Speculative ticket selling should be banned completely, Dave Touhey emphasized to Congressmen and staff. “It is fraud and of no benefit to consumers.”

Touhey, Connett Consulting, was representing IAVM, and by extension, the Fix The Tix Coalition of which IAVM is a member, during testimony before the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce Sept. 27 in Washington, D.C. The subcommittee, part of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, was holding a hearing on 14 proposed bills, including three that impact ticketing – the Ticket Act, the Boss and Swift Act, and the Speculative Ticketing Draft.

The hearing was a mid-step in the legislative process. The Representatives were seeking further information from experts in the field. Touhey was speaking to all three bills, not just speculative ticketing. “I was speaking to what was introduced, but said none of it goes far enough. I introduced some insight to why it didn’t go far enough,” Touhey said.

The most compelling part of his original five-minute testimony was by example. He told members how he had gone online to buy tickets to Wu Tang Clan at Capital One Center in Washington. He clicked on the first site that came up, one that had a photo of the building and acted like it was the venue’s site.

He quickly found two tickets in Section 2, Row P for $1,503 all in, but with no seat location. “That’s always an indication it’s not an official sales site, and often a sign that the tickets are speculative,” Touhey testified. That means the seller does not have the tickets in his possession; he is speculating he can get them if he can find a buyer.

John Breyault, National Consumers League; Dave Touhey, IAVM, and Scott Benevidez, Automobile Service Association

Touhey then went to the venue’s actual site (a venue he once managed) and immediately found Seats 15 and 16 in Section 2, Row P, at an all-in cost of $637.40. The reseller also knew those seats existed, and had Touhey purchased them from him, he presumably would have gone to the venue’s site and bought them to resell to Touhey at a markup of $865.60, a huge profit with no risk to the reseller.

“When I talked about the markup of tickets, going on a secondary site and finding two tickets, then going on a primary site and finding basically the same tickets,and they were marked up almost $800, I looked up to see the reaction. There were quite a few members paying attention to my testimony, and you could see a sort of shock, a ‘Wow, that’s a lot,” Touhey said.

Touhey was given five minutes toward the beginning of the two hour, 30 minute hearing to state his case. After each of the witnesses had their five minutes, the hearing moved to questions, most of which were for further information. “The committee on this is fairly bipartisan,” Touhey noted. “I didn’t feel like I was getting different questions from the left or the right. They were trying to learn.”

Touhey worked with IAVM’s lobbyist, Elizabeth Frazee of TwinLogic Strategies, and IAVM’s Committee on Industry Affairs, of which he is vice chair, on the content of his testimony. Some of it came from his pre-testimony interviews with the committee staff, whom he met with the Friday prior.

“I had some more real-time examples of tickets from a tour that doesn’t go on sale till next week that have tickets ‘available ’on some sites already. I had done it with some of the staff, and they went to the websites themselves,” Touhey said.

“After the hearing, I told someone to go back to your office and look at MorganWallen.com. You can see six to eight tour dates he announced for next spring or summer. He says they don’t go on sale until next week. Then go to secondary sites, and you can see you can buy tickets for those dates, but if you go to the primary site, all you can do is register to purchase those tickets. That’s a speculative ticket,” Touhey said.

The Fix the Tix Coalition’s goal is for them to ban speculative tickets, to make it illegal to list tickets you don’t have, Touhey said. Only the ticket reseller benefits from this large mark up. No one associated with the event does — not the artist, not the venue, and not the promoter, he told the subcommittee.

Touhey said the members didn’t ask as many questions as he’d  thought they would and he had prepared for. Nor did they ask some he wished they had, some which his written and spoken testimony somewhat addressed.

THE EXPERIENCE

It was an interesting week for Touhey, who did not know till the Friday prior that he would be testifying on Wednesday morning. He has talked with Congressional staff about different legislative issues over the past year, but never testified at a committee hearing.

“I’ve been in D.C. almost 20 years and only in the past year and a half have I been to the Capitol for anything other than to go to the Visitors Center when guests came in from out of town,” Touhey said. “Now I’ve done the ultimate and testified before Congress.”

