Woman of Influence
An article by 
May, 16, 2012
There are a lucky few people who really, truly love what they do for a living, and Sherry Dye right here at ExtremeTix, is one of those people. Not only is she a “people person” of the highest degree, but she’s also got events in her DNA – organizing, managing, planning and ticketing are second nature to her. She’s done more and knows more about how the live entertainment industry operates than most people in this space today – and she knows almost everyone in the space!
Sherry Dye, second from left, attends the Ticket To The Blues event with the ExtremeTix team
As a colleague (and friend), I’m always excited to attend tradeshows and other events with her because she’s so well-connected and has a positive story about everyone she meets and introduces me to. She’s worked at some of the biggest venues and entertainment companies (and for some of the most demanding bosses in the business), and she’s taken all of that experience in stride and applied it to every project she’s worked on. We’re positively thrilled she’s plying her trade here at ExtremeTix and I’m sure her clients are as well. Sherry is known to bend over backwards to ensure a great client experience and that’s why, back in the day, George Steinbrenner used to call one person whenever something came up that no one else could help him with (yes, that George Steinbrenner and, yes, Sherry was on the receiving end of those calls). It’s no different today – if you are a client, Sherry’s got your back.
So it comes as no surprise that’s Sherry’s been nominated for a “Women of Influence” award from Venues Today magazine. It’s about time Sherry got some industry recognition for all she brings to the table for our clients and the industry as a whole, and we would humbly ask for your vote to help recognize someone so deserving. Voting closes on Monday, May 21st so feel free to vote early (and often).
Event Organizers Look for Balance Between Technology and Customer Service
There is an amazing amount of buzz in the ticketing world these days.
As the winds of change blow through our industry, many event organizers are taking a fresh look at their ticketing needs. On the menu? A ticketing solution that delivers the right combination of technology, support and expertise to drive awareness for their events. Dessert: Cultivating a customer experience that exceeds expectations. I can’t speak for how all events assess and select their ticketing and event services partners, but I can share insight from a few we’ve recently welcomed to the ExtremeTix family:
The legendary track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
It’s considered sacred ground to many a motorsports enthusiast, but IMS regularly serves crowds of hundreds of thousands of fans for some of racing’s most revered events: the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on the Moto GP circuit.
Why ExtremeTix?
IMS chose ExtremeTix to enhance their online print-at-home ticketing capabilities. Our Winning Formula: Motorsports and large events know-how along with technical savvy in securing tickets and events. In addition, we’ve built a solid reputation circumventing credit card fraud—a growing concern among all event organizers.
Texas Crawfish and Music Festival Chooses ExtremeTix for Event Ticketing
Texas Crawfish and Music Festival
For 26 years, people from all over Texas have migrated to Old Town Spring in celebration of the largest and most established crawfish festival in the South.
Why ExtremeTix?
With an estimated 150,000 attendees and a less-than-desirable experience with event-driven apps used during last year’s festival—ExtremeTix’s industry reputation for stellar, fully-networked access control preceded us. Let’s face it: Experienced partners handling ticketing and gate operations frees up festival staff to focus on other challenges—like managing music, vendors and 25 tons of crawfish!
At the end of the day, the power of personal communications and support trumps the gregarious event-planning mobile app that might look pretty, but can’t personally assure your employees and volunteers that if offsite servers crash, he’ll* materialize and resolve any on-site issues. Despite great technology, event organizers still find it essential for their ticketing partner to be seasoned professionals who understand their industry and have the bandwidth to deploy an on-site workforce to help execute successful, seamless events. Having ticketed close to 100,000 events over the last 10 years, ExtremeTix continues to deliver the right balance of technology and experience event organizers can’t work without.
*Editor’s Note: ExtremeTix apologizes for any offense in referencing said App’s gender as male. We thought in the female-dominated computerized voice market, male gender representation is found to be under-served.
[Indy 500 Image: IMS Blog]
[TX Crawfish and Music Fest Logo: Official Site for Texas Crawfish and Music Festival]
Credit Card Fraudsters Stopped in Their Tracks
And here’s what the bad guys didn’t get away with:
$29,845.85
ExtremeTix has saved our clients at least $30k in the first quarter alone and they did not even know it.
