Leadership / 04.25.24
My First Job in Ticketing — Part 3
Christine Payne
We are having so much fun sharing stories about how many ticketing professionals got their start. If you haven’t already seen them, be sure to check out part one and part two in this series.
In this final installment, we meet six more individuals who work passionately behind the scenes to ensure patrons and fans can enjoy live events to the fullest.
Anthony Esposito
Many members will recognize Anthony Esposito as a former INTIX Board Chair. He is also a proud husband, dad and ticketing industry professional.
Esposito started the 1997 season as an unpaid intern in the ticket office of the Charlotte Knights baseball club, the AAA affiliate of the 1997 World Series-champion Florida Marlins. Following his daytime duties in the ticket office, he would serve as the bullpen catcher during home games.
“I started in April 1997 and worked for Jamie Hall,” Esposito says, adding that anyone currently working for Ticketmaster will appreciate knowing the name of his first boss.
Esposito continues, “I played baseball throughout college. When I transferred from my junior college in New York to a school in North Carolina, I met a guy who had graduated from my college (Belmont Abbey College) the year before and had previously done the internship, so he helped me get an interview. Part of the role was serving as the bullpen catcher for the team during home games, so they preferred to have someone with baseball playing experience to help with that part of the job.”
For his work as a bullpen catcher, Esposito was paid $25 per game.
“My fondest memory is something that happened often on gamedays,” Esposito says. “For each 7 p.m. game, I would have to leave the ticket office around 2 p.m. to go down to the clubhouse to get into my baseball uniform, get my catchers gear, and head out to the bullpen to warm up any of our pitchers who needed to throw side sessions that day. This would last about two hours, and then I would head back up to the ticket office to my workstation, still in my baseball uniform, and continue working on orders that needed to be processed or help out in the ticket windows as fans began arriving for the game. Then, around 6:30 p.m., I would head back to the clubhouse for a quick dinner before joining the team in the dugout and bullpen for the game.”
Anthony with his parents before a Charlotte Knights game, summer 1997.
Esposito’s first job in ticketing also eventually led him to meet his wife, Kelly, although their paths didn’t cross until a year later.
“I ended up turning my unpaid ticketing internship in 1997 into a full-time retail role with the team in 1998. It was during the 1998 season that I met a co-worker who I took a liking to,” he says. “Now, 26 years later, we are coming up on 21 years of marriage and have given the world four beautiful daughters.”
This is the first photo of Anthony and Kelly “together.” They were emptying out a “baseball on the wall” where people would enter to win prizes during the game (their contact information was later used for post office mailings). Anthony had the picture put into an engraved frame, and his brother and best man delivered it to Kelly about 30 minutes before they married on May 10, 2003.
Angie Blaisdell
Angie Blaisdell started as a ticket seller at Kemper Arena (now Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City, Missouri, around September 1999.
“I was the Cash Control Manager for Worlds of Fun at Cedar Fair Amusement Park,” Blaisdell shares. “The person who had that job previously was now in ticketing for the City of Kansas City. Kempers’ events were picking up, the park was closing for the season, and she asked me to come work part-time as a ticket seller. I was there about six months before the Box Office Manager position was offered to me at Municipal Auditorium.”
Today, Blaisdell is Senior Ticketing Manager for MAMMOTH Live, a Midwest-based company producing concerts and other live events. Her background also includes roles with Spectra Venue Management and Broadway Across America, among others. After all these years, she still has wonderful memories of her first ticketing job.
“I think one of my first memories was the Ringling Bros Circus. I loved how fast-paced everything was then. The long lines at the window made the shifts go by so quickly. Families with kids [were] so excited to be at the circus. The smell of sugar from the cotton candy and the popcorn constantly popping hung in the building. And, of course, by the end of the run, the sweet smell of cotton candy was gone, and the animal smell had taken over,” she says with a laugh.
Blaisdell adds, “I still have not met anyone who chose ticketing as their career path. It seems to find you. I am so thankful to Terri Vander Vennet for helping me begin my journey. I quickly learned how small the ticketing world was and how the crew from that box office pretty much ran every Ticketmaster office in the city. We were a very diverse group of people who likely would not have met or socialized outside of the box office. There are many of the people I worked with then who I still work jobs with [today]. I have also been fortunate enough to see children of some of those people grow into second-generation ticketing folks.”
Christy Kerekes
“I started in February of 2000 as a part-time seller for events at the Kansas Coliseum under Jim Sachs. It was my third job then, and I loved that I could make my own schedule so it would fit into my crazy schedule,” Christy Kerekes, now Senior Box Office Manager at INTRUST Bank Arena, shares about her first job in ticketing.
She says, “My full-time job at the time was a retail merchandiser, and one of my co-workers was telling me how much she loved her part-time job selling tickets. I thought, like most people do, ‘Wow, that would be awesome to be able to see shows for free or at a discount,’ so I applied.”
Kerekes remembers how excited she was to be asked to work Saturday mornings.
“I got a key to the venue. It felt like I had the key to the world, and even though it was an 8 a.m. shift, I had the key to it all,” she recalls.
“The best thing ever is the people you meet and work with along the way,” Kerekes says. “I am still connected to the people I worked with way back then, and it’s amazing to know such wonderful people.”
Danielle Pope
Danielle Pope started working at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix in 2000. She was 16 and a sophomore in high school. Her first job in ticketing came about through a family connection — her mom and aunt both worked at the venue.
“My aunt was the Box Office Manager, and my mom was the Assistant Box Office Manager. I was lucky that I didn't actually have to apply for the job. They knew what I was capable of,” she recalls.