He joked that “the most comprehensive study I’ve done of a Bill Becoming a Law was the cartoon “Schoolhouse Rock” on TV as a kid. Some things stick with you. The show had different educational components and one was the How a Bill Becomes a Law song.” Honestly, though, he has more total recall of Schoolhouse Rock’s “Conjunction Junction, What’s Your Function?” on the rules of grammar.

For a bill to become law, it has to be read out of the committee first. Of the three ticketing bills, the Ticket Act has bipartisan support and could move out of committee pretty quickly, he said. The Boss and Swift Act is backed by Democrats and needs Republican support to be fully introduced. The Speculative Ticket Draft could possibly to be incorporated into existing discussion, he added.

The view of the subcommittee hearing dais from where Dave Touhey sat at the witness table.

Tapped on Friday at 6:30 p.m. to be the witness for IAVM, Touhey then learned the written testimony had to be submitted by 10:30 a.m. Monday. He had a full weekend of sports events and even a camping tripped planned, but he was going to multi-task around that. However, Tropical Storm Ophelia interrupted his outdoor plans, so he hunkered down to write.

After submitting the 1,700-word written testimony, he went to work on the spoken testimony. He had learned from prior experience that it takes five minutes to say 700-800 words. Monday, he worked with IAVM’s lobbyists and Bobby Goldwater, CVE, of Georgetown University on questions he might be asked.

The spoken testimony is a summary of the written testimony and both are part of the official record, he said. In the end, his speech was just under five minutes. “I looked up at the timer towards the end, and I had more time than I thought I was going to,” he remembered, flashing back to the fear he was talking too fast.

Sitting at the witness table, you never know when you are on camera, he added. He quickly realized if the witness to either side of him was talking, he, too, was in the picture. And you always have to be anticipating a question from whatever member is speaking. As one staffer on the Hill told him, being a witness at a Congressional hearing is “like Little League. You don’t want to be caught picking daisies in the outfield.”

The feedback has been good, Touhey said. He even got feedback while at the witness table and was able to sneak a look at his watch to respond to a text from Tammy Koolbeck, CVE.

“The challenging thing about all this advocacy is that unless you’re paying attention to it, you don’t always know it’s coming up, but it’s very important to this industry,” Touhey said. “This showed me a little more how the government works. There’s a lot more behind the scenes than you realize when you watch testimony, not that I’ve watched a lot.”

When being evaluated to be a witness, he met with the staff from both sides. “Staff working on the draft who asked me questions have those answers. Though it didn’t happen in the actual hearing, it’s still part of the process,” Touhey said.

THE MESSAGE

Post hearing, the Industry Affairs Committee met per usual Friday morning, and the subject of deceptive URL’s dominated the conversation.

It’s a nuance Touhey had to explain to a Capitol Hill staffer, who asked, ‘if I go to StubHub, and  it says Capital One Arena, is that deceptive?’ No, you are on StubHub, and their logo is on that site. You are looking at their Capital One sales page, but it clearly says StubHub or SeatGeek or Ticketmaster. What we’re trying to target is when you Google Capital One Arena or Arena in Washington, D.C., and up pops a site that is WashingtonArena.com or Washingtontickets.com. When you go on it, it has a logo that looks like the building’s or it has a picture of the building and it has other information about the building, trying to make it look like the venue’s website. That’s deceptive.”

The deceptive site Touhey found for Capital One Arena, says Capital One Arena on it, but in a lot of the language it still says Verizon Center, the arena’s former name. They even have some of the venue’s rules, but they don’t even have an up-to-date bag policy, he added.

Deceptive URL website could have valid tickets, but they are still scalper tickets, still being resold. Or tickets might never come, as happened for some Taylor Swift shows. “Those people had booked flights and hotel rooms to go to an out-of-town stadium to see the show,” Touhey noted in his testimony.

“If you don’t have the actual ticket in your possession, you shouldn’t be able to list it for sale. There should be a fine or punishment if someone’s caught listing a speculative ticket.”

