Olympia Entertainment needed to find an interactive, efficient way for fans of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings team to fulfill their ticket orders for 10- and 20-game plans.

“The goal was to create a website that would be easy to use as well as visually enticing to make fans want to become ticket holders,” said Bryan Durren, Olympia Entertainment’s Creative Director.

carbonhouse’s latest work can be viewed at www.redwings.nhl.com.

Durren worked with Craig Turnbull, Olympia Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, to decide on a concept and develop the framework of the site.

“We wanted a very engaging user experience, where fans can feel like they’re buying a piece of the Red Wings’ brand,” Durren said. “We also needed the site up and running in a very short period of time, which really put carbonhouse to the test.”

Because Olympia Entertainment works directly through the NHL to implement Red Wings’ websites, carbonhouse collaborated with the league to coordinate implementation and make sure everything was up and running as it should be.

“We roughly knew what we wanted, but carbonhouse took our ideas and made them better,” Durren said. “They really exceeded our expectations in terms of delivery and implementation.”

"Bryan came to us with a great idea from the start," said James Sack, carbonhouse’s Partner and Creative Director. "Once we were in the same room, we worked together to refine the concept. The goal was to create an easy and engaging site, plus really promote the Red Wings brand.”

Not only has the new site made the process of ordering 10- and 20-game plans much easier, but the response from the sales staff and customers has been phenomenal.

"Working with carbonhouse on the development of an online retail interface for our mini game packages has resulted in positive sales growth for our company,” said Turnbull. “Their team is extremely attentive and dedicated to delivering a quality product. We will not hesitate to use them again for future digital projects."

As a result of the website’s success and additional ticket sales, carbonhouse was called upon to modify the site, adding a 5-game plan.

“We would absolutely do this again the next time around and approach it the same way,” Durren said. “carbonhouse really knows their stuff from the front end to the back end. They were a pleasure to deal with throughout this very demanding project.”

In today’s fast-paced electronic age, offering up a stagnant website is akin to U2 putting on a show with no encore.

Venues such as arenas, stadiums, performing arts centers and convention centers especially need to be forward-thinking with today’s digital marketing solutions.

Like many companies, Venues Today was a victim of the ever-changing technology. The company serves as a leading source of news and information for live entertainment and events, serving management, owners and suppliers to music, sports and meetings venues internationally with its monthly magazine, weekly e-newsletter and resource guides.

Its website was severely hindering Venues Today’s mission to share news and how-to information with all sectors of the live sports, entertainment and meetings industry.
“We desperately needed to update our website,” says Linda Deckard, Venues Today’s publisher and editor-in-chief. “In the past, we used designers who weren’t vested in our site.”

As a result, the website’s design and functionality would too quickly become outdated.
“We had a very static website where we couldn’t add any content, share news stories or really do much with it,” says Dave Brooks, Venues Today’s senior writer and assignment editor.

Where much of its website content is given away, some aspects of the site contain protected content that is exclusive for subscribers.

Bottom line, Venues Today needed a functional, more attractive site that carried a consistent look with its publications. Its staff was in dire need of a more modern program that allowed them to easily share time-sensitive news and features on demand, while pushing out information through an RSS feed that was uncomplicated to subscribe to. Facilitating article sharing on Facebook and Twitter also was important. In addition, a straightforward program was needed to add high resolution photos, videos and podcast links to the site.

“We had been using a program for our website and you practically needed a software engineering degree to get it to work,” Brooks says. “It was confusing, always crashing and had a lot of glitches. And we had to utilize it every day."

The Venues Today team knew it was time for an update and needed a digital marketing solutions company that understood venues to lead the way. The solution was obvious.
“We had been in talks with carbonhouse for some time and knew they were the leader in venue website development,” Brooks says. “They are the standard, we wanted the best and there was no question that they could pull it off.”

Even though the company is not a venue, Venues Today’s clientele is the same as carbonhouse’s. Just like the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the collaboration made sense.

carbonhouse got Venues Today back in the game by rebuilding its website from the ground up. When the site went live in June 2011, the publishing company instantly became a state-of-the-art news organization.
“It was a 180-degree turn from our old site,” Brooks says.

While the old program reached out to a limited number of people and had severe e-mail deficiencies, Venues Today can now share up-to-the-minute news and features articles with anyone at any time on demand.
The publishing company is able to tell its story in a consistent way, since all of the necessary elements are now in place. Articles are easily searchable and accessible to website visitors. The new design dramatically showcases venue photos, serving as a huge canvas.

One of the biggest benefits is the simplicity of the behind-the-scenes web program. Venues Today is utilizing carbonhouse’s proprietary greenhouse web-based content management system to access its content anytime and anywhere. With this program, expert and novice staff can add, edit, expand and delete website content and information quickly and easily. Photos can be dropped in, content can be changed, calendars can be updated, logos can be altered and press releases can be sent in an instant.
“We use greenhouse every single day, and it is very easy to use,” Brooks says. “It is extremely intuitive and clearly laid out. Best of all, it works seamlessly and is easy to learn.”

After only one month of going live, Venues Today experienced what concert-goers typically dread--a dramatic increase in traffic, albeit on its website. We’re talking double-digit growth.

