This story is brought to you by the INTIX Women in Entertainment Technology Program.
Like many INTIX members, Lauren Dugan started her ticketing career back in her college days. Her first job in the business was as a part-time staffer at her alma mater Old Dominion University’s basketball/concert venue. Not long after graduating, she was offered a full-time job as an assistant box office manager opening Chaifetz Arena, a then-new venue in St. Louis. That was 2008.
Lauren Dugan
Since then, she has moved to six other states across the country, managing ticketing for various size arenas, theaters, nonprofit organizations and one tennis team. “I was able to develop my leadership skills while at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita as Director of Ticketing for four years,” she says.
Just over two years ago, she started with Oak View Group (OVG) as a Ticketing Manager and opened the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, in April 2022, which was named Best New Concert Venue by Pollstar in 2023 and was just named 2024 Arena of the Year by Pollstar in only its second year open.
Along the way, she has found many joys in her career. Her biggest accomplishment, besides being the recipient of the 2023 INTIX Ticket Professional of the Year award? “The gratification of knowing I helped make thousands of peoples’ night happen! I’ll go out into the arena bowl and take in the sold-out crowds and feel incredibly accomplished, especially with those shows that test you with their various nuances and make you question ‘Why are you still in this industry?’ I get my answer when I walk into that bowl.”
Today, as Moody Center’s Director of Ticketing, Dugan helps oversee ticketing operations and manage the venue’s ticketing team, including processes, procedures and hiring. “I am a primary ticketing contact for a large portion of our shows, which includes building out shows in our Ticketmaster software and continuously managing them through playoff and settlement. The industry for us is still booming and not slowing down. It’s still been challenging balancing and prioritizing the needs of shows and promoters, even with all the years' experience I have. Luckily, we have a great crew who work together and jumps in to help anyone when and where they can.”
Over the years, Dugan has learned the value of marching to her own drum. She acknowledges that there was a time when she followed someone else’s career success instead of focusing on her own. This limited her options and job opportunities.
She recalls, “There came a time I was able to pick between some opportunities — one that kept me closer to home and was less challenging and one that took me across the U.S. to the [West Coast] and would help challenge me, develop my skills and experience, and get me on the track I’d been waiting years to be on. I took that job — the one across the U.S. — almost nine years ago, and I know I would not be where I am today if I hadn’t.”
She followed her head on that one and was rewarded. But there have been other times that Dugan’s followed the wise counsel of her mentors and people she respects and also found success. Today, she is eager to advise young women reading this on what they should be doing to achieve their goals. “Make connections,” she urges. “Get involved as early as you can. This includes starting with an internship or part-time gig. That’s how I was able to start out full time. I was recommended by my boss from my part-time ticketing supervisor job even after leaving after graduating. And feel free to test out different areas — sports, live entertainment, arts, etc. I did and found my niche working in arenas. Overall, make yourself a positive and memorable known force, especially as a woman in sports and entertainment.”
And if you stay in the game long enough, you will create amazing memories and celebrate many milestones. And, oh, the stories you will be able to tell. For instance, Dugan grew up as a big Garth Brooks fan. To this day, he is still her favorite artist, and she was lucky enough to add working on one of his tours to her experiences.
She had been waiting a couple weeks to receive a call from Brooks’ longtime promoter, the late Ben Farrell, to build out the numerous shows she and her staff were anticipating to offer at their venue during Brooks’ world arena tour back in the mid-2010s. She says, “I finally received the call. And as we were getting into the nitty gritty, the fire alarm goes off in my arena! Those who had the pleasure of working with Ben know how eccentric this man was. He heard the alarm and before I could say, ‘I need to vacate and call you back,’ he starts yelling, ‘Oh my God, Lauren! Get out of there now! Don’t burn! This convo is not that important!’”
It ended up being just an alarm test. So, she was able to call Farrell back shortly after and received a warm embrace of “‘So glad you didn’t get burned!’” Dugan says, “That man was a treasure to the industry and is deeply missed.” Plus, Dugan was eventually able to be on stage during at least one of the concerts with a T-shirt cannon (as depicted in the photo).
Dugan also had the pleasure to work with Barrie Marshall from Marshall Arts, who brought Paul McCartney to her venue. “While meeting with him prior to announcing and putting the show on sale, he informed everyone that I was the most important person for the concert — that without me, there wouldn’t be the capability to have a show,” she says. “Once the show played off that night, I received one of the nicest appreciative emails from him about being so important to the show, how professional and on point I had been throughout the process, and thanking me for how I helped make it successful. To have an industry giant like him go out of his way to say these things to me meant so much and still means so much.”
It’s memories and anecdotes like these that keep Dugan forward-thinking and positive about the future of ticketing and live events. She believes the industry is still on an upward ride from the COVID-19 pandemic. She states, “People are going out and enjoying themselves watching live entertainment, sports, etc. More and more artists are dropping new music faster than ever and announcing tours. Sporting events are thriving, and Broadway shows are more enticing than ever. Additionally, the customer experience initiatives that we in the industry have been developing and implementing since COVID keep happening. We just need customers to continue to feel their spent dollar is well worth it!”
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