It’s fraud, but it’s a very gray area. The FTC website where consumers report fraud is geared toward issues like stolen credit cards, not speculative tickets.

Another nuance to this issue is that a lot of these speculative sites are “secure” in that they have the lock icon, but that just means they are PCI compliant with credit card processors. “It’s a legitimate credit card account, a legitimate charge. That has nothing to do with the legitimacy of the site,” Touhey said.

Touhey was pleased with points he was able to make and allowed in his observation that none of the bills introduced go far enough in addressing the real issues.

“I think we will have the opportunity to get some of the language changed and addressed for speculative tickets and hopefully get some deceptive URL language inserted. That would be a great first step, but there is a lot that needs to be done to really Fix the Tix problem,” Touhey said. “If we can get a couple of the problems fixed, that’s a lot better than where we are now.”

More than that, he urged all IAVM members to stay involved as this issue progresses.

“When we call or email to ask you to reach out to a politician, a Congressman, or Senator, please help us out,” Touhey urged IAVM members. “Pay attention to ticketing, because if unchecked, the secondary market has a very active lobbying group and will get language and legislation that benefits them under the guise of being beneficial to the consumer. That will really hurt venues, artists,

and consumers.”

For a long time, venues didn’t have to get involved in politics, he believes. “Only recently have there been these types of issues, effecting how we operate as venues. We need to stay ahead of it.”

ASM Global has appointed Alex Bowen as vice president of live entertainment.

In his new role, Bowen will manage event procurement and live-entertainment bookings for ASM Global venues in New Orleans, including Caesars Superdome, Smoothie King Center, Champions Square and Shrine on Airline as well as the new Thunder Ridge Nature’s Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri.

Alex Bowen, Vice President of Live Entertainment, ASM Global

He will also oversee live-content development and booking responsibilities for venues in the Southeast U.S. region, including Brookshire Grocery Arena (Bossier City, Louisiana), Raising Cane’s River Center Arena (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), The Buddy Holly Hall (Lubbock, Texas), Pensacola Bay Center (Pensacola, Florida), Boeing Center at Tech Port (San Antonio, Texas) and more.

With more than a decade of live-event experience, Bowen has expertise in many areas, ranging from concert production, artist management and marketing to operations, event procurement and talent booking. With prior stints at several well-known entertainment venues throughout New Orleans and Baton Rouge, such as the House of Blues and Fillmore, Bowen has become a key player in Louisiana’s entertainment industry, eventually earning his most recent role as senior talent buyer for events promoter Live Nation, overseeing multiple markets and large-scale venues.

“As a native of Louisiana, Bowen has been intertwined in every aspect of the state’s rich live music and entertainment culture and throughout his career has even helped to revive venues with the caliber of talent he brings to the stage,” said John Boyle, ASM Global’s chief content officer. “Between his knowledge of Louisiana and southern U.S. regions and his deep understanding of what it takes to produce great shows, we are confident that his transition to ASM Global will be seamless; and we are excited to have him join our world-class team.”

The fact that California has officially ended its publicly funded travel ban to states with laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people is good news for all venues in those states, particularly meetings and sports venues. The actual impact of the 2016 legislation had been supplanted already by COVID-19, post-COVID policies and other state’s legislative action, but nevertheless, it opened the gates to some prospecting that had been on hold for years.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed California’s Senate Bill 447, known as the BRIDGE Project, Sept. 13. It repeals the 2016 law that banned state-sponsored travel to as many as 26 states, the number reported to discriminate on the basis of “sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression” per the American Civil Liberties Union.

Governor Newsom alongside Assemblymember Zbur, Pro Tem Atkins, Senator Eggman and Assemblymember Ward for SB 447 signing (left to right.)

Seven years ago, North Carolina venues were hit hard by California’s ban because of their own state’s HB2, dubbed the “bathroom bill” but officially the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which, among other mandates, compelled schools and state and local government facilities containing single-gender bathrooms to limit access to people of the corresponding sex as listed on their birth certificate.