At ExtremeTix we understand the importance of holding on to every penny in this tight economy. We want to make sure all ticket revenues from your event go in your pocket not someone else’s. Most clients do not know that our fraud prevention staff is working behind the scenes daily to protect them and their patrons from credit card fraud. Our fraud personnel evaluate a complex set of algorithms daily. These algorithms look for oddities in purchase history. Oddities like multiple purchases on the same card, email, phone number or out of state cards.
Most fraud occurs the day before the event or the day of the event. Once potential fraud is identified, our staff notifies your Account Manager and they will forward the specifics to you, the client. It is best to move fast when fraud is identified and void the ticket thus refunding the funds to the card prior to the chargeback occurring and before the tickets can enter the event. This is an important step to avoid all the fees associated with the chargeback process. We also will add the card on our “No Sell List” so it cannot be used again anywhere in our system. It is a misconception that a system should know that the card number used is a fraud. If a criminal has the number, name, billing address and CVV, no ecommerce system in the world can identify this a purchase as fraudulent.
ExtremeTix helps events stop fraud before it shows up at the gate
We will process over $200 million dollars through our merchant account this year for our clients. We work with the major credit card companies and merchant services to make sure your transactions are processed in a safe environment. We take this personally and do not want criminals to benefit from your event.
You have the ability to place the most advanced purchase limits in the industry on your purchase site. Do you want to allow purchasers to buy only 15 tickets every 90 days on your site limiting by name, email or card? We can easily set this or similar limits in place.
Have you had fraud problems in the past? Ask your Account Manager how we can tighten up your event purchase process.
[Image: curse.com]
Three Zebras Entertainment Presents: The Insider – Summer 2012 Tours
[Blogger’s note: This is the first in a series of posts from Three Zebras Entertainment, the entertainment division of ExtremeTix. Different members of the team will provide insider views of producing shows, as well as interviews and insights from other professionals in the Entertainment industry.]
The Summer 2012 concert season is heating up with a KISS/Motley Crue tour among many other big name acts hitting the road
As the summer concert season unfolds, new faces are hitting the road along with a full slate of summer staples and famous faces from the past. Dave Matthews Band returns after a brief hiatus from their touring schedule and will be joined on the road by other summer standouts including Rascal Flatts, Jimmy Buffett, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and others.
The return of some of the classic rockers will help to round out the summer concert seasons in many markets including the much-touted KISS/Motley Crue and Van Halen tours. Others who will grace the stages this summer include the package of Def Leppard/Poison, Styx/REO Speedwagon and Ted Nugent, The Beach Boys and Rod Stewart/Stevie Nicks to name a few.
World traveler award goes to Foster The People, since they’re currently touring in South America then hopping over to Europe, returning to the US in early summer only to visit Japan in late summer then head back to Europe in the fall. Holy frequent flyer miles, Batman!
Phish returns to the summer lineup along with the annual festival style events including Van’s Warp Tour and Mayhem Tour. There are also a couple of tours that are targeting the much younger concert-goer including Big Time Rush and a late summer/early fall tour of Fresh Beat Band.
Rounding out the summer lineups are Linkin Park/Incubus, Nickelback, 311, Summerland Tour 2012 and others. The English rockers, Radiohead will return to the US for a tour that begins in April and continues until late June, helping to put the finishing touches on what appears to be a very exciting and lively summer of music.
Think Carefully About Balancing Trade-Offs
This is a statement about trade-offs. As part of the “I am in a hurry generation,” I realize that a great many of the decisions I make or have made for me, related to service and support, are as a result of how long it takes and in this particular vein, how much it costs. While my examples are not directly related to ticketed events there are strong parallels to be drawn.
The C130 Cargo Planes at ExtremeTix client Miramar Air Show, are modern marvels of engineering tradeoffs
I use an ATM because it is fast and the transactions I use are well supported and efficient. The truth is that if there were a teller available with no line-up I would avoid the ATM in favor of a social interaction. I avoid self-check-out at the grocery store because of inherent problems related to bulk items and challenges regarding bagging (unidentified item in bag).
The bigger problem for me is telephoning a financial institution, utility, or branch of government and having my call intercepted and to some great degree processed by an auto-attendant (machine). To say the least it invariably takes longer than it should, causes great personal frustration, and often ends up in a “mission not accomplished” status. I acknowledge that there are rare cases where after having achieved my first goal on these calls, of reaching an operator, I have been tempted in an agitated state to ask if there was a machine I could talk to, but that generally isn’t the case. I am calling because I have a problem and almost without exception my specific problem ranges outside the prompts, hierarchy and navigation paths that have been provided. You’re killing me Smalls.