Danielle and her aunt with Joan Rivers.
“I first started as a ticket taker and an usher, escorting patrons to their seats. After a few months, my aunt decided to move me into the box office and teach me how to sell a ticket on Ticketmaster's Host system. We sold tickets in person and over the phone at the box office. I worked there nights and weekends during my senior year of high school, through two years of junior college, and [during] the occasional holiday break when I was home from my four-year university [studies].”
Like all the professionals interviewed for this series, Pope has many great memories from her first ticketing job.
“Aside from having the honor of meeting a slew of my favorite artists to come through, I have a couple [memories] that stick out. Once, while Jimmy Eat World was in their prime, they played at the theater. My best friend also worked at the theater. We were in the box office on show day, just selling tickets in the middle of the afternoon, when Jim Adkins, the lead singer of Jimmy Eat World, walked in. He just sat there with us while we sold tickets to his show. We talked to him about the event, how glad we were they were there, [and more. He was] just a really cool dude, and [it was] an especially great moment for two high school kids.”
Danielle using the parking equipment in the box office at Celebrity Theatre.
She continues, “And maybe the most random [memory], but I once did a local media tour with two dancers from Chippendales. I picked them up early in the morning from the airport, took them to a radio station to start, then to a couple [of] different TV stations. [They were wearing] less and less [clothing] at each interview. Even one of the morning anchors got in on the dance action, and I remember everyone having the best time while they were in the studio. [They were] two of the nicest guys, too.”
Over the years, Pope enjoyed working at the venue and for her aunt, who later became General Manager.
“I truly had the best time working at Celebrity Theatre. And while it may have been because my aunt was in charge, I enjoyed working for her. She allowed everyone to have fun, and I felt the most creative here. Every department had their stuff together and would do their part, but it was also a very team-oriented place. It was a well-oiled machine, and I loved every moment. It gave me the passion to continue succeeding in this industry, and I love that I got to start at one of the coolest venues in Arizona.”
Danielle and a colleague with the Village People.
Danielle, her aunt and a colleague with Heart.
Amy Kline
“My first ticketing job began two months out of college at the Pittsburgh Playhouse of Point Park College. I graduated from Point Park in December 2000 with a degree in arts management and started at the Playhouse in February 2001. During my undergraduate studies, I befriended the director of finance at the Playhouse who was finishing a new undergrad degree alongside me,” Kline says. “When the job became available, I spoke to her, met with the hiring manager, and started only weeks later. It was an interesting time for me, as I was suddenly managing a team of work-study students who had been alongside me in some classes in my years at the same school.
Kline continues, “I absolutely loved working at the Playhouse. I was part of a new ticketing system implementation, moving from PASS2 to ProVenue … As someone very new to the workforce, it was a huge opportunity to be heard and influence the business practices at the Playhouse. But as we know, in ticketing, it is the people who make the job worth doing.”
Today, Kline is the Director of Client Success at Activity Stream. Looking back at her first job in ticketing, she finds it hard to pinpoint a specific fond memory. However, Kline loved seeing students grow from kids to adults, watching them work in their very first jobs and succeed both in ticketing and on stage.
“It was very fulfilling to work in a university environment, and to this day, I value working with people who are new to the industry, who are making a challenging move within the industry and need support to do so, or who want to talk about their future,” she says.
A few years ago, the old Playhouse in Pittsburgh’s Oakland area closed. In its place, a beautiful new modern venue opened downtown.
“Hundreds of people went to the closing party, and it was such a thrill to see it once again, to revisit with some of my work-study students and other team members, and to see the old building one last time,” Kline reminisces. “It was a very emotional evening, and you could see just how much this old building and the memories meant to everyone. Many memories were triggered by silly things that were so everyday, but that left a mark. We all felt so attached to the building and its storied past, but even more so to the everyday work that was happening there amongst such a supportive team. It is where so many actors, technicians and, yes, even ticketing people got their big break.”
Amy took this sign when the original Pittsburgh Playhouse building closed and has kept it on her desk for years.
Holly McKenzie
Holly began her journey in ticketing in the fall of 2007 as a recent college graduate. While maintaining a day job as an executive assistant at a technology company, she pursued her passion for the arts at night as a company member of the now defunct Paragon Theatre in Denver.
“I connected with the Artistic Director through one of my college professors,” McKenzie shares. “What started as props run crew quickly grew into much more. When you are part of a small theatre company, you wear many hats. In my six years of working with Paragon, I designed props and costumes, acted and directed, and also ran our entire box office and front-of-house operations. Granted, we only had 100 seats.”
Holly (right) performs in Long Day’s Journey Into Night circa 2010/2011. She played the Maid and managed the ticket office.
Of her fondest memory, McKenzie says, “Every year, the Paragon Theatre ensemble would take a weekend retreat in the mountains to reflect upon the previous year, plan for the future season, and connect as humans. These weekends contained lots of laughter, craft beer and the making of great memories, I will forever cherish the relationship I built with these people in my early adult days.”
Paragon Theatre ensemble retreat in Breckenridge, Colorado, September 2011.
Today, McKenzie works as Client Growth Manager for AudienceView, following earlier stops at the Peace Center, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Chautauqua National Historic Landmark and Denver Art Museum. She is grateful for her experiences and the people she has met along the way.
“Ticketing has given me the ability to build a fulfilling and lucrative career that intersects with both art and technology, which is exactly what a girl with a theatre degree from an agricultural school always dreamed of!”
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Tags: Leadership , Career