.

I can’t highlight everyone or everything, but Sean Kelly and his team at Vatic have produced some really strong results using dynamic pricing in the arts.

I love the work that Einar and Martin are doing with Activity Stream and talking about the “total marketing” concept.

The things that Rob Walters was sharing with me about Patron Base struck me as cool and exciting, especially as he works to penetrate new markets that they’ve never entered before.

14. Catching up with old friends and learning about their new projects was always great:

I never get to see the full Audience View team at once, but as they were rolling out their rebrand it was fun to catch all of them at once.

The rebrand looks good and finding out that those are light beams and not rock fingers was slightly disappointing, but I still enjoyed learning more about what they are working on now.

It was also great catching up with the team at Today Tix. They were awesome to me when I was going to Australia for the Ticketing Professionals Conference in Sydney in November. And, learning more about how they are expanding their services was great because I see how impactful their work with Harry Potter has been in Australia.

15. If you go, participate:

This is less an observation about this year’s INTIX than it is a general suggestion about the industry. But take the opportunity to be a part of a committee or take action.

I can say without a doubt that my participation has been rewarding both personally and professionally.

I’ve been a part of the technology committee at INTIX.

My good friend, Cat Spencer, is on the board.

I asked Derek Palmer about this while we were in Sydney together…

Everyone agreed, giving back is amazing and makes the value of membership and connection more powerful.

16. There was plenty of bacon at this year’s annual breakfast:

This joke only hits if you were at the 2019 conference in Texas, but there was no bacon in Dallas.

So having the right amount of bacon was one of the NYC committee’s top priorities.

17. INTIX is focused on being a year-round organization: 

From my conversation with members of the board, I know that a priority is to continue to work to be wherever tickets are being talked about.

One big thing that I would encourage all of you to look at is to check out your local chapters and find ways to connect with and get involved in your community.

18. If you are at a conference and you get a chance to see Tessitura’s Erin Koppel present, do it:

In back to back years, she’s put together workshops that keep me engaged. And, she does a fantastic job titling her presentations…which is tough!

So if you see her speaking at a conference, check her out. Helping folks take action and be proactive is a key skill that she has. So check her out.

19. Overall, the content at INTIX continues to add value and reflect the changes that are taking place in the industry:

I noticed a much broader content profile this year from career development, onto helping ensure that all guests are accommodated, to time management, customer service, and much more.

It is great to see the content continue to evolve and adapt to the changing demands of people at all stages of their careers.

20. INTIX is a love letter to the industry: 

The biggest thing I took away from this year’s INTIX was that it is a love letter to the industry and the positive thing is that the conference continues to evolve and reflect that no matter where you are coming from in the industry, there is a place for you and that the power of people creating powerful experiences for other people carries a lot of weight in a world where we are continually pulled apart and in many different directions.

P.S. I have one beef with the swag bag! Where’s my Mets’ t-shirt?!

Also, I’d love it if you’d sign up for my weekly newsletter on all things tickets, live experiences, and live events: Talking Tickets. It’s free!

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3 Ideas From My INTIX Session On Discounts

I hosted a panel at Tuesday’s INTIX in NYC that included Gabe Johnson, Martin Gammeltoft, and Angela Higgins.

We had a pretty great conversation for 90 minutes and I don’t know if we solved the challenge of discounts, but we did have a lot to discuss.

Here are my 3 top takeaways from the session:

1. You need to understand “why”:

Why are you discounting?

Why are you discounting now?

Why?

This came…