Gene Simmons to Give Keynote Address at ProVenue® Exchange

Rock icon and entrepreneur Gene Simmons will be the keynote speaker at ProVenue Exchange on April 30, 2013. 

The Singer and bassist of the famed rock group KISS and star of the 7-season-running Reality TV show “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” has agreed to be a Keynote speaker at the Tickets.com ProVenue Exchange conference being held April 29-May 2 at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego.

The conference is an annual gathering of Tickets.com clients and industry professionals. Focused on education, it also explores key topics and business opportunities for executives of sports teams and live entertainment venues around the world.  Simmons’ extensive experience as a performer as well as his insightful perspectives on how to control a brand and leverage it for profit will be invaluable material for attendees and be the highlight of the conference.

“Gene is an absolute ideal fit for our event,” said Doug Lyons, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Tickets.com.  “ProVenue Exchange is all about the business of live entertainment, and nobody – and I mean NOBODY – can talk to this topic better than Gene.  We are so excited to have him join us.”

In addition to being co-founder of one of the most successful and unique performing acts of all time, Simmons has built a reputation for excellence in a wide array of ventures including movies, television shows, publishing, merchandising, live event promotion - even smartphone applications and financial services.  His reputation for directness, superb business judgment and making money is legendary, and his presentation skills and style are unparalleled.

“The fact that we are using a Rock and Roll theme for this year’s event – and holding it at the ultimate Rock and Roll property, The Hard Rock Hotel - was the clincher,” continued Lyons. “Gene was by far our top choice and we know he will inspire our attendees and raise the overall conference experience tremendously.”

Tickets.com, provider of both the www.tickets.com online “ticket exploration engine” and ProVenue, the leading in-house ticketing platform for sports and live entertainment, has been a pioneer in technology since entering the Internet ticketing space in the late-1990s. 

For more information about the conference, visit www.provenueexchange.com. For more about Gene Simmons, visit www.genesimmons.com.

TICKETS.COM® 2013 PROVENUE® EXCHANGE DATES AND LOCATION ANNOUNCED

The 2013 ProVenue Exchange conference will be held in San Diego’s Gaslamp District at the iconic Hard Rock Hotel, April 29-May 2, 2013.

Based on attendee feedback, the new conference dates were moved later into the year to avoid conflicting with other events and to stay clear of key dates such as Major League Baseball’s opening day. The change in location also represents a shift in the company’s attitude and emerging image.

“We’ve had a recent reawakening of what this conference should be about. We are in the Entertainment industry – we should act like it!” states Doug Lyons, Vice President of Marketing and Communications. “Our conferences in the past, while highly rated by our clients, were lacking excitement and a sense of the tremendous fun and joy our industry represents. It’s time to embrace this and play as hard as we work!”

The content of the conference is also going through a radical overhaul. What is returning after many years absence is a strong focus on User Training that will help all Tickets.com clients gain valuable practical skills. It’s also geared to be far more interactive, a shift away from the “talking heads” that seem to dominate ticketing conferences in recent years.

A campaign is already under way for Tickets.com clients, ticketing professionals, industry insiders and service providers to “save the date”, and a highly tactical plan is under way to have a steady release of information over the next 10 months to build excitement and drive record attendance.

“As a company, we continually strive to be better. Just Better – that’s our philosophy” continued Lyons. “This conference will go even further. It will ROCK!”

ProVenue Exchange "Out of this World"!

By John Rizzi, SVP Client Services, Tickets.com

After John Walker’s keynote address on day 1 of our ProVenue Exchange conference on March 14, our VP of Marketing, Doug Lyons dove a little deeper into developments over the past year as well as changes to approach and product features in the coming year. This Included the re-commitment of focus on user experience in product design by showcasing examples of fresh, new approaches to ticketing interfaces and “next generation” Interactive Seat Maps. He reiterated the importance of APIs by showing the currently in development “Linebuster” iPad ticket selling application, which allows a mobile user to easily sell tickets from ProVenue with an easy-to-use tablet interface. Great stuff!



I then moderated for a tremendous set of panelists on the state of Loyalty programs that included participation from the Washington Nationals (MLB), The Seattle Sounders (MLS) and the San Diego Padres (MLB). It was very eye-opening to realize that while almost “expected” in many commercial situations, Loyalty in entertainment has yet to find its exact place and value proposition.



Doug then again appeared to host a session on emerging technologies, subtitled “What would Captain Kirk do?” To everyone’s surprise (and laughter) he entered dressed in a full Mr. Spock Star Trek outfit – wig, ears and all. This showed evidence of a new style from Tickets.com where our culture is starting to echo our approach to software: A Great Experience.

ProVenue Exchange "Doug's Diary" - Day 1

Our CEO, John Walker, led off our annual ProVenue Exchange conference on Wednesday, March 14 with a keynote highlighting exciting developments at Tickets.com. Announcements included a newly launched product for international markets (ProVenueX), a “sneak peek” at the new branding for the upcoming launch of the completely redesigned www.tickets.com consumer site and a preview of the game-changing uses for recently published ProVenue APIs that will allow Tickets.com’s customers to take “controlling their brand” to a completely new level.

John pointed out that these APIs in 2012 will enable customers to develop ticket selling capabilities directly from their own website, completely bypassing the traditional ticketing-vendor-controlled transaction pages - instead putting tickets into the team/venue’s own “universal shopping cart” in real time, which can then also incorporate any other purchases into a single transaction and a Great, seamless user Experience.

And that was just the first hour.....

10 Things: Doug Lyons, VP Product Marketing and Strategy

For those of you that are familiar with Doug, this list will come as no surprise. For those that have not yet had the pleasure, we offer you 'Ten Things about Doug Lyons'

1. I like loud Hawaiian shirts.
2. I used to wear loud Hawaiian shirts frequently.
3. My girlfriend does not like loud Hawaiian shirts.
4. I (therefore) no longer wear loud Hawaiian shirts.
5. I have tried to sell “gently used” loud Hawaiian shirts on eBay.
6. I have failed to successfully make sales on eBay.
7. I have an 8-year old son who likes loud Hawaiian shirts.
8. I secretly wear my unsold, loud Hawaiian shirts when with my son but not my girlfriend.
9. I have woven a terrible web of deceit around my wardrobe.
10. I hope my girlfriend does not read the Tickets.com blog site.