I understand that the economics of support and service favor automation, but some things need to be handled in a more personal fashion. This is why we have built and maintained a highly qualified account management and client development team and why we insist upon having a Call Center for our Client’s patrons to provide the highest level of support possible. It costs more and it is worth every penny.
Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete is THE place to be for Spring Break
Who does The World’s Fastest Spring Break Party trust with their event ticketing? That’s right, ExtremeTix. We’re proud to ticket the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Florida’s only stop on the international Izod IndyCar Series.
In addition to the extensive marketing and social media outreach for race tickets, ExtremeTix has provided the Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete with friendly, expert service for the past three years. But this year, ExtremeTix is going above and beyond for this multi-day motorsports event that features 10 races and requires numerous points of coordination and fan management.
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Pete relies on ExtremeTix for their event ticketing, which include a mobile box office for the race
The race needs a safe, secure place for a box office, and since it’s a grand prix event (ie, temporary), there’s no permanent venue or place to house a legitimate box office. So ExtremeTix is bringing in a custom-built, mobile ticketing booth: an air-conditioned, Internet-ready, retro-fitted motorcycle trailer with 5 full-service ticketing windows and secure area inside! It can be moved as needed wherever traffic dictates and packs up when the event is over – convenience and service with a smile!
How’s that for stepping up and putting all hands on deck together for a great event? Can your ticketing partner do that? Are they even willing?
Spring Break Is Here And ExtremeTix Has Some Great Events Lined Up
Looking for a last-minute Spring Break adventure? ExtremeTix has you covered! Here are a few suggestions for the music festival follower, flower aficiando and sports fan in your family.
Wiz Khalifa is heading to Texas for the Never Say Never Festival over Spring Break
Music Lover
Never Say Never Festival – March 13-14, 2012 – Las Palmas Racepark – Mission, TX
Big fan of Wiz Khalifa? How about Dev or Asking Alexandria? All three of them plus over 40 other bands will take to the stage atLas Palmas Race Park for two days and nights of great music with some great South Texas weather at The Never Say Never Festival. It’s the perfect excuse to to head to Texas for Spring Break this year.
Fun Kids Stuff
San Francisco Flower & Garden – San Mateo Event Center – San Mateo, CA
March 21-25, 2012; Wednesday – Saturday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
NEW – California Kids Growing Strong in Sproutopia
Sproutopia has been taken over by fun and learning! This year kids of all ages will benefit from the fascinating activities and displays for children put on by Kids Growing Strong, an organization which promotes strong bodies, strong minds and a healthy lifestyle through garden-based education. Lots of fun stuff and some lovely seminars to keep those kids absorbed in the beautiful Bay Area.
Sports Fan
Transitions Championship – March 15019, 2012 – Innisbrook Golf Resort – Palm Harbor, FL
www.transitionschampionship.com
The best PGA players in the world will be teeing it up over Spring Break in Florida. Make sure you take the whole family out to catch the golf, great weather and great course. In fact take advantage of the Family Pak below – it’s one of the best offers of any tour stop and it’s as family friendly as they come (kids 15 and under are FREE).
The Family Plan includes:
- 2 Good-Any-One-Day tickets
- 1 Daily parking pass adjacent to the golf course in Lot #1.
- 4 vouchers good for sandwich/chips & soda at concession stand.
Only Available until March 11th!
There’s lots more going on this month with events from ExtremeTix clients across the US and Canada so feel free to take a look for yourself.
The 8th Wonder of The World and Your Local Venue
I recently read this article about the demise of the Eighth Wonder of the World, the first domed football stadium, the innovator of Astroturf, the world-famous – and now sadly disintegrating – Astrodome in Houston. I grew up seeing the Houston Oilers and Earl Campbell play in the “Love Ya Blue” days of the Astrodome so I feel that same nostalgic loss. There were promises to keep “the Dome” even when the new modern stadium was built in the same parking lot, but let’s face it there is not much need for 2 huge stadiums just one hundred yards from each other.
