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Tickets.com hosted its annual ProVenue Exchange conference this year in Charleston, South Carolina from June 11 – 13, 2018.

PVEX18 invited technologists, ticketing professionals, thought leaders, and marketing experts to explore the patron experience comprehensively, beyond the logistics of ad campaigns, venue operations, sales numbers, and CRM.

“Experiences Bring Stories to Life,” the conference’s theme, is an irresistible perspective. It emerges naturally when you blend cutting edge technology, the Tickets.com vision, and open dialogue—a powerful message for the Tickets.com community and for the ‘experience’ industry at large.

Honored PVEX18 attendees included the World Racing Group, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Buffalo Sabres, colleges and universities, major attractions such as Medieval Times, numerous Performing Arts clients such as Wolf Trap, The Bushnell and more.

PVEX18 guests checked into the Charleston Marriott for three days of immersion in the Tickets.com vision, a family-like environment of collaboration and open dialogue about industry successes and challenges.

Joe Choti, President and CEO of Tickets.com, stated during his Keynote address:

“It is this vision, Experiences Bring Stories to Life, that drives our brand, our technological solutions, and our services. If we achieve our goal, we will help you build stories and create remarkable experiences.”

Elaborating on this year’s theme, Joe Choti inspired the audience with examples of how storytelling is impactful in the experience industry, followed by a challenge:

“It is our responsibility together to be the catalyst that generates life-changing stories through a journey of unforgettable experiences and unprecedented value.”

Day 1 of PVEX18 – Tickets.com Chief Technology Officer, Derek Argobright, walked attendees through the experience industry’s next wave of technology and innovation while celebrating the best line-up of content ever for Provenue Exchange.

Day 2 of PVEX18 –Tickets.com Vice President of Product Management, Bob McClintock provided a Product Roadmap, focusing on User Experience, ProVenue data-driven upsells, and critical strategies for MyProVenue development. Bob emphasized that as much as we focus on technology, we also need to focus on the words we use—Stories, Experiences, and Change.

National Champion Storyteller – Kindra Hall, Award-Winning Columnist, Author, and National Champion Storyteller, spoke on the power of storytelling and how your patrons’ experiences and stories can take your organization to a whole new level of success.

Vet Tix & T.Cares Creating Exceptional Stories – It was our honor to invite T.Cares partner, Eddie Rausch, Chief Operating Officer, Founder, and Chairman of the Board at Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) to the main stage to share about the influential work they are doing to create exceptional experiences for our brave veterans and their families.

Alfred, Mobile Concierge & the Alexander Family – Beyond the main stage, we held a robust line up of breakout sessions covering all aspects of the industry, including email marketing, analytics and reporting best practices, in-venue experiences, and the new Tickets.com mobile concierge, Alfred. Unique to this year’s conference was the introduction of the Alexander Family—a hypothetical family to help attendees understand the patron experiences provided by Tickets.com technology. Breakout sessions walked through various features that applied to each member of the Alexander family, from ticket purchases to in-venue experiences, building positive memories with the venue thanks to Tickets.com technology.

The Alexander family was a family of five: an educator married to a career military officer with a college-age son and two young daughters. The Alexanders spanned multiple demographics, and each family member came to life in a way that left us feeling somewhat attached to the imaginary group.

From presenting the Alexander Family to diving into MyProVenue and practicing the art of storytelling, every ProVenue Exchange guest walked away with not only the knowledge of how to take their venue to the next level but also how to create an experience that will last a lifetime for their patrons.

The three-day conference presented insightful industry discussions, hands-on technology training, presentations on the most cutting-edge technology in live events, delicious southern-style cuisine, and evening social events where the genuine southern hospitality shined through.

For more information on attending or becoming a partner at ProVenue Exchange please contact marketing@tickets.com.

Beautiful and historic Charleston, South Carolina provided the perfect backdrop for attendees as Derek Argobright, Chief Technology Officer, took the stage.

