Joanna Smith Brings Expertise of Management and Trade Show Coordination to the TicketForce Team

MESA, Ariz. - (JUNE 6, 2013) - TicketForce, a leading provider of ticketing solutions in the U.S. and Canada, announced today the new hire of Joanna Smith as a business administrator.

Joanna will primarily oversee the company’s business processes and will lead all trade show efforts and marketing coordination. She will also work directly with TicketForce CEO Lynne King Smith to manage TicketForce’s support services.

Joanna is no stranger to TicketForce. As the eldest daughter of owners Brad Smith and Lynne King Smith, she has worked for the company in nearly every department, including bookkeeping, marketing, trade shows, call center and on-site ticketing support since she was a teen. She has also worked with TicketForce client, Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix.

“We are very excited to have Joanna as a permanent part of our team at TicketForce, “ said TicketForce CEO, Lynne King Smith. “She is a multi-tasker, incredibly smart, and has valuable experience in many different areas, which is exactly what is needed for this position.”

In addition to ticketing, Joanna has worked in a variety of research, coordination and marketing positions, including positions as a management research analyst for Arizona State University and a research assistant at San Francisco University. She also was selected as a teacher for the Teach for America program, where she served for two years in an under-resourced school district in Glendale, Ariz.

She earned two graduate degrees in the Master of Education and Master of Arts. She also graduated with a bachelor’s degree through the Barrett Honor’s College of Arizona State University.

TicketForce provides ticketing solutions to a full range of clients from nation-wide festivals to local theaters. Currently, TicketForce services more than 300 clients across the U.S. and Canada.

TicketForce Will Provide Ticketing Solutions for Theatre, Music and Dance Performances as well as Men’s Home Basketball Games 

MALIBU, Calif. - (MAY 17, 2013) – Pepperdine University Center for the Arts and Pepperdine Athletics have selected TicketForce, a leading provider of ticketing solutions across the U.S. and Canada, for the University’s event ticketing needs.   

The Pepperdine Center for the Arts provides high-quality activities for more than 50,000 people from over 460 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the Center serves as a hub for the arts, linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students and patrons from surrounding Southern California communities.  

Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Lindhurst Theatre and the Weisman Museum of Art. The 2012-13 season included performances by Lily Tomlin, Clint Black, Marc Cohn, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Take 6.  Pepperdine Athletics will also be utilizing TicketForce for all home men’s basketball games.

The Pepperdine men’s basketball team competes in Firestone Fieldhouse, a 3,104-seat gymnasium that sits on the lower part of campus within the Charles B. Runnels Sports and Recreation Village. In 2012-13,

Firestone Fieldhouse celebrated its 40th year of hosting athletic competitions. The Pepperdine men’s basketball team has won more than two-thirds of its games in Firestone Fieldhouse over the years, and 11 of the squads that called it home advanced to the NCAA Tournament.  

Pepperdine will partner with TicketForce for its private label ticketing, including season packages, Facebook ticketing, mobile ticketing, donations and memberships.   Previously, the University’s ticketing solution was provided by Ticketmaster.

For more than a decade, TicketForce has been successfully developing and implementing strategic ticketing solutions for arts organizations, universities, fairs/festivals, music venues, race tracks and a variety of other organizations that host events.

“It's great to have another university take their ticketing in-house and control their revenue, while gaining a solid solution with patron tools to help them sell more tickets via added channels,” said Lynne King Smith, CEO of TicketForce. “Facebook Ticketing, social sharing, and our mobile platform, along with our integrated patron management made TicketForce the right choice for Pepperdine.”

Tickets are available now for the remainder of the Center for the Arts 2012-13 season.

For more information about Pepperdine Center for the Arts and Athletics, please visit arts.pepperdine.edu and www.pepperdinesports.com. To learn more about TicketForce, please visit www.ticketforce.com.

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Madison Square Garden is one of the busiest arenas in the world. With College Basketball's popularity, especially in Big East country, it's not a surprise that they would book as many games as possible.

Each season, some of the best teams in the nation visit New York City to play on The Garden’s famed hardwood. Since 1934, generations of College Basketball fans have packed "The World's Most Famous Arena." The Garden's annual lineup includes the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, NIT Season Tip-off, Jimmy V Classic, Maggie Dixon Classic, MSG Holiday Festival, BIG EAST Tournament and the Postseason NIT. Source: The Garden

Big Games:

Jimmy V Classic -- Michigan State versus Syracuse on December 7, 2010. Jim Boehim and Tom Izzo will square off it what is sure to be a battle. The Tuesday game will be on ESPN 9 p.m. ET.