Once known as the 8th Wonder of the World, Houston's Astrodome has fallen on hard times
The article mentioned that the Astrodome is now worthless and unsafe primarily due to a lack of programming and events to generate revenue or maintain the building. Obviously politics were the ultimate cause of this, but I continue to be amazed by the number of city-owned arenas I come across that are being squeezed financially while at the same time being told to generate more revenue – oh, and don’t you dare put tax payer money at risk while you are at it!
With the lack of staff and money, many municipal buildings are on their own to find and attract programming. What they need is someone on their side working on a national level to bring in more options. The Venue Alliance may not have been able to save the Astrodome, but we are perfectly situated for those arenas looking to do more with less. And banding together with like-minded arenas around the country gives a single building more recognition, more bargaining power, and a social network that helps everyone grow.
City Councils and mayors will come and go over the years but those arenas that generate revenue while entertaining the tax payers will always be an asset to any city. If you would like to know how The Venue Alliance member buildings are able to put on more events, we want to hear from you.
Facebook Timeline for Brand Pages: What It Means For Event Organizers
Facebook rolled out their Timeline page layout for brands yesterday which provides some great real estate for imagery at the top of the brand page as well as posts that line the left side of the page and an activity tracker on the right side of the page. Here’s a preview of what the Sarasota Blues and Music Fest’s Timeline on Facebook will look like when in launches March 30th:
The Sarasota Blues and Music Fest shows off the new Facebook Timeline layout for Brand Pages as an example of what event pages can do with the new look and feel
All brand pages will move to this new look and feel come March 30th and here are some things you can do today to make sure your event is well-represented in the new layout.
1) Get a striking “cover photo” – Something with a horizontal orientation will work best, and be sure to leave a little open space on the photo so you can layer in your logo or the event dates in to the image. Facebook shared that the new real estate was “not meant to be an ad” and asked that brands spend some time putting their best looks forward with creative and striking imagery in that spot.
2) Take advantage of the “top post” – Although it’s not present in the preview we have access to, Facebook indicated that brand pages will have the ability to use a “top post” at the top of the brand page that won’t get lost in the clutter of other posts and activity on the Facebook timeline. Be on the lookout for it and use it wisely.
3) Milestones – Just like the personal pages, Facebook brand pages with Timeline will have the ability to create Milestones, those past events and other historical elements that can be noted in Timelines. Be sure to chart your event’s history with Milestones – first meeting, founding and notable performances or appearances from past events all make great Milestones.
4) Messages – This is a big one! Fans will now have the ability to message brands directly (and more discreetly) instead simple posts to a brand wall. But just like the old wall, be sure to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to the new messages.
5) Tabs – These are the items on the left side of the current Facebook wall that let users do everything from view photos to buy tickets to your events – see the Barrett-Jackson Collectible Car Auctions page for a good example of keeping tickets top of mind on Facebook with tabs.
The new Facebook Timeline layout will limit the number of tabs (seen on the left side of the page) to 3
Unfortunately in the new Timeline layout, only three slots will be available for tabs so we suggest that you rank tickets, events and photos as your top three tabs to showcase on your Facebook brand page as the other tabs will be buried too deep in the Timeline for any fan to find.
Other features and functions are sure to be announced before the move to the new look at the end of the month, but as always, feel free to reach out to ExtremeTix if you need help with planning, managing or marketing your event.
Getting More Out of Your Leap Day
What would normally be the end of the month today is actually a prelude to Leap Day. And despite what the writers at 30 Rock would have you believe, you don’t have to celebrate the visit of Leap Day William on February 29th. But how are you spending this one extra day that comes around only once every four years? Fighting the lines at IHOP for your free pancakes (although it does support a great cause)?
How will you spend Leap Day?
Leap Day is a great opportunity to really take a good look at your event (or events) for the year and size up what you’re doing well, what’s getting by and what could use some help. Look to your staff to help you make an honest assessment of what’s working and not working but be ready to farm some part of your business out to professionals.
You don’t need the stress and worry of tax season coming up this spring nor do you need to worry about garbage at your event with the right partners. Your CPA should put you at ease around tax time and your waste disposal partner should have everything covered in that department. And your box office and ticketing partner…well, when you’re with us, you’re in good hands. Give us a call or drop us a line and let us know how we can help you put your mind at ease.
