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Articles

Ticketing Technology Forum 2017 Highlights – Day Two

Despite a few sore heads and some tired eyes in the conference room after last night’s Ticketing Technology Awards at Croke Park, excitement was high ahead of day two of Ticketing Technology Forum 2017.

Keynote James Charrington, Chief Executive of Dewynters, was first up on stage to discuss how marketing should change ticketing, outlining how the industry can take action.

“Ticketing has changed marketing beyond all recognition, but I think it is time for marketing to get involved again,” Charrington said, picking out several examples of how brands outside the ticketing industry are leading the way in innovative marketing methods.

“People love brands that dream the same dreams as them,” Charrington said. “If I am dreaming the same dream as a brand, it brings me much closer to them.”

Ian Campbell, Director, Club Services at Major League Soccer (MLS) moved the focus to sports, revealing that until 2015, the MLS was the only major league in North America not to have an official partnership with a ticketing provider. After talks with a number of companies, the MLS found that SeatGeek shared many of its own goals.

“Working with SeatGeek has been a fantastic opportunity for the MLS, they are dedicated to this partnership in a way that other league partners are not,” Campbell said. “It’s all about the fan; we want to deliver the best experience and ensure that they come back.”

Representatives from Euroleague Basketball, the top-tier club contest in Europe, spoke about how the league has used a partnership with 3D Digital Venue to give fans the opportunity to see a 3D image of a venue and the view from their seat before purchasing tickets.

The theme of innovation continued with the ‘New Faces and Disruptors’ session, which picked out some of the most exciting developments in the ticketing sector. Moderator Tim Chambers, Managing Director of TJChambers Consultancy, said such start-up companies have the potential to shape the future of the industry.

“These start-ups here today can reimagine the who, what, where, when and why of ticketing,” Chambers said.

Luke Massie outlined his vision for the future of reselling tickets with his start-up Vibe Tickets. Massie also picked up the ‘Disruptor of the Year’ at after a vote from the audience.

Steve Pearce co-founder of TickX, set out plans for the platform to become, “the SkyScanner of the ticketing industry”. TickX featured on the BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ and bravely turned down three offers, going on to raise 10 times more via other investment avenues.

Nikolas Schriefer, co-founder and chief executive of Stagelink, also weighed in on the state of the current ticketing market, saying ticket sellers do not understand fans or creators, and should be doing more to ensure they find out what people want.

“When we understand what people want, we need to reach out to them on the channel they are using and deliver a solution to them,” Schriefer said.

Considering ticketing in different countries was also a key theme of the day and Emily Gonneau, Director General for MyOpenTickets in France, spoke about the domestic market and how it differs from elsewhere.

“In France, there is no secondary ticketing market as it is not legal, so we call it the ‘Black Market’”, Gonneau said, but also added that this law has not slowed development of the ticketing sector in the country.

Swinging back around to another major talking point at this year’s Ticketing Technology Forum 2017, Jessie Scoullar, Founding Director at Wickstead Works, headed up a session focusing on fan-centric approaches to ticketing and why it is so important to place fans at the heart of ticket processes.

Liam Negus-Fancey, co-founder of StreetTeam, also picked up on the live events theme, saying that the company’s P2P software can help events generate more ticket sales by utilising fan power.

“The live events space has had a lot of problems over the past 10 years due to the pace that it has scaled,” Negus-Fancey. “Events are now looking for new ways to generate yield from a marketing perspective.”

Closing keynote Dr. Marcus Garbe, managing partner at Transaction Consulting, rounded off Ticketing Technology Forum 2017 with an overview of the changing landscape in the ticketing market – with a nod in the direction of developments in technology.

“Ticketing has always been close to technological developments, with significant disruption in market structure and impact on players,” Garbe said.

Garbe also highlighted a rise in the number of established internet companies, such as Amazon and Facebook, that are using their assets to expand into the ticketing market.

“They have developed an appetite and they do have a lot of the assets you need for ticketing,” Garbe said.

And that’s it from Ticketing Technology Forum 2017 and from the team here in Dublin. We hope that you enjoyed the event and we look forward to seeing you in Manchester next year, 17-18 April 2018!