Feb
3
The International Ticketing Association is holding it’s annual conference in Salt Lake City this year at the Salt Palace (Man that place is big). I attended both the morning and afternoon sessions.
In the A.M. it was with Pro Sports/College Athletics Mini Conference. The group was mostly ticketing directors and box office managers from the MLB, NFL, NBA and colleges, but had vendors like Tickets.com, Ticketmaster, Veritix and of course Twelve Horses. The “Sports Guys” are relatively new for INTIX (last few years) but absolutely came out in significant, if not the majority numbers. Topics ranged from ticket printing, to print@home, box office logistics etc. There definitely was an underlying consensus around the down economy and how to continue to maintain attendance levels. The tactics that put butts in seats and performed were, deferred payment plans, payment installments and franchises using financing vendors that extended credit to purchasers who in turn paid over time. Groups that adopted these practices (US & Foreign) were reporting anywhere from 15% to 25% bumps in their ticket sales. I would say when your spending $1,500 to $10,000 on season tickets payment plans definitely would help. Great session with LOTS of open collaboration.
Later in the day I went to the “Breakout Sessions for Non-Sports Topics – College & University PACs” (Performing Arts Centers), The “Artsy” side to see what they were spending time and energies on. Because most of these organizations are non-profit or extensions of state agencies, “Doing more with less” was a significant topic. Also how to incentivize students to use these amenities and facilities. While there were not any commonalities in the tactics these groups were using, like with the Sports guys, there were lots of small ways that add up. Bundling of the entertainment and then food was a big one. We all like to eat right! I think the one I found the most profound was around the perception of value for these tickets. Basically if tickets are given away to students, the perception is they don’t have any value. But! If tickets were packaged as a student wide activity fees (everyone pays) or charged for, even if only a few dollars, then attendance went up. Perception of value, just like perception of brand, was a huge factor. Again LOTS of open collaboration and sharing of ideas.
Posted in Salt Lake City, Technology, Uncategorized, Utah, events
Jan
9
When Steve Spencer is not busy charting the technological direction of the company, he can often be found achieving balance in other places.
Product development and entering a new market can be a lot like judo. According to Wikipedia, Judo is “characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one’s opponent’s strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances.”
This strategy is at the heart of our new ticketing platform.
Give the interview a listen.
FYI – To listen to the podcast via Utah Daily Pulse, you may have to exclusively use Internet Explorer.
This week on the CouchCast we are excited to talk with Steve Spencer, President and CTO of Twelve Horses, a Reno Nevada company with an office in Draper Utah.
Twelve Horses recently released a new product called Twelve Horses Ticketing. During our interview, Steve talks about why the company felt this was a market worth going after, even when it’s dominated by giants like TicketMaster, StubHub and Tix. The company is focusing on a market segment they feel has been overlooked by the big players, and priced out of for the small to medium sized business.
Twelve Horses is a full-service relationship marketing and messaging company specializing in designing interactive communication solutions. Utah is proud to have this company in it’s community. To find out more about Twelve Horses and what they can do for you, please visit their web site at http://twelvehorses.com.
Posted in Atlanta, Finance & Banking, Las Vegas, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Technology, Travel & Tourism, Utah, Web & SEO
Dec
11
That’s right folks! Last week the Twelve Horses crew received this following internal email from IT:
Automatic will be releasing WordPress 2.7 in the next few days. This will be a very significant upgrade for quite a few reasons. One of which makes me very very excited. Automatic Upgrades! Not only is it an important security upgrade, but it also has the potential of making future upgrades painless and far less time consuming for both Twelve Horses and our clients. The first thing everyone will notice is that the Administration area has received a major overhaul. The navigation menu appears to have taken on a more classic CMS design, and is now on the left side with collapsible menus. The Dashboard is now customizable with drag and drop widgets including a simple WYSIWYG quick post widget. Plugins now have a “Search and Install” feature built in, so you don’t need SFTP access to install your FlickrRSS and wptwitter plugins. Like I said, there is also the new Automatic Upgrade tool. A feature I cannot wait to test and use in the future!
One personal reason why I posted most of the email verbatim is because I find it quite amusing. IT get excited about something?!? Ha! Shows you how much we all love Wordpress.
Props to the Wordpress crew for this excellent video detailing its launch. It is soooo Matt Mullenweg with the jazz theme.
Posted in Blog, Social, Technology, Web & SEO, Web Design
Sep
5
When our CEO, David LaPlante is not busy running Twelve Horses, traveling between our different offices, maintaining an active speaking schedule, raising two sons, and serving on the Boards of an Entrepreneur’s Organization, Economic Development Authority, a local school, and a group advocating for alternative transportation, he also proudly serves as chairman of the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. It is for this reason, in conjunction with the fact that it illustrates the impressive economic growth and evolution of Nevada and Reno, that I share the following press release with you.
NCET and DRI recognized for excellence by EDA
The US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) has recognized NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, and DRI, the Desert Research Institute for excellence in economic development grant performance.
Both NCET and DRI have received previous awards from the EDA, which announced that NCET will receive an additional $20,000 grant while DRI will receive an additional $5,700. The original EDA grants in 2006 were facilitated by Nevada Senator Harry Reid when NCET received $200,000 and DRI received $57,000.
NCET was recognized for its work on a variety of programs designed to encourage Nevadans to start new businesses, and to then connect them to the
resources they need to succeed.
“NCET’s work with entrepreneurs and small businesses is very important for Nevada’s economic growth and vitality, and I am pleased that the EDA chose to recognize their efforts,” Reid said. “DRI plays a critical role in the environmental research that occurs within Nevada’s System of Higher Education. I’m excited about the prospects of the research park, which will tap into emerging technologies and clean energy.”
“NCET won for its notable demonstration of organizational leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and regional collaboration to achieve greater competitiveness in the global marketplace,” said Barbara Earman, from the EDA.
“We are honored to be recognized by the EDA for NCET’s work in helping Nevada’s entrepreneurs and small businesses,” said Dave Archer, NCET’s CEO. “They drive Nevada’s economy, and we are pleased that we’re able to help them.”
DRI was recognized for its feasibility study and business plan of a new business incubator to be located at DRI’s Research Park in Reno, NV. The proposed incubator is designed to provide resources and expertise to technology based companies from the local community and emerging technology developed at DRI and the University of Nevada.
“To be recognized by the EDA for performance excellence with an additional financial award is a tremendous shot in the arm, and even more important are the relationships our community is building with the EDA and the Department of Commerce,” said Jeff Pickett, Managing Director of the DRI Research Park.
NCET and DRI were notified of the awards by Congressman Dean Heller’s office. Congressman Heller noted, “I am very pleased that the EDA has selected two Nevada organizations for this honor. DRI and NCET are excellent examples of how the private and public sectors can work together for the betterment of all Nevadans.”
Posted in Company News, Current Affairs, Member Orgs, Nevada, Reno-Tahoe, Technology