The other Jimmy V Classic game is the 2008 Championship game, Memphis versus Kansas. Two very different teams at this point but the Jayhawks should win just like they did before.

St. John's versus National Champion Duke on January 30, 2011. Steve Lavin has done well recruiting but this one might be a stretch. One of the great things about college basketball though is that anyone can win. That's why they play the game.

And of course the Big East tournament is always a thriller and an excuse maker for those teams that can't make it all the way in the Big Dance.

What game are you most looking forward to?

Other MSG news:

$850 million renovation and how the three summer long construction months will effect the New Jersey Entertainment venues.

Prudential Center has officially Never Been Hotter, as it kicks off the busiest run in the Rock's history this month. Prudential Center will host 55 events in 61 days, showcasing the New Jersey Devils, NETS Basketball, Seton Hall University Men's Basketball, and a large number of concerts and shows.

The NBA has decided that the 2011 Draft will now be at the Prudential Center and David Stern gave no indication on when or if they would return to Madison Square Garden at all.

The Draft has been at MSG since 2001. The New York Liberty of the WNBA will also play at the Prudential Center for the next three summers.

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This week the 49ers announced the new stadium would be pushed back to a 2015 opening. A year past the original projection of 2014.

The team has been having trouble securing financing. The hold up is everyone is waiting for the players' union and the league to agree on a new contract.  San Francisco city officials have stated that this would not be a problem if the team choose to stay there.

Santa Clara city officials want to make sure the income of the stadium is dependent on non-NFL events.  Two of the council members are still against it for this reason and aren't convinced to spend the $114 million in public funds.

This is the smartest council member comments I've heard in a while.  The multi-purpose stadium trend is as strong as ever.

The stadium will be opened aired which will limit the number of other events it can do.  It does have a couple event spaces that could hold parties, meetings, and other gatherings.  As far as design goes, it's being built to hold the Super Bowl, Major League Soccer, and World Cup events.

Cost: $937 Million

Capacity: 68,500-seats

Architect: HNTB

Suites: 162

Club Seats: 9,000

Average Concourse Width: 63 ft (compared to 19 ft at Candlestick Park)

Green Features:

Photovoltaic Panels

Green Roof

Public Transportation

Bicycle Parking

Water Conserving Plumbing Fixtures

Use of Recycled Materials

Building System Control Panel

Photo Credit: HNTB

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Contract negotiations are going on with another food and beverage company.

Since Camden Yards opened in 1992, Aramark has been the original concessionaire.

No reason has been given but what does business decisions like this usually come down to?

MONEY.

It's not a secret that the Orioles have been struggling, not only on the field but managing the stadium.

The Orioles have set a season-attendance low and have failed to reach 2 million for three straight years.

The 2010 final attendance for 80 home games was 1,733,019 down 9% from the previous year.

So, what exactly is the problem?  It must be the stadium because it's getting old and it could use some upgrades, right?

WRONG!

That's just an excuse.  They need to be spending money on players.

The good news is, the changes that look to be coming to Camden Yards are minor.

Changes will include more space for fans to socialize before the game, new bars and restaurants, and updates to the concession stands.

The new concession management company will likely have a set amount of money invested in upgrading the stands.  A lot of management companies are doing this as a way to invest in the facility and getting a longer contract.

Let's get back to the team for a moment because we all know, when the team is good and the venue is decent, the money comes.  

I'm not a candidate for any future general manager job, so I would like to get your thoughts on what you think the Orioles need to do in terms of upgrading the team?

If the team was better, the stadium wouldn't be the problem.  The number one priority to the Orioles is not getting the team better, it's upgrading their spring training facility in Sarasota, Florida.

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Reports from the first night came back positive. Patrons and local businesses were both pleased.

You know who's also pleased?

Rick Pitino recruits. Words they've used: wow, amazing, and unbelievable.

All five of his 2011 committments are 92 and above in ESPN's rankings. Three of them in ESPN Top 100.

It looks like The Eagles won't be the only ones rocking out in Louisville's new arena.

From October thought March, Louisville basketball has priority over use of the new arena. Lots of times, venues can't announce events because they are waiting for the final released basketball schedule.

As a venue manager, you have to work with the tenant to make them happy because their your most valuble customer. At the same time you need to book the most and best events possible.

There has to be some give and take.

What's best for the community and the building financially should be the goal.

