Tickets Please!
Over 300 ticketing industry professionals came together to discuss the sector at the annual Ticketing Professionals Conference event (TPC) last month. Eddie Lee, Ticket Zone Sales Manager gives us his thoughts on the conference.
I always enjoy attending this conference because it has an interesting cross section of customers and vendors. It’s a chance to see who has moved during the previous year and get up to speed on changes in the industry. The conference allows an opportunity to top-up skills and knowledge and to share our own company information to show how Ticket Zone can bring value to venues and vendors alike.
We arrived and heard Director of TPC, Andrew Thomas, welcome us to the event. He told us there was a record number of delegates in attendance with a gender ratio of 52% male / 48% female speakers and that they have committed to even greater balance for TPC 2019. Sponsorship is key to the success of this event, so Andrew thanked sponsors who had helped to keep the cost of attendance as low as possible.
Ticketing is the magic behind the button...
Andrew was joined by President of INTIX, Maureen Anderson who told us all that ‘you’re not just the box office, you’re the magic behind the button.’ As someone who has worked in ticketing since 16 years of age, I totally agree with her: we do make magic happen!
The opening keynote speaker, Bill Hogg kicked off a day packed full of sessions. Bill works as a Change Instigator and told us ‘we have to create great customer experiences. Loyalty is always about that one personal experience.’
Network, network, network
During the day there were plenty of chances to network. The coffee kept flowing and it was great to be able to catch-up with friends from venues I’ve known for a long time and to take time to meet new contacts too.
TPC 2018 showcased a great app, sponsored by TicketSolve, that allowed you to plan your time across the two days. It was very useful as it had a mobile delegate list, as well as the conference schedule and details on the sessions. Presentations were split across three halls with the opening and closing keynotes being the busiest.
Friction-less Ticket Sales
One session that stood out for me was the session hosted by Chris Crossley from Line-up. It was called 'Friction-less Ticket Sales' and was about website optimisation and reducing click heavy booking processes.
The session was conveyed in a very informative but lighthearted way. His injection of humour at the right times did enough to keep us all engaged, especially as it was post lunch time, when it can be easy to flag during afternoon sessions.
Day one was rounded up with a social event at The ICC followed by a networking party hosted by Audience View and Whats On Stage at The Distillery, a lovely little place on the canal side near Arena Birmingham. This again was a chance to meet, chat and - of course - eat.
Day Two
Day two began the same way as day one, with lots of sessions and lots of coffee, but with the addition of a few sore heads from the night before. I continued my combination of networking and session attending which worked well and I had another good day.
I do enjoy attending this conference as it has the right balance of people from across the sector who all have the same interests and desire to make ticketing as innovative, seamless and interesting as possible.
I’m looking forward to next years conference already!