When that 2016 bill was signed into law by N.C. Governor Pat McCrory, the sales team at the Raleigh Convention Center took a hit. Mara Craft, currently director of sales there, remembers: “Honestly, it was a midnight session. I remember our former director of sales texted me at 11 P.M. saying, ‘This is not going to be good.’ That morning it’s like our emails and phones had exploded.”

“It was hard that first year. Even if you traveled, we had a rule you couldn’t travel alone, because there were folks that would take it out on us, sales people or service people, because they were so — rightly so — upset about it. Then other states made poor decisions, and it became less and less prominent. That [HB2] law sunsetted, but people just don’t know that.”

Kerry Painter, CVE, CEM, CMP, director of the Raleigh complex, summarized the impact of California’s new legislation succinctly: “If you were still leery or holding a grudge, it takes it away.”

There is a list of HB2 groups who would not consider Raleigh until California and other boycotts go away, “and we will add them back into our prospecting list. A lot of them are in D.C., so the CVB and our team have already started reaching out to them,” Craft said.

The impact of COVID overshadowed any boycotting that was obvious, she added, but there were still associations “we would chat with that would say, ‘Oh, we have a big California contingency that wouldn’t be able to travel there.’ Typically, that happened in higher ed or government.”

Timing is coincidentally great for arenas hosting sports, and North Carolina hosts more than its fair share of college sports tournaments. With Stanford and Cal joining the ACC in 2024, it’s even more apropos.

Pressure from sports organizations, like the ACC, had a lot to do with dropping the original HB2, Craft noted, adding that they were lucky that Raleigh is a progressive city and had other legislation and ordinances that protected them. Still, the state as a whole was looked on unfavorably, which hurt places like Greensboro Coliseum Complex early on.

Scott Johnson, deputy director in Greensboro, recalled the venue lost a whole year of NCAA tournaments when HB2 and the resulting boycotts hit. When the bill was repealed, most of Greensboro’s youth sports and college basketball came back.

“Every state had a different rule or different tolerance for what they would accept. North Carolina took the brunt of it for awhile,” Johnson said.

Even with business back, Gov. Newsom’s move is “symbolically a good move,” Johnson said.

Not only did Greensboro lose NCAA events the year of HB2, they lost the next scheduled series in 2020 because of COVID.

“We just had a 2022 Women’s Regional and 2023 Men’s First and Second round, and it all went flawlessly. There were no problems from any states,” Johnson said.

California’s new law, which is effective immediately, replaces the travel prohibition with an outreach campaign that encourages LGBTQ acceptance and inclusivity.

“In the face of a rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ hate, this measure helps California’s message of acceptance, equality, and hope reach the places where it is most needed,” Newsom said in a news release.

Jodi Cobalt, General Manager, Shalleck Collaborative

After more than 16 years with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, where she held the roles of Director of Production and Chief of Operations, Jodi Cobalt has taken a new path in her professional journey…General Manager for the Shalleck Collaborative.

“Bringing Jodi onto our team gives us a significant boost, as she not only brings her valuable operational, business, and management skills but also enriches our work as Theatre Consultants with her extensive Venue Management experience,” said Adam Shalleck, FAIA, Principal/President of Shalleck Collaborative.

A seasoned theater manager with over two decades of experience in the industry, Jodi’s unique blend of leadership, hands-on knowledge, and a thorough understanding of theater give her a wealth of insight from which to draw on in her new position.

“I’m genuinely excited about this next step in my career,” stated Jodi. “It’s a chance to expand upon and share my venue management expertise with an organization that actively cultivates an amazingly healthy company culture. I really enjoy collaborating with this fantastic team and can’t wait to continue to grow together!”

A member of IAVM for over a decade, Jodi is the Past Chair of the IAVM Performing Arts Committee

Nomination deadline for 2024 Charles A. McElravy Award, Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award, and Foundation Legacy Award is December 1, 2023

The nominations and letters of recommendation should be written and addressed to Brad Mayne, CVE, President & CEO and submitted to Rosanne Duke electronically.  The nomination letter and all letters of recommendation must be received by close of business December 1, 2023.  Each award’s criteria process can be found below.  If you have any questions, please contact Rosanne Duke.

