Let’s talk about Taylor Swift and her insight about the fan experience. Swift’s viewpoint is credible—she is one of the music industry’s most popular acts (her recent Red Tour grossed more than $150 million)—so the Wall Street Journal published an article by her about what it’s like to be a recording artist today in a world with dwindling album sales. It’s an interesting perspective, and I recommend you read it.

The part, though, I want to focus on is Swift’s thoughts about fans.

“I think forming a bond with fans in the future will come in the form of constantly providing them with the element of surprise. No, I did not say ‘shock;’ I said ‘surprise,'” Swift wrote. “I believe couples can stay in love for decades if they just continue to surprise each other, so why can’t this love affair exist between an artist and their fans?”

She continues with examples of how she uses the element of surprise to satisfy her fans.

“In the YouTube generation we live in, I walked out onstage every night of my stadium tour last year knowing almost every fan had already seen the show online,” she wrote. “To continue to show them something they had never seen before, I brought out dozens of special guest performers to sing their hits with me.”

Her generation, she suggests, is easily bored and demands to be delighted and surprised.

I think that’s a fair assessment. For example, promoting a “special surprise guest” is a lot more enticing to me than the latest tech advance offered.

On Vox, Nilay Patel wrote a reply article to Swift’s article, and he makes a great point: “…figuring out how to value art in a world without scarcity is a problem unlike any other in human history.” While Patel takes apart Swift’s arguments one by one, he does agree with her about the fan experience.

“That’s exactly right. People will pay to go have experiences they treasure, and they’ll pay for spectacles like a Taylor Swift show,” Patel wrote. “And they’ll pay to get a piece of someone they’ve connected with—that’s why there are hundreds of teen YouTube stars you’ve never heard of selling out shows around the world.”

Patel concludes his article with a clip of Jimmy Iovine, Beats co-founder and former Interscope Records chairman, talking at the Re/code conference in June. In the clip, which I’ve embedded below, Iovine points out what people really pay for.

With that said, the question is on the table: How do you sell experiences?

(photo credit: pennstatenews via photopin cc)

The 4th annual Green Sports Alliance Summit will be held in the tech capital of the world—the San Francisco Bay area! The conference will take place July 21-23 in Santa Clara, California.

The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues, and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Alliance members currently represent over 240 sports teams and venues from 20 different sports leagues.

The Green Sports Alliance Summit serves as a platform for the sports community to unite around sustainability—bringing together more than 600 industry stakeholders to learn from 80-plus leaders and engage their peers in meaningful dialogue around better environmental practices and proven solutions that help advance the green sports movement. The 2014 program will cover the day’s most critical topics in professional and collegiate sports greening and includes topics such as existing building renovations, composting programs, onsite energy generation, creating community legacies, marketing and sponsorship, athlete engagement, sustainability reporting, and much more. Sports and sustainability leaders will drive the conversations as we explore better environmental practices and proven solutions that will continue to advance the green sports movement.

Highlighted speakers of the 2014 Summit include

• Darryl Benge | Arena General Manager, Tampa Bay Lightning
• Chris Granger | President, Sacramento Kings
• Dave Kaval | Club President, San Jose Earthquakes
• Paul Hanlon | Director of Facility Operations, MLB
• Derek Hillestad | Director of Operations, TCF Bank Stadium
• Chris McGowan | President & CEO, Portland Trail Blazers
• Rich Mylin | Associate Director Facility and Event Operations, UCLA
• Bill Pottorff | Vice President, Engineering, AEG STAPLES Center & Nokia Theatre

As an event highlight, 2014 Summit attendees will have the unique opportunity to get an insider’s look at some of the Bay Area’s new and iconic pro and collegiate sports venues during private guided tours on Monday, July 21.

The 2014 Green Sports Alliance Summit is a great opportunity to connect with industry stakeholders for three empowered days of learning and sharing to help advance the green sports movement.

Members of IAVM: Register today with the promo code IAVM to save $50 on tickets!

In addition to visiting the website, you can learn more about the 2014 Green Sports Alliance by following event-related discussions on Twitter: @sportsalliance and #GreenSports.

There was a lot of news this past week. Here are some stories that caught our eyes.

The Broadway Musical Crisis
—Commentary
“The rise of the commodity musical, then, is at least as much a symptom as it is a disease. Either way, it will probably not be cured in our lifetimes. To be sure, American theater remains vital, but the center of that vitality is now to be found off Broadway and in theaters outside New York.”

Eagles to Test Google Glass-enhanced Stadium Experience at the Linc
—CSNPhilly.com
“One of the things the Philadelphia Eagles are hoping to stay at the forefront of is the fan experience at NFL games.”

Shut Up and Spend: Inside the Electronic Music Money Machine
—The Verge
“Electronic Dance Music didn’t grow into a serious industry in America until it was boiled down into those three little letters.”

Anyone Got a Broom?
—Daily Mail
“Army of 800 litter pickers begins cleaning up this mess at Glastonbury…but it will take SIX WEEKS to get the site back to normal.”

Big Data’s Athletic Moment: Turning Sporting Arenas into Preferred Business Venues
—SmartData Collective
“In essence, with so many business-people coming to games to close deals or foster a sense of company collaboration, arenas have the opportunity to turn stadiums into business spaces that deliver the necessary business experience to close a deal.”

(photo credit: Justin in SD via photopin cc)

For the first time, executives from Live Nation Entertainment’s Ticketmaster, Concerts and Touring divisions will be at VenueConnect 2014, the annual conference and trade show hosted by IAVM.

In addition to the opportunity to network with some of the world’s top live event promoters, “Live Nation Entertainment Backstage” will include a premier education session focused on the latest dynamics in show booking.

Standing Out In A Crowd (Sunday, July 27, 1 p.m.)

Execs from Live Nation Entertainment will appraise the traditional and emerging role of the venue—exploring the new world of concert promotions where revenue optimization is essential and the venue is viewed as a yield management partner. Moderated by Cole Gahagan, EVP of Client Revenue with Ticketmaster, session panelists include Mike Evans, President, Live Nation Arenas; Gerry Barad, COO, Live Nation Global Touring; and Brad Wavra, SVP, Live Nation Touring, Live Nation Concerts.

“Our venue partners are tremendously valuable to Live Nation Entertainment, and we feel it’s important to express that from all branches of our company,” said Mike Evans, president of Live Nation Arenas. “We take pride in the array of services we provide venue managers – from the world’s greatest live events, to the most advanced ticketing and event marketing solutions in the industry—and we’re looking forward to sharing the latest developments on those services at this year’s conference.”

VenueConnect 2014 takes place July 26-29 in the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon. iavm.org/venueconnect