Panel 2 — Pricing

What is face value and how are teams and leagues using technology as well as basic business principles to re-evaluate their pricing strategies? In addition, what is the relationship between the primary and secondary ticket markets and how will it evolve?

Panelists:

Barry Kahn – Qcue

Barry Kahn founded Qcue and serves as the company’s CEO where he drives overall strategy, manages business and partner development and provides guidance for product direction.

Qcue is reinventing the primary ticket marketplace with the world’s only dynamic pricing engine for live entertainment events. Sports teams, concert promoters and venues use Qcue’s patent-pending technology to set the right price at the right time and provide the best value for fans, from the date of on-sale to the date of the event. Customers and partners include the San Francisco Giants, Dallas Stars, Major League Baseball and Tickets.com.

Kahn has authored numerous papers and has been quoted by leading media outlets including The Financial Times, Sports Illustrated, CNN Money, Bloomberg and CNBC. He holds a Ph.D. and a M.S. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as a B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University.

Larry Martin — National Basketball Association

Larry Martin is the Sr. Director of Team Business Operations for the NBA. As part of the Team Marketing and Business Operations division, Larry focuses on assisting teams with marketing and business objectives surrounding ticket sales, ticket operations, technology and relationship marketing. Larry also serves as the primary liaison with the different primary and secondary ticketing vendors providing services to the NBA, WNBA and D-League teams.

Prior to joining the NBA, Larry spent two years as a Sports Marketing Strategy Consultant with Acxiom Corporation and eight years at the Miami HEAT Group, where he served as the Sr. Director of Marketing for the Miami HEAT and American Airlines Arena.

A native of Pound Ridge, NY, Larry holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont, as well as a Masters in Sports Administration and a Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University, Miami FL. He and his wife, Kathleen, reside in Cross River, NY with their three children Lawrence, Paige and Charlotte.

Russ Stanley – San Francisco Giants

Russ Stanley, Managing Vice President, Ticket Services and Client Relations

Russ Stanley, who enters his 20th season with the San Francisco Giants, is responsible for the ticketing of all events at AT&T Park and the team’s Spring Training facility, Scottsdale Stadium.

Stanley and his service-oriented team of operations, client relations, and luxury suites staff have implemented many progressive ideas that have improved the experience of season ticket holders. During his tenure, the team has developed many fan friendly programs to alleviate the pressure for season ticket holders who must purchase and use 84 games. Whether it’s reselling tickets online, relaying via email, or donating tickets, Stanley’s team has built the infrastructure to do it all online. This year, his staff is developing a program to help match partners for season tickets as well as test the waters with dynamic pricing. Using this pricing model, ticket prices will change daily on 2,000 seats at AT&T Park.

The San Francisco State graduate came to the Giants after eight years at Marine World in both Redwood City and Vallejo.

Derek Palmer – Tickets.com

A 17-year veteran in the ticketing industry, Derek Palmer is the fueling force behind Tickets.com’s operational and sales organizations. Now serving as Chief Commercial Officer, Derek has experienced first hand the different facets of the business, and has successfully found ways to streamline and improve efficiencies within his organizations. Over the course of his tenure with Tickets.com, Derek has been involved with client support, training and installations, technical service, consumer services, professional services and strategic operations.

Setting internal record history with new client integrations, Derek has perfected this set-up process by aligning the right internal resources and developing the appropriate execution teams launching clients such as Times Union Center, formerly known as Pepsi Arena, 9:30 Club, BOK Center, Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Additionally, Derek has major event experience working as Ticketing Manager for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and a call center trainer for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA.

Zach Anderson – Ticket City

Zach is COO at TicketCity, one of the largest ticket companies in the world. He focuses on strategy, growth and business development. Zach has put together partnerships with sports industry titans like NBC Sports. He also has an extensive marketing background and specializes in SEO and website growth/design/usability. Zach is Vice Chairman on the Skillpoint Alliance Board of Directors and on the Business Advisory Council for CTTC. He volunteers with LAF, CF and CAFB. Zach was awarded Austin’s “Rising Star” award by the Austin Business Journal in 2003. He was recently a speaker at AdTech in San Francisco.

Moderator:

Al Branch – Ticket News

Alfred Branch Jr., a seasoned journalist with nearly 20 years of experience working for various publications, provides content and shapes the editorial voice of the website. Al has been writing compelling and timely stories for TicketNews.com since December 2006, and he brings integrity and a wealth of experience to covering this fast-growing industry. Daily readership has more than quadrupled since Mr. Branch began writing for the site.

With all the progress and change within event ticketing — with the number of states that have legalized ticket reselling, and all the technological advancements — the industry is in the midst of a Golden Age. Al has admired the mission of TicketNews.com. He is pleased and grateful that he now has an opportunity to join such a vibrant and informative site.

Mr. Branch served as a panelist at Ticket Summit 2007, the premiere convention for the secondary ticket industry, where he participated in a discussion on the evolution of how the media has changed its coverage of the secondary ticket market.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Branch has written and edited content for newspapers, financial newsletters, trade magazines and websites, including Educational Marketer. Most recently he was a successful freelance journalist with several regular clients, including Real Estate Portfolio and Web Wholesaler magazines.