My work schedule has been extremely busy these last couple of weeks, prohibiting me from getting to the arena! I was able to return this afternoon and it was great catching up with everyone.
Upon arrival, I attended the production meeting for this Friday’s Harlem Globetrotter’s event. Although I won’t be able to attend the event (I’m going to the Final Four in Phoenix!!), I still wanted to attend to hear more about it. This event comes to the CLA every year so it is ‘old hat’ for the arena staff. Christy had Ti’nesha and I report on suites (she couldn’t attend) so we relayed that 10 suites are in use, with one of the entertainment suites being used for a pre-show meet and greet. Everyone was on board with the details outlined by the event manager, Parker, and the meeting was quickly over. I then sat in on a conference call with Christy and her boss (Abby) with a company that the arena/athletic department has recently partnered with a company that supplies a complex CRM software. Its purpose is to have a master database for all customers (suite holders, group sales, season ticket holders, etc.) to be able to track all of their purchases, communications, and much more. It is also a place for prospective buyers. Christy was unable to attend the initial training so has struggled to understand the system. Each ‘client’ has a contact page with everything they’ve purchased with the athletic department, when/if their tickets were scanned, how much they’ve spent, etc. There are so many event codes/ticket types so the intent is to organize everything and build these profiles of buyers. It reminded me of a CRM software I used when I was at the AVCA (NetForum) that contained all of our membership information. Through that system we could process memberships, event registrations, send marketing emails, see which emails that member sent, what they have bought (product/event registration), etc. It is very complicated and takes time to get used to but with time and practice, it becomes second nature. I tried to encourage Christy with this through her frustrations! After the call, Christy and I discussed my goal setting for the rest of my internship and my medium and long-term goals. As events are winding down, I will have more time to work in the office, do group sales, and shadow marketing and event management staff.
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Tonight was the R. Kelly concert and although I didn’t really know what to expect, it was a really fun evening. The arena hosted nearly 8,000 patrons for the highly anticipated event and there were four rented suites, six suite holders using their own suites, and three trade out suites.
Early in the evening, we received a call from one of the suites who were unhappy about their view of the stage. Despite Christy explaining that the curtains that were up for the opening acts would not be there for R. Kelly and the view would actually be great, they wanted to relocate. Fortunately, we had empty available suites and as much as it was inconvenient to move them, their food, and their bar items, we understood the customer service aspect which was so important. This particular group had rented a suite before and by us displaying this type of hospitality, they may be more likely to purchase another suite from Christy in the future. The arena suite hosted local radio show hosts and celebrities as a way to engage the local media and show their support. They tend to do that for big concerts like this one (did the same for Luke Bryan) and even invite VIPs from the athletic department or university. One thing we learned from the event manager (Parker) was that R. Kelly required multiple dressing rooms, all with certain temperature specifications. Some were required to be warmer for his vocal cords while others at ‘normal’ temperatures. Parker explained that many entertainment acts often have very detailed requests for their dressing rooms whether it be furniture, temperature, or food and drink items. Today was the last day of the high school basketball championship, with four divisions, girls and boys, competing for the state title. Christy was explaining to me that she didn’t sell as many suites as last year due to not as many local Columbia teams not making the championship games. There are approximately 4-5 local teams that made the final game last year, in varying divisions between boys and girls so her suite numbers/revenue were higher. The games were very well attended again today and even had long-time rivals playing in a few of the games.
There was one suite that was rented by a district that had multiple teams playing during the second day so it was rented for the first part of the day for one school and had to be turned over and cleaned around 4:00 p.m. for another school to use the rest of the afternoon. That was the only suite that Christy agreed to ‘flip’ throughout the weekend. Many people continued to ask about renting a suite for single games but after hearing the policy and price, they changed their minds. There were not many issues with suites needing assistance but Christy and I remained on call in the event of something being needed. The event manager expressed her frustrations with this event as many of the media representation did not follow her instructions on plug-ins, television set up, wiring, etc. It is a difficult event as it is so easy to get off schedule and run extremely behind the schedule game times. For example, the day started with an 11:00 a.m. game but got behind and eventually, the schedule was over an hour behind.. However, it is good exposure for the men’s basketball team, university, and local economy which is why they continue to host it each year. This weekend the CLA is hosting the South Carolina High School Basketball Championships for both girls and boys in each school classification (A, AA, AAA, AAAA, AAAAA). I arrived to the arena around 12:30PM to meet with Christy before she went home for the day. She left Ti’nesha and me in charge for the day as she had some issues with her house she needed to attend to. Once we went over the suite details for the day, Ti’nesha and I went around to do an initial check on suites. There are six suite rentals, eight suite holders, and five complimentary suites. Once we finished, Christy asked us to work on the promotional code fliers for the Disney on Ice event being held at the CLA in April. There are several group codes so each flier needed to be updated with their specific code. An example of this flier can be found here.
Once doors were 30 minutes out from opening, we went around the suites again to check on catering orders and final checks before the event got started. The different thing about this event is once a suite is rented for the day, it is yours. We received many questions about only renting for one game but the policy is $680 for the entire day, which includes 8 suite tickets. After hearing the price, everyone changed their mind. Ti’nesha and I came up with the plan to check on suites after the first quarter of every game as people were coming in and out all afternoon. The schedule got really behind, with the final game scheduled to start at 8:30PM but didn’t start until 10:00PM. However, it was really fun to see all the schools win their state championships. We’re back for day 2 tomorrow with six different championships. |