Here's What's Coming Up At Ticket Summit®!

Ticket Summit® is still several months away, but there is already a lot in store for the conference! Exhibitors and sponsors are lining up and the staff is getting all set to make Ticket Summit® at ARIA an event to remember.

Ticket Summit® will be held at ARIA Las Vegas, located within City Center in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. ARIA is home to numerous restaurants, HAZE nightclub, Gold Lounge, and The Deuce Lounge. There’s also great shopping in near-by Crystals and a variety of spas and pools available to guests. ARIA is also home to Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana and a world-class casino.

The Ticket Summit® Trade Show/Dining Hall will be in ARIA’s beautiful Ironwood Ballroom. Booth spaces are filling up rapidly. Exhibiting companies will include ATBS, Fan Freedom Project, MassMutual South Carolina, Mobile Ticket App, Ticket Platform, Transaction Services, United States Postal Service, and many more.

Sponsoring companies already include ATBS, ezEvent, MassMutual South Carolina, Ticket Liquidator®, TicketNetwork®, and others. There are still countless opportunities available for companies that are interested in exhibiting or sponsoring the conference.

Ticket Summit® will be held July 16-18, 2014 at ARIA, with a jam-packed schedule of  So, don’t let winter get you too down! It will be plenty warm in Las Vegas during July!

Why should you exhibit at a trade show?

Exhibiting at a trade show is a great way to reach new customers, promote your brand and products, and make connections with potential partners. But, if you’re on the fence about exhibiting, here are some other benefits you may not have considered.

Trade shows may appear time consuming, since they require planning and travel, but they can actually save you quite a bit of time. Compared to recruiting new customers and setting up individual time with them, trade shows enable you to meet with many people at once. Additionally, face-to-face interactions give you the chance to provide further information than a sales call will. At a trade show, you’ll not only reach many customers, but you’ll also be introduced to new segments of your industry.

Staying up-to-date on your industry is essential to successful marketing. Trade shows expose you to your competitors and other members of your industry. You’ll learn where your industry is going and what trends you should be capitalizing on.  This also means that you’ll have access to all of the influential players in your industry, who might be interested in adapting your product or service.

Attending a trade show is an investment in your company’s future.  If you approach exhibiting with a measurable goal in mind, it’s a great opportunity to be involved in your industry. Your sales team will be able to reach new customers and have more meaningful interactions with those customers. Trade show exhibiting is a chance to make your company, brand, and products shine.

You can also combine exhibiting at a trade show with sponsoring the event. This combination will increase your company’s profile at the event and make your brand stand out above the competition. Whatever your exhibiting and sponsoring goals, Ticket Summit® has a number of packages that are suited to fit your needs. Prices are going up January 1, though, so you’ll want to act soon. To learn more, visit www.ticketsummit.org or call 860-416-5767.

How Mobile Has Changed Ticket Sales

By Mark Hunter, Senior VP of Sales and Business Development, Mobile Ticket App

Mobile devices and smartphones are everywhere.  People are reading emails, sharing their lives on social networks, staying connected, and buying products and services including tickets.

Facts:
ComScore data revealed that smartphone penetration ticked up in the three months prior to August 2013 to about 61%.  It is noted that people who carry smartphones also have higher disposable income and use their smartphones more frequently.

According to Google, tickets are the #2 product category purchased on smartphones, just below clothing and accessories.  Additionally, 66% of ticket purchasers used more than one device to research and buy their tickets. 

Sales Process:
When ticket apps where first released 3.5 years ago, many ticket brokers looked at apps and mobile sites as separate sales channels.  Traditional ideas about traffic and conversion rates were applied to apps and mobile sites to judge their success.

Today, the facts show, that the mobile device is an integral part of the ticket buying process, and that traditional conversion rates are hard to apply to measuring the success of the mobile app and mobile site.  Logic and observation need to apply here and the correct way to measure mobile success is through mobile activity and use. 

The mobile industry has two successful platforms that are measured by use- the Apple iPhone and the Google Android. 

A mobile site can be used by all smartphones including the iPhone and Android, which should be considered the bare minimum if you want to have a mobile presence.  Like your traditional website, a user must come to you to shop for tickets on your mobile site. 

Having an iPhone and Android app is a necessary product set for any ticket broker who proactively sells tickets to retail buyers.  The ticket app is a piece of software that sits on the mobile device and uses all features of the mobile device to make finding and buying tickets easier.  A correctly built app will be built using the same operating system code as the mobile device,  meaning an iPhone App should be built using iPhone software code and an Android app should be built using Android software code.  Some developers have cut costs and outsourced development to India using a standardized software code called HTML5, which Facebook and LinkedIn have dropped for numerous reasons.

When you decide to embrace ticket apps, it is prudent to have an individual iPhone app and a separate Android app. They are two different systems and each should have an app tailored to that specific platform.

Summary:
Information and facts have shown us that having a mobile presence isn’t just important for customers that wish to start and complete the entire purchase process on their smartphones, but is necessary for any ticket broker who sells tickets to retail buyers.  Having a mobile site is an entry point, and having an iPhone app and an Android app is the norm for any organization trying to sell their products and services to the community of retail buyers who use smartphones to research and purchase tickets, which is 61% of the United States population. 

For more information on out mobile ticket apps and mobile ticket websites, email Mobile Ticket App at info@mobileticketapp.com.

www.MobileTicketApp.com
888.206.6374, extension 1

Get your Swag on at Trade Shows and Conferences

Exhibiting at trade shows is an important way to network and build professional relationships within any industry. It is an effective way to establish and extend your company's brand and services. Consider the hustle and bustle of the conference environment and the competition to stand out from the crowd, as you take the time to prepare a booth that will tell your company's story and highlight your capabilities.

Swag items are the little give-away items you'll take away from a trade show display.  Your choice of swag can go a long way to help you attract foot traffic during a trade show, and also create lasting impressions over time. Careful thought should be given to selecting the swag items to represent your business.

Flashy swag items at your booth are great to attract people, but if these items aren't useful over time, they will fail to support your efforts to create lasting connections with the conference attendees. People may be more impressed with the swag than with your business. Think of sensible items with enough pizazz to bring people to your booth so you have the opportunity to engage them and sell your services.

The ideal swag item should be something your contacts and potential customers will use over time, but also something relevant to your industry. For example, if you are a technology company, a useful high-tech device would be logical; if you are an agricultural company, perhaps a gardening tool, or even a pen that is designed with images or shapes of agricultural symbols.

Remember to brand your swag with your company logo and a means of contact. Printing your company website or a QR code on your swag will support communication and interaction over time. Even if your contact loses your business card, that really cool pen or flash drive with your web address will be a handy reminder of who to contact long after the show.