CHARLES A MCELRAVY AWARD:

The Charles A. McElravy Award may be awarded annually to a Professional, Honorary, or Retired member of IAVM who, in the opinion of the Board of Directors has made the greatest lifetime achievement to the welfare of the Association or profession.

The following criteria are established for the McElravy Award nominees:

1. The nominee must have been a Professional, Honorary, or Retired Member of the IAVM in good standing for at least fifteen (15) years total (though not necessarily consecutively).
2. The nominee needs to meet the minimum service to IAVM requirements for Honorary Membership, but is not required to be retired. The following criteria must be met for a member to be eligible for consideration for Honorary Membership:  1) Attendance at no fewer than 10 Annual Conferences (VenueConnect) during the past 15 years; 2) Attendance at no fewer than 5 Region Meetings during the past 15 years;  3) Service as chair of at least three international or two Region committees during the past 15 years;  4) Service as:  Director of IAVM or officer in a Region at least once during the member’s tenure with IAVM or b) Program chair for an IAVM venue-specific or specialty meeting during the member’s tenure with IAVM or c) Member of Board of Regents, Board of Trustees, or Board of Governors during member’s tenure with IAVM.
3. Any member in good standing may make a nomination, which must provide, in writing, a minimum of three examples of the nominee’s outstanding contributions to IAVM and/or the industry (for example: leadership, accomplishments, professional service/activities, projects/results).
4. At least three letters of recommendation must accompany the nomination letter.
5. No Chairman of the Board (or Past President) of IAVM is eligible for consideration until the third Annual Conference (VenueConnect) following his/her term of office.
6. Previous recipients are ineligible (and may be found on our website under Awards).

JOSEPH J ANZIVINO DISTINGUISHED ALLIED AWARD:

The Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award may be awarded annually by the Board of Directors to an individual currently or previously employed by a firm which is or was an Allied member in good standing.  The President and CEO will provide evidence the nominee meets the criteria.

The following criteria are established for the Anzivino Award nominees:

1. The nominee must have been an IAVM member for at least ten (10) years total, which need not be consecutive.
2. Any member may make a nomination, which must provide a minimum of three examples of the nominee’s exemplary service and contributions to IAVM and/or the industry (for example: leadership, accomplishments, professional service/activities, projects/results).
3. The nominee must have served IAVM by: 1) Attendance at no fewer than 6 Annual Conferences (VenueConnect); 2) Attendance at no fewer than 10 Region Meetings; 3) Being chair of at least 2 IAVM committees or sub-committees; 4) Being a member of IAVM Board of Directors, IAVM Foundation Board of Trustees, Board of Regents or Board of Governors during the members’ tenure with IAVM; 5) Being a member of an IAVM program, campaign or task force/committee.
4. No Chair of the Allied Committee is eligible for consideration until the second Annual Conference (VenueConnect) following his/her term of office.
5. At least three letters of recommendation must accompany the nomination.
6. Previous recipients are ineligible (and may be found on our website under Awards).
7. The award may be given posthumously.
8. Selection of recipients will be made by an 80% vote of the Board of Directors; Recommendations to the Board of Directors for nominees shall be made by the Allied Committee.

FOUNDATION LEGACY AWARD:

The IAVM Foundation Legacy Award may be awarded annually by the Board of Trustees to an individual or organization who, in the opinion of the IAVM Foundation has made a significant financial and/or non-financial contribution to benefit the mission and objectives of the IAVM Foundation. The Foundation Chief Executive Officer will provide evidence the nominee meets the criteria.

The following criteria are established for the Legacy Award nominees:

1. The nominee may be from any membership category of IAVM or from outside of the Association in a related field.
2. Any current or past contributor to the IAVM Foundation may make a nomination, which must provide, in writing, specific examples of the nominee’s outstanding contributions to the IAVM Foundation.
3. At least three letters of recommendation must accompany the nomination.
4. No Chair of IAVM or Chair of the IAVM Foundation is eligible for consideration until the third VenueConnect following his/her term of office.
5. Previous recipients are ineligible (and may be found on our website under Awards).
6. The award may be given posthumously.