Features
Speakers Announced For Pollstar Live! Panel ‘Changing Lanes: How to Turn Shutdown Fan Engagement Into Post-Pandemic Ticket Sales’
– Pollstar Live!
– Mary Kay Huse of Mandolin
With the pandemic bringing live events to a complete halt, there may be no better (albeit overused) word to sum up the industry’s response to the past year than pivot.
Resilient executives in the live business rose to the challenge, from companies evolving to meet the needs of artists like ticketing platform Veeps, which was founded in 2017 to help bands sell VIP offerings and transformed during the pandemic to focus predominantly on live streaming. The industry also saw new companies successfully break into the livestreaming sector like Mandolin, which was co-founded by CEO Mary Kay Huse after she previously spent six years as an executive at software powerhouse Salesforce.
The Pollstar Live! panel “Changing Lanes: How to Turn Shutdown Fan Engagement Into Post-Pandemic Ticket Sales” will look at the challenge of the past year of keeping fans engaged with venues, artists, and events with no live experience to build around – and as live events return, ways to carve out a place for their events and tours in what is sure to be a highly competitive marketplace ahead.
– Jamal Jimoh of Hitco Entertainment
Speakers on the panel include Huse; Jamal Jimoh, Vice President and Head of Commerce at Hitco Entertainment; Joel Madden, lead singer of Good Charlotte and co-founder / CEO of Veeps; and Ant Taylor, founder and CEO of ticketing platform Lyte, Inc. The panel is moderated by Robert Davari, founder and CEO of ticketing platform Tixr.
Pollstar Live! is set for June 15-17 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The conference is the world’s largest gathering of live entertainment professionals and the flagship event for Pollstar magazine. The event features panels with the industry’s top executive and visionaries, multiple networking opportunities and the 32nd annual Pollstar Awards.
Pollstar Live! kicks off June 15 with Production Live!, the one-day companion conference that features insightful panels and discussions from industry professionals on all topics related to staging live events including lighting, video, staging and stage management, sound technique, concert production, video, regulations, security and more.
Ville Juurikkala – Joel Madden of Veeps
Previously announced speakers for the panel “An Honest Look At Diversity & Inclusion in Live Entertainment,” sponsored by Live Nation, include Live Nation Media & Sponsorship’s Shavonne Dargan, Nederlander Concerts’ Eddie Orjuela, Noelle Scaggs of the band Fitz & The Tantrums as well as the Diversify The Stage initiative, Bao Vo Creative’s Bao Vo, and Culture Collective’s Jonathan Azu, who is moderating.
The panel “Hell Yes, I’m Still Going: Untangling the Most Massive Rescheduling Campaign in the History of Earth” features Gerry Barad, EVP of Booking at Live Nation Global Touring; Joe Harris, music agent at CAA; Peter Katsis, who is a partner at YM&U Group; Jbeau Lewis, who is a music agent and part of the music leadership team at UTA; Sophie Lobl, Global Talent Buyer at C3 Presents; and Bruce Solar, partner and co-head of Worldwide Music at APA. David Kells, the EVP of Entertainment and Venues at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, is the moderator for the discussion.
Stas Chijik, the CEO and co-founder of Billfold POS, will share his expertise on cashless payment technology during the Pollstar Live! panel “I Really Did Forget My Wallet: The Next Era In Cashless/Touchless.” Other esteemed speakers who will be contributing to the discussion include Michael Conley, the chief information officer and senior vice president of the Cleveland Cavaliers; Amy Latimer, president of Boston’s TD Garden; and Wayne Scarsella, EVP of Sports & Entertainment at Appetize Technologies, Inc. The panel will be moderated by Dr. K. Elizabeth Hawk, president at Ampersand Intelligence.
– Ant Taylor of Lyte
The Production Live! panel “What I Did On My Summer Vacation: How The Production Biz Stood Tall In The Pandemic,” includes speakers Maria Brunner of Insight Management and Musically Fed; Joey Gallagher of Gallagher Staging; Robin Shaw of Upstaging, Inc.; Michael Strickland of Bandit Lites; and Debbie Taylor; production coordinator for AC/DC, U2, Black Sabbath, Guns ‘N Roses and The Rolling Stones.
Production manager/tour manager Bill Reeves and production stage manager Lance “K.C.” Jackson the founders of Roadies of Color – will take part in the panel “Roadies of Color/Inclusivity on the Road & At the Show,” a candid discussion on the critical issue of a lack of diversity in live entertainment. Other speakers on the panel include Tour Forensics’ Dave “5-1” Norman, Rebekah Foster of Ujima Sound Productions, Ltd., and Tina Farris of TF Tours – all skilled veterans of the business of producing live entertainment.
This year’s conference will offer digital passes as a registration option for those who can’t attend the conference in person.
Registration for in-person and digital passes is open now.
Visit pollstar.live for more information.