“We were able to post our photos from the IAVM conference up on our site right away, along with articles that targeted conference attendees,” Brooks says. “This pushed our traffic really high and has helped drive more people to our site. Story views have skyrocketed.”

By working with carbonhouse, Venues Today not only gained an updated, attractive and functional website, but created buzz and added exposure for the company. In the sports, event and entertainment business, there is nothing better. 

“carbonhouse knows the industry we cover and our target market,” Deckard says. “They are on call for us and available for anything we need. The consistency and constant availability of carbonhouse’s technological expertise has been a big benefit to me as a business owner.”

We have always showed off our design prowess with our business cards. In the past, our black, diminutive 2-by-2-inch square cards stood out in a stack and were a big hit with potential clients.

But after our recent move to a new office, we felt it was time to get even more creative and produce standout business cards that would also symbolize who we are and the clients we represent.

We wanted our cards to focus on our passion for the live entertainment industry and everything it represents. This new design had to be the real deal, a reflection of our business as the lead provider of state-of-the-art digital marketing solutions exclusively for arenas, performing arts centers and convention centers.

Bottom line, the new cards needed to embody carbonhouse as a company with a symbol of the industry it represents.

Working with Access Passes, the leader in backstage passes for the concert industry, we created the meet and greet business card, the first of its kind. Fashioned after the traditional meet and greet passes used for backstage access at live performances, our new business card features an authentic (and killer) silver and black fabric sticker pass.

As a company focused on state-of-the-art web, social and mobile technology, we had to make it mobile with a scannable QR code on the back, providing fans with an easy reference for our staff information. Just like a real meet and greet pass, we included space on the front for carbonhouse staff members to customize their information.

The cards are as attractive as the passes they simulate, but fortunately not as hard to come by. If you see us at a conference or event, be sure we hook you up with a carbonhouse meet and greet business card!
 

carbonhouse, the industry leader in website creation and integration of venue-specific marketing tools, has improved overall consumer experience and access with their latest website creation for the Orpheum Theatre, 203 S. Main Street, in Memphis. The latest carbonhouse work can be viewed at www.orpheum-memphis.com

The consumer-oriented, intimate design brings a change to the overall look and functionality of the Orpheum Theatre website, positioning the venue at the forefront of the industry. Interactive seating charts and easy access to a wide range of ticket holder information give consumers an interface that is both informative and entertaining, encouraging return visits. Integration with social media platforms provides broadened compatibility with the latest in web browsers and mobile devices.

“Our previous website design was difficult to navigate for first time users,” says Kanette Rodgers, vice president of marketing and public relations for The Orpheum Theatre. “carbonhouse captured the essence of our venue and created a website that was vibrant, easy to navigate and visually stunning, and the new technology and trends let us better interact with our patrons.”

carbonhouse’s proprietary system has been created exclusively for the venue and hospitality industry and offers intuitive solutions to a venue’s marketing team by simply providing them the tools to market and manage an event quickly and effortlessly. Fan Connect, a carbonhouse exclusive technology, includes integrated social media tools that further encourage marketing and ticket sales, featuring Facebook integration designed to allow fans to share their event memories, stories and highlights.

“We believe visitors will be able to better navigate the website and enjoy the new, engaging experience we’ve created for them that simultaneously captures the unique history of the Orpheum Theatre,” carbonhouse Partner Brandon Lucas said.

carbonhouse, the industry leader in website creation and integration of venue-specific marketing tools, has developed another impactful property with AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, home of the NBA’s Heat and south Florida’s biggest concerts. The latest carbonhouse venue can be viewed at www.aaarena.com.

carbonhouse has incorporated vibrant colors and a gridded background to reflect the defining feature of AmericanAirlines Arena – the MediaMesh. In addition, an overlaying view of the Miami skyline has been added to highlight the central location of the venue amidst the heat of the Miami nightlife that creates an engaging experience to the arena.

The comprehensive new design brings a change to the overall functionality of the AmericanAirlines Arena website. It boasts interactive seating charts, a mobile web version, an online password protected Promoter Kit and a photo gallery for highlighting past events.

carbonhouse’s proprietary system has been created exclusively for the venue and hospitality industry and offers intuitive solutions to a venueʼs marketing team by simply providing them the tools to market and manage an event quickly and effortlessly. Fan Connect, a carbonhouse exclusive technology, includes integrated social media tools that further encourage marketing and ticket sales; featuring a built-in Facebook integration designed to allow fans to share their event memories, stories and highlights.

“We were extremely pleased with the work done by carbonhouse on our new website,” said Mike Walker, Executive Vice President of HEAT Enterprise, The HEAT Group / AmericanAirlines Arena. “From the initial meetings on the ideas for the site to the work in process and ultimately the final product, we found the relationship to be very professional. We would recommend them to any organization looking for experience, creativity and the capability to live within a budget.”

“carbonhouse’s solution for AmericanAirlines Arena allows the venue to create an online relationship with its customers and manage events quickly and effortlessly”, carbonhouse Principal James Sack said. “The ease and usability of the site creates conversions by turning visitors into ticket buyers through the website or mobile devices.”