With an incredible line up of content, Derek challenged attendees to make a conscious choice: take advantage of what Charleston had to offer while learning, collaborating, and inspiring each other in the content-rich sessions that Tickets.com had crafted. Enjoy the experience. Create stories. And use it all to inform your organization’s strategy for capturing your patrons’ attention with the kinds of experiences they’ll want to enjoy again and again—and tell others about for years to come.

Bob McClintock, VP of Product Management, began the Product Roadmap presentation by tying the theme of the conference to the very words we use and how they relate to building great products. We are highly focused on the User Experience in all aspects of software design, using visual stories to map a patron’s journey through our software and storyboards to guide development.

Bob walked attendees through a series of new and recent initiatives including ProVenue data-driven upsells and package sales via MyProVenue. He also elaborated on a number of key strategic areas for MyProVenue development, new MyTickets functionality and design, and enterprise projects, such as our new Membership platform, new UX architecture for ProVenue, and Alfred, our new mobile venue concierge.

Tickets.com strives to make a difference not only in the ticketing industry but also within the community. Core to the Tickets.com corporate culture is the T.Cares program, a natural fit for creating memorable experiences.

At this year’s ProVenue Exchange, T.Cares Partner, Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) spoke about their service to the Veteran community. Vet Tix provides free tickets to over 550,000 registered/verified VetTixers in the military as a means to heal hidden wounds, strengthen family bonds, and facilitate positive reintegration after active military service. To deliver this compelling story, Eddie Rausch, Chief Operating Officer, Founder, and Chairman of the Board at Vet Tix gave the T.Cares Keynote, sharing the organization’s mission and heartfelt veteran testimonies. Ron (last name concealed), currently serving in the US Air Force, shared, “[Vet Tix] has changed my life for the better by allowing me to get out of my house and slowly work to being around crowds and loud noise again. I feel so much more comfortable and confident being around my fellow brothers and sisters at these live events.” Learn more about Vet Tix by visiting www.vettix.org.

Derek Argobright, Chief Technology Officer, opened the session drawing parallels between the current social gaming craze and the ceaseless evolution of, not just our software, but of our entire industry. Bob McClintock, VP of Product Management, briefly described our shift to a more agile development environment with the goal of delivering features into client hands more quickly.

Multi-channel distribution was another topic of discussion during the opening session.  Derek Argobright emphasized all of the different ways in which Tickets.com can support multi-channel distribution, including Consign-Back, the Replay Ticket Exchange, Ticket Forwarding, and the function of the ProVenue platform as a launching point for creative 3rd party integrations.  By design, Tickets.com maintains a neutral stance toward multi-channel distribution – prioritizing for the freedom of client-driven decisions in this arena. Weighing the potential for multi-channel distribution to strengthen or dilute a brand in the marketplace, Derek encouraged each organization to consider adoption with purpose and care.

Open discussion included a variety of topics, including ways in which Tickets.com can disseminate advance knowledge of upcoming features and products.

Every year, Tickets.com takes a moment to recognize some of its clients’ finest achievements. Congrats to this year’s winners!

Success Story of the Year: University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM) successfully implemented MyProVenue, taking the buying experience of their patrons to the next level. UVM also implemented Consign-Back, providing season ticket holders with an alternative to the secondary market to recoup the costs of unused tickets. And lastly, UVM integrated CrowdConnect for faster and more efficient communication with their patrons.

Innovator of the Year: World Choice Investments
World Choice Investments has done extraordinary work through our Registered Developer Program, most notably with their new online sales integration. 

Newcomer of the Year: Durham Bulls and Los Angeles Angels
This year, the Tickets.com Executive Team had a tough time selecting from a truly awesome group of new partners, which led to choosing two winners – Durham Bulls and Los Angeles Angels. The Durham Bulls implemented Uptix stored value, and successfully rolled out integrator offers with Groupmatics and Experience.

The Los Angeles Angels, implemented ProVenue, ProVenueForce, MyProVenue, MyTickets, Replicated Data, and Alfred at their Spring Training facility—all prior to the 2018 season. Their aggressive adoption of Tickets.com technology earned them new sales records, accomplished while simultaneously training themselves on the various features of ProVenue.

