Ticketbud Tidbits - for Event Organizers

In this episode we talk to Dawn Robinette, a PR expert that runs Tale to Tell Communications. Dawn has extensive events experience working with General Motors, sponsorships and promotions, managing more than 175 events and programs annually. Working with NASCAR, the NFL, the NCAA, the PGA, MLB, the Olympic Torch Relay and Cirque du Soleil, achieving a 150% increase in promotional press coverage for GM across all major US media markets.

HIGHLIGHTS:

In the episode Dawn shares strategic and logistical details for her current project Old West Christmas Light Fest. Dawn manages the dual roles of event manager and event promoter for this Texas holiday festival as part of a small team. Dawn is an advocate for the customer experience and how vital it is to keep this front of mind while planning, promoting and executing an event experience. She is always looking for new ways to engage customers and shares some tactics and strategies around this.

Dawn also shares advice on maximizing marketing spend, and where to get the most value for your efforts, particularly if you have limited resources. She gives some great insight around social media engagement, marketing and the use of influencers in your event marketing.

In this episode we talk to Joe Newman, the CEO and Co-founder of the American Basketball Association (ABA), the largest professional sports league in the US. The ABA has teamed up with Ticketbud to focus on growth ahead of their new season.

Topics include:

- Rebuilding the ABA brand and how the central association supports the success of more than 150 teams

- The ABA's partnership with Ticketbud

- The value of moving the ABA to online ticketing. Enabling them to reach new audiences, while gaining valuable customer data and buyer behavior insights

- Challenges of implementing changes across an organization with so many independently owned teams

- Communication practices between the ABA and it's teams

- Promoting a new ticketing purchase channel to fans

- ABA promotional efforts, merchandise and more

In this Halloween themed episode we talk to haunters Sue Rose and Rick Williams, who have run haunted trail events in California and Georgia. Their current attraction, Nightmare Forest Web of Fears, is a haunted walk through Georgia's historic countryside.

Ranked by Style Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Spots to Celebrate Halloween". Attendees rave about the experience. This is a well developed and executed event that attendees rave about.

Sue and Rick share how they were underwhelmed by other haunted events that were overpriced and lacking in creativity and production. With a love of halloween, historical stories and urban legends, they decided to create their own haunting experience.

Sue and Rick share what goes into planning this experience, from inspiration, to practical execution and logistics. Creating a theme, storyline and characters, as well as preparing the property and designing scenes. Auditioning and working with actors to bring their spooky story to life and create a memorable experience for attendees.

Key Topics:

- Creating an immersive story

- Developing characters and managing talent

- Event safety and insurance

- Being prepared and adaptable

- Common challenges

- Team communication

- Attendee communication

- Ticketing, attendee information, event data and reporting

- Event promotion: including showcasing the experience and production value, making people more comfortable with pre-purchasing tickets.

In this episode we talk to Hayden Walker, the organizer of the highly successful Mac and Cheese Festival held in Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon.

Hayden is the Executive Director at AFM Media and Editor in Chief of Austin Food Magazine. With his finger on the pulse of all things foodie in Austin.

Hayden created Austin's Mac and Cheese Festival which became a huge sell out success, enjoyed and embraced by attendees and vendors.

Now in its 4th year in Austin and 2nd year in Portland, the Mac and Cheese Festival has a winning event recipe that is set to grow, and take on more cities in 2020.

Episode Topics:

-Turning something you love into a career

-Creating the Mac and Cheese Festival experience

-Research and inspiration

-Evolving a food festival, growing in size and locations

-Managing event stakeholder relationships

-Testing event formats and target audiences

-Ticket pricing and event promotion

-Benefits of prepaid events

-Preparing vendors for success

-Event day gate management

In this episode we talk to Loy Maierhauser from MAP Brewing Company in Bozeman, Montana. Loy manages all private and public events for MAP Brewing. From regular weekly events such a live music and community pint nights, to their highly successful backyard summer concert series.

In addition to her role at MAP Brewing, Loy co-founder of Fermentana, a beer-and-all-things-fermented events planning and promotions company. Through Fermentana Loy organizes Craft Beer Week in Bozeman and a women’s only beer education series called Beer Maven, as well as conference planning for the Montana Brewers Association and the Craft Maltsters Guild.

Loy is a Certified Cicerone and a Certified Beer Judge (through the BJCP) and regularly attends beer festivals and competitions as a judge.

In this episode Loy shares her experiences running brewery events, organizing a summer concert series and managing an event planning company.

In this episode we talk to Kevin Baxter, owner of Vivid Festivals, who has over 20 years experience working in entertainment and marketing. Kevin talks to us about his upcoming food festival, The Big Dill, and his goal to build the biggest online pickle brand through events, content and community building.

Key Topics:

-Building a brand around something people have a preexisting affinity for

-Finding the right partnerships 

-Moving away from the food sample model

-Short and long term strategies for sponsors 

-Building awareness and an online community

-Utilizing influencers   

-Promotion, promotion promotion - including activations

-Communication is the key to a better experience for all

In this episode we talk to Joe Hill, a writer, producer and stand up comedian with over a decade of experience organizing live entertainment events. Based in NYC, Joe is the founder of The Come Up, producing live events for comedians and musicians.

Joe created The Come Up to share his passion for live performance, building an artist community and nurturing up and coming artists.

In the episode Joe talks about:

-How he got into comedy and producing his own events

-Coordinating live performances & the secret formula for a great show

-Balancing being an artist, with being your own promoter and event organizer

-Building a brand through consistent delivery of content

-The importance owning your audience data and contact information to be able to connect and grow your following

-Tips for maximizing revenue for live shows

-The benefit of early payouts to cover upfront expenses

In this podcast we talk to Amber Gunst, the CEO at the Austin Technology Council, a membership based organization geared toward leaders in the Austin Tech Community.

Key topics in this episode include:

-How the ATC utilizes events as part of their community engagement and membership strategy.

-The challenges of organizing events across a wide ranging member base.

-Identifying the right marketing channels for B2B events

-The best way to approach businesses for event sponsorships.

As a female leader in the tech space, Amber shares her personal experience of being perceived as aggressive when displaying the same behaviors as her male colleagues. Amber gives advice on how to manage this double standard and reframe the conversation.

In this episode we talk to Berenice Guzman, event organizer and marketer for Austin City Limits Radio’s summer concert series - Blues on the Green.

In the episode Berenice talks about what goes into coordinating a large scale free concert series. We discuss the key costs involved in terms of infrastructure and production, as well as details for planning and logistics. Berenice gives a great overview to sponsorships for this type of event, with specific information about managing multiple sponsors and sponsor packages, including brand activations.

In this podcast we talk to Mandi Thomas, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Downtown Austin Alliance.  She manages the events, programming and operations of Republic Square, a community park in downtown Austin frequently used for events.

In this episode Mandi talks about what goes into managing a public park and event space. She gives an overview of the key elements of her role which include business development, sales, fundraising, event planning and venue management. Mandi shares specific insights on event programming, key challenges and maximizing year round usage of a space.

Key Topics:

-Downtown Austin Alliance and its role in the Downtown Public Improvement District

-Maximizing business partnerships 

-Venue operations management and programming 

-Securing sponsorships

-Managing a public park and venue

-Creating authentic and unique event programing for a public space 

-Working with event producers to facilitate a great event

-Maximizing year round use of an outdoor venue

-Key challenges of managing a public park 

-Tips and advice for event organizers