Venue: KFC Yum! Center

Location: Louisville, KY

Tenants: University of Louisville's basketball teams

Owner/Operator: Louisville Arena Authority/Kentucky Fair Board

Booking: AEG Facilities (KFC Yum! Center, Freedom Hall and Broadbent Arena through 2012)

Conference: Big East

First Show: October 16, 2010 -- The Eagles

Capacity: 22,000-seats

Seven levels stretching more than 720,000 square feet complete with four meeting rooms that include three rooms with river views.

AEG predicted the venue could host upwards of 170 events a year, including basketball games. The schedule looks a little slim right now, but with a new arena, booking events won't be hard.

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Buy the Book: KFC Yum! Center: A Community's Dream Realized by Bill Reed

Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavaliers home, has always been a model of what other NBA buildings should strive for.  They've raised the bar and set a benchmark of what others use to measure success.

But now that LeBron James is gone, it's likely to slow down in terms of upgrades.

The arena built a new team store this summer, probably in hopes that half or more would be LeBron James merchandise.  The Miami Heat better take note and start making plans for a bigger team store.

The new team store is 5,700-square-feet and two-stories.  That's double the size of most people's houses. The old team store was 3,200-square-feet.  Still bigger than most peoples houses.

The technology in the store is second to none.  This will give the buyer/fan an unbelievable experience with the same action and energy of inside the arena bowl.

New Features include:

Replica Scoreboard hanging from ceiling

Glass entrance off the street

Suite and Upper Level entrances

24' sliding glass entrance off the main concourse

Point-of-sale technology, allowing fans to check out anywhere

The new multi-million dollar shop is one of the largest in the NBA.  The design of the new team store was led by Cleveland-based Herschman Architects.  

You can see pictures of the design here.

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30% off Cleveland Cavaliers adidas Blue Retro Primary Logo T-Shirt (pictured above)

Hokie fans will now pay taxes on an estimated 25,000 sodas, 8,000 bottles of water, 4,000 pretzels, 2,000 slices of pizza and 2,000 servings of nachos consumed in a football season.

That's about 18 cents for a hot dog. 7,000 hot dogs were sold last year at Lane Stadium for $3.00. So remember some extra change if you want a hot dog. $3.18, please.

With the economy still struggling, the City of Blacksburg will take all the money they can get. On the short list for improvements are road construction and stronger police force. If you've already done the numbers you might want to factor in the food and drinks sold to fans of men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, wrestling, indoor track, baseball, softball and lacrosse.

Athletic Food Services is managed by Centerplate, a contracted private sport and entertainment, food and beverage company headquartered in Massachusetts. According to the contract VA Tech gets $500,000 guaranteed through 2012 and $525,000 in 2013.

Although there is nothing in state code that allows a state agency to collect a local tax, most on-campus food facilities collect 5% state sales tax on meals unless you have a student dining plan. The heat is coming from the town restaurant owners because they must collect 11% (5% state and 6% city).

The clear advantage is on-campus. Only two vendors besides Centerplate collect both state and local taxes (Seattle's Best and Subway).

The city and university have to have a strong working relationship to make it work best for both sides. Other projects they are collaborating on are the transit bus system and the new Center for the Arts.

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Randy Moss is now a Minnesota Viking. We all know that by now.

The fact that Randy Moss' Jersey is already for sale on the Vikings website is scary. That took 10 minutes!

If you were smart or lucky enough to store away or keep your Randy Moss Minnesota Vikings Authentic Jersey, good for you! Now does it still fit?

The Vikings needed a receiver, there's no doubt about that. Sidney Rice is still injured and they need someone that can make big plays down the field.

The Patriots don't mind shipping him off due to their impressive win on Monday night against the Dolphins. Moss had little impact with a big goose egg in catches.

After a slow start from Moss, you can expect he'll come out with something to prove after being traded. He'll be happy because he's back in familiar territory with a great quarterback in Brett Favre (even though he's yet to show it this year).

Fantasy players take note: Randy Moss is now the #1 Receiver on the Vikings. With a solid quarterback and steady runs from Adrian Peterson, this should give them enough fire power to make the playoffs and possible win a Super Bowl.

Was this more of a business decision to sell merchandise and tickets or to actually win games?

This move will improve the chances of winning games and maybe even a Super Bowl but not likely. The move was more PR focused to generate some energy and excitement back into Vikings football. This will be a huge lift as the Vikings are still working on getting a new stadium.

EXTRA, EXTRA: Oh by the way, the Green Bay Packers might want to wake up and do something. Lynch goes to the Seahawks and now Moss, which they should have got a few years ago, looks to be back in the saddle with the Vikings. The Packers are suffering without Ryan Grant who's done with a season ending injury. Look for the Vikings to win games while the Packers struggle to hold on.

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