Each morning, ProVenue Exchange kicked off with a voluntary Fun Run around the marina and picturesque Charleston homes. The running crew ranged from competitive runners to light joggers and walkers, all gathering to enjoy the fresh morning air and prepare for a day of collaborative learning.

From the backyard game-like atmosphere of the Opening Reception in and around the Cedar Room, to the Live Performance with Chris Lane, the daily event was a great way to kick-start the day, resume previous conversations, catch up with old colleagues, and forge new relationships.

On the final night, Chris Lane gave a riveting live performance at one of Charleston’s famous music halls. Attendees were not shy about rocking out to Lane’s country music hits and cover songs on the dance floor.

ProVenue Exchange Sessions

Breakout Sessions

Keynote with Kindra Hall

Opening Reception

Chris Lane Concert

PVEX18 Fun Run

Golf Tournament

Product Showcase

CrowdConnect: Communicate With Confidence Using ProVenue Powered Data

Attendees learned about marketing integration with ProVenue, which provides automated access to Patron Accounts and related data. For example, you can use ProVenue data to tailor email communications based on a subscriber’s unique relationship to an organization, create smarter segments based on patron traits, previous purchases, and communication preferences.

 

Tracking and Analytics

At PVEX18, we explored the use of tools, such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, which allow data collection and reporting on how patrons use MyProVenue. We demonstrated how to set up Google Tag Manager to take advantage of tags embedded in MyProVenue and how to use Google Analytics to view global user statistics, such as the length of time users spend in MyProVenue, the geographic location of users, how many users visit particular MyProVenue pages, the types of devices they use to view the pages and other valuable data points.

Creating a Seamless Design from Website to Ticket Purchase Flow while Minimizing Patron Abandonment

Lead UX Designer at Tickets.com familiarized attendees with the perspective of ‘design thinking’, a way to anticipate and remedy a wide range of user frustrations, build trust, and reduce the rate of abandoned ticket purchases. In this interactive design session, the speaker explored the do’s and don’ts of creating a seamless experience from the non-transactional portion of your website to the search, seat selection, payment and confirmation pages. Through featured examples of things that work and things that don’t, the session provided valuable information about basic design principles—color, brand and theme building. The session culminated with the hands-on opportunity for each attendee to apply what they’d learned using a Beta version of our design tool to created their own MyProVenue experience.

Harness the Power of Lightning with ProVenueForce 2.0

During PVEX18, we walked attendees through the newest release of our flagship CRM integration. The latest release is packed with even more ProVenue data and all-new features including real-time Lead conversion, real-time Account conversion, and seamless support for ProVenue Patron Merge. ProVenueForce 2.0 fully supports the Salesforce Lightning experience; a framework that streamlines customization and provides users with a stunning interface built for faster sales and more informed decision-making.

Registered Developer Panel

During this special session, attendees heard directly from members of the Registered Developer Program, as they shared information about their products and their experiences working in the ProVenue ecosystem. This year’s developers included: Fevo – a group sales platform that allows friends to buy on their own schedule but be seated together; Groupon – a household name for finding discounts across a range of products; MTP Software – makers of the ScoreCRM platform used across Minor League Baseball and other verticals.

More Than a Link: Strategies for Converting Your Group Business to Digital

While individual tickets and season tickets have gone completely digital, Group sales, are more complex and require a greater degree of flexibility and customization. Through this session, attendees learned what it takes to convert all group tickets to digital and the benefits of doing so—gains in operational efficiency and new revenue.

Come Meet Alfred, Your Mobile Concierge Assistant

Following the product’s introduction at the end of 2017, Alfred was ready for “his” ProVenue Exchange debut. Attendees learned about the design and birth of the product, explored features currently in use, including ticket validation, mobile reporting, and portable ticket sales, and received a glimpse of things to come.

Maximize Your Ticket Sales Using Data for Online and Social Advertising

This session showcased Fan Interactive Marketing, which helps venues maximize ad dollars with agile digital marketing campaigns. Each campaign uses the most effective channels to target potential customers at the most advantageous time. The session focused on digital advertising based on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) data, retargeting, Facebook and other social channels.

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