This story is brought to you by the INTIX Women in Entertainment Technology Program.
Amy Kline has had some cool job titles in her ticketing and live events career. She once served as Director of Ticketing Implementation for Patron Technology. Early in her career, she was Specialty Ticketing & Marketing Coordinator for the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts in Ohio. One of her favorite past gigs was Patron Services Manager for Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Jazz.
Amy Kline
Today, she is the Director of Client Success for Activity Stream, a cloud-based operations intelligence service platform that uses artificial intelligence to improve venue and event services and operations. So, what are the duties and responsibilities of a Director of Client Success? “I manage a team that manages all of the relationships after sales with Activity Stream clients,” Kline replies. “We make sure that clients are happy. If they’re not, our job is fixing what’s wrong for them.”
Although Kline comes from a ticketing background and remains an INTIX member, she was quick to point out that Activity Stream “is not a ticketing company. It’s a data analytics and email marketing platform and an audience engagement platform. Our crowd engagement product looks to deliver an enhanced live event experience where customers can pre-order cocktails and concessions, map their way to their seat, make a donation, and so forth. The question we always ask and try to answer is ‘How can we help our clients learn about their customers better?’”
Kline has been with Activity Stream since April 2023. Coming from an exclusively ticketing background, she has faced her share of challenges in the transition: “I know when a client is happy, and I know when a client is not happy. Moving from working in ticketing directly for so long, I will say I sometimes don’t speak quite the same language they do. The technology and language of marketing is different from the technology and language of ticketing. But if I don’t know something, I’ll call somebody who does!”
So far, the pluses have far outweighed any minuses. Kline says, “My favorite part is the problem solving. It’s working with our clients. I work a lot with marketing managers and marketing directors. In the same way that I am excited to talk to clients, they’re excited to get their customers more engaged. We create new ways to do that. Finding out, for example, that one set of customers doesn’t want to hear about this upcoming show, but they really want to hear about this other one. You want to cater to the right people with the right information. Then, once they’ve bought the ticket, our job is to ask, ‘How do we make their on-site experience better? How do we get them in the door faster? How do we get rid of lines at the bar?’ I once went to a concert and waited in line for a beer during the band’s entire first set! I was like, ‘A 15-minute beer line? Come on! Do better!’ I’ve never forgotten that.”
But surely there must be some techniques, even tricks, Kline has picked up in this last year-plus on her new job that has resulted in higher levels of client success? Kline acknowledges the high-pressure nature of the work. “Sometimes things can get heated on a client call,” she says. “To try and diffuse things, I’ll say something like ‘I know how you feel. Others have felt the same way’ and then provide a solution or, at least, some kind of next step. The strategy is twofold. It builds empathy with the customer, while also diffusing any emotions I may be feeling. Because sometimes you do get angry or emotional about how someone is talking to you. It works to script it out just a bit.”
What other words of wisdom does Kline have, especially with this being our monthly Women in Ticketing column? “Learn your value. There are a lot of women who get wishy-washy and say things like ‘I think…’ or ‘I feel.’ Be clear and be firm about who you are and what you believe in! Negotiate for yourself and take your place at the table.”
And along the way, you will have some fun and memorable experiences, she promises. One of Kline’s favorite memories was early in her career when she was Assistant Box Office Manager at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. “There was children’s theatre happening,” she recalls. “They had cast photos made, and the cast was out signing autographs in the lobby for the little kids in attendance. After a while, there were these two kids who came running up to the box office and asked us for our autographs! [chuckling] That memory sticks with me. Those kids believed we had value even though sometimes the box office feels like the forgotten people after the show begins.”
And, of course, there are much more recent memories that also delight Kline. For instance, she and partner Stefan Flower run a small concert business out of her backyard in their off time. “Just when I got out of working actual events, now I work them as a hobby!” she exclaims with a laugh.
The business is called Parking Pad, which they started during the pandemic. Kline says, “We started by putting on shows on our parking pad in the backyard for our neighbors. We paid local bands and got them work when there was no work. People would put $5 or $10 in a bucket, and we would also have potluck [food]. Now it’s grown into a successful side business where we promote 12 to 15 shows a year, some still in the yard, some at a social club up the street, and some at a large, nearby movie theater. It’s mostly local bands, but we just had our first touring band in June. They were from Buffalo, and they came to us. How do you say ‘No’ to a band from New York who wants to play in your yard? So, yeah, I think about ticketing 24 hours a day now!”
Despite the heavy workload, is Kline optimistic, pessimistic, or a mix of both with regards to where live events are headed in the second half of 2024? “I’m mostly optimistic,” she says. “I had a friend ask me recently, ‘How do you feel about working in an industry after COVID when it’s such a mess?’ Well, I’ve been at this for 25 years. It still feels pretty good!”
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