Happy Friday, EAMC-ers! We began today with the first of two thought-provoking general sessions, this time focusing on the growing importance of sustainability in event and concert venues.

 

GENERAL SESSION: PLASTIC SURGERY: NO LONGER A TREND, IT’S A NECESSITY

 

Anyone who took a tour of Climate Pledge on day one of EAMC was amazed at the impressive nature of the space – not only its beautiful design, but more importantly, its unparalleled commitment to upholding the highest standards of sustainability.  

 

For this panel, a tenant of the Climate Pledge team, Director of Marketing Janice Jimenez, moderated a panel featuring Briana Treat, the arena’s Director of Sustainability; Rob Johnson, SVP, Sustainability & Transportation at the arena; and Amy Morison, SVP of Marketing, Concerts West for AEG Presents.

 

The team mentioned some of their successes, including their commitment to being a functionally zero waste arena – which they achieve by diverting 95% of their waste from landfills – and their goal of eliminating all single use plastics by 2024.

 

However, they also addressed how challenging it can be to tackle these types of issues at different venues and in other markets. They provided some key tips for all venues when getting started on their individual sustainability journeys. Highlights from the discussion included:

  • Not sure where – or how – to start? The panel recommends beginning by tracking your waste and consumption, because you can’t take next steps toward a goal if you don’t know where you’re starting.
  • Once you have a starting point, talk to promoters and partners about how and where you can make an impact. Climate Pledge partners with Pepsi in large part because their corporate values around sustainability are well-aligned, and they know they can continue to make mutually beneficial decisions by working and innovating together.
  • Take things one step at a time – you can’t reinvent the wheel in one day. The panel recommends trying things like:
    • Sending fans “Green Befre You Go” messaging about sustainable transportation to and from the arena, or even providing vouchers for public transportation.
    • Offering a plant-based cncession if you don’t already.Partnering with lcal organizations who can help redistribute and reduce food waste from your venue.
    • Considering alternative artist gifts, like planting trees or donating to charities, rather than just physical gifts.

Directly following, the morning’s selection of concurrent informational sessions began. We chose to lean into our learning about the digital space, and discovered that with constant technological advancement comes ever-evolving policies for consumer data and privacy.

 

CONCURRENT SESSION #1: CRASH COURSE: CONSUMER DATA, PRIVACY POLICIES & OPT-IN’S

 

Joyce Szudzik, VP of Marketing at OVG360 - Acrisure Arena moderated the discussion between SVP & General Counsel of Climate Pledge Arena/Seattle Kraken Hewan Teshome and privacy attorney David Rice to breakdown the current landscape of these policies, and to provide top-level advice on how to move forward.

 

However, it’s essential to first understand why this topic is so important: Hewan and David stressed that while there are legal ramifications to data and privacy policies, it’s important to be aware and follow best practices to retain the trust of your fan bases, as well as protect your brand.

 

Laws are changing constantly, and consumers are gaining even more rights when it comes to how their data can be used. Not only that, but laws vary wildly from state to state, and even on a national level. Due to this, the panel recommends implementing a data and privacy policy that covers your venue no matter where your customers live.

 

These new laws (we’re looking at you, California!) protect the rights of individuals who live in those states; thus, even if your venue is located thousands of miles away, you should work to ensure your policy covers customers anywhere.

 

But how do you ensure that your venue has a current, practical, and implementable data and privacy policy? The panel made some great recommendations, including:

  • Your first step should be to consult your in-house or out-of-house counsel. If consulting counsel isn’t an option for your venue, the panel recommended reaching out to your local chamber of commerce as a great resource.
  • Ensure that your organization has an internal data governance policy so that everyone across the group is on the same page. Even small mistakes can result in million-dollar fees, so making sure that your data governance policy is clear and actionable is a necessity.
  • Be sure that your website includes your privacy policy and terms of use to explain how you use the data that you’re collecting. You should also review this policy every three (3) years, since the data landscape changes so quickly.
  • If and when you make changes to your data and policy privacies, update your customer database!
  • Keep your database as organized as possible, so that you always know where your information is coming from, and so you can update your customers accordingly.

LUNCH BREAK

 

Today’s luncheon provided us two very exciting announcements – the first being something that has been in the works for years – a rebrand of EAMC!

 

As the conference continues to grow each year, so does both the number of attendees and their diverse professional makeup. The term “Arena” within the conference title was limiting, EAMC board members said. Which led to the birth of (drumroll, please…) – EVMC, the Event & Venue Marketing Conference! And with the new name also comes a brand new (carbonhouse designed and developed) website! If you're feeling bold, you can even pre-register for next year’s conference at a discounted rate.

 

Speaking of next year’s conference, the board also announced that the first official edition of EVMC will take place June 5-7, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. We can’t wait to meet next year in the Mile High City!

 

After lunch, Stephanie attended another conference mainstay the past few years, the live recording of the Adventures in Venueland podcast. This time around, hosts Dave Redelberger and Paul Hooper interviewed Joe Paganelli, CEO of New Rising Sun, producers of the Pacific Northwest’s iconic Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival. They discussed plans for the festival’s 50th anniversary celebration this Fall, as well as Paganelli’s professional path that led him to where he is now – from working at multiple venues, to being a part of the TV Music Team at Sony Pictures and more.

 

More sessions continued in the afternoon, focusing on “thinking outside the box” with your marketing strategies; premium and hospitality offerings; mental health in the workplace; and more. Katie attended the session focusing on everyone’s new favorite – and enjoyably time-sucking – social platform, TikTok.

 

Moderated by Celina Torrijos, Digital Marketing Manager at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the panel featured Adam Burchill, Head of Sports & Gaming at TikTok; Abby Luschei, Assistant Editor at local media outlet Seattle Refined; and Allison Row, Social Media Coordinator at Footprint Center in Phoenix.

 

The most important things we learned are:

  • On a basic level, TikTok is algorhythmic-based media distribution. More importantly, it is  the place for finding audiences you wouldn’t traditionally find on other social networks or websites, Burchill said. “We’re the last happy corner of the Internet, and we truly believe that,” he added.
  • It features a mechanism of discovery that hasn’t existed before; traditionally, marketers pay to have a message put out into the world, but that message can often “lose its luster” on a more “refined” network like Instagram. Rather, if you create content that is fun and that organically happens in culture on TikTok, its built-in mechanism will get it pushed in front of thousands, or even millions, of people. TikTok humanizes content.
  • As we move forward, TikTok is going to not just going to be a marketing platform, it is also going to be an important e-commerce platform. Once you get someone engaged in your content, you’ll also be able to sell them things.
  • TikTok is “a place to experiment” – not every video you post will necessarily go viral, but it’s an amazing way to connect with your core audience. Burchill, who formerly worked for the platform’s music division, noted that “borders are gone now” for artists outside of the U.S. due to the medium.
  • Longer form content is starting to perform very well on TikTok, and users are starting to use it more and more as a search function for topics that interest them.
  • Venue marketers often have the challenge of not having access to artists who play their venue, professional athletes or other backstage content. Instead, use things like TikTok trends to “join the party,” and creatively work to enhance what you’ve got. Come up with authentic ways to contribute your part in a way that makes sense for your venue or entity.
  • Never delete anything you create! Videos may not “go viral” at first, but always can – and often do! – days, weeks or months later.

After the day’s final General Session, “The Art of the Upsell,” this year’s conference wrapped up with a closing happy hour and time to unwind.

 

As always, we had a fantastic time at EAMC, and cannot wait to be back in Denver next year for the industry's very first EVMC!