It all started with lunch.
Nearly a decade ago, a small group of Michigan ticketing professionals gathered for a casual buffet meal hosted by Christine Liniarski, then part of the team at the MotorCity Casino Sound Board Theater. What began as an informal meal among colleagues quickly evolved into something much bigger — a statewide network of peers who meet, learn, laugh and support one another through the ever-changing world of live events.
Today, that group is known as the Michigan Professional Ticketing Association (MIPTA). Its signature event, an annual golf outing, recently celebrated its 10th year. But while golf has become the centerpiece, the heart of MIPTA is about much more than tee shots and putting greens. It is about building relationships, sharing knowledge and strengthening the ticketing community one conversation at a time.
Christine Liniarski at the MIPTA golf outing in 2020.
“The credit for MIPTA goes to Christine Liniarski,” current President Bruce Trout says. “She’s retired now, but she used to be the ticketing person, and did some other jobs too, at the MotorCity Casino Sound Board back [when we met] in 2015 or 2016. She is the one who got us started. She would host us for luncheons. Lunch was so good. It was through the buffet line at the casino. We were all like, ‘This is the best food we have ever had.’ We joked that we were just going to the meeting for the food.”
From those humble beginnings, the group’s gatherings began to grow and evolve. “Different people would host,” Trout recalls. “Maybe one of us would host at a Pistons game, a Tigers game or one time we went to the Michigan International Speedway and got to drive a car around the track.”
As the group gained momentum, Trout, a former college golfer and golf professional, suggested organizing a golf outing. “I love golf and Christine loves golf too, so we thought, ‘Let’s have a golf outing.’”
One of the early challenges was Michigan’s geography. Members were spread across the state, from Grand Rapids to Detroit, and meeting in person often meant long drives. The solution was to find common ground, literally.
“The challenge early on was that we are all from different parts of the state. Grand Rapids is two hours away, and they are not necessarily going to drive over for a Pistons game, and we are not going to Grand Rapids on a Tuesday night to see a show there,” Trout recalls. “I think it was actually the crew from Grand Rapids that said, ‘Why don’t we have a golf outing in Lansing, kind of in the middle of the state, and see how many people will come?’ We had a decent turnout that day. Then, the next thing I knew, I was running it. Eventually, Christine retired, and I had been her vice president after she formed MIPTA … Then I was told I was now the president. I don’t think I was even voted in.”
That is how MIPTA became golf-focused, Bruce explains. “We try to do other things, but we still push the golf outing into the middle of the state to make it easier for folks from Grand Rapids and Detroit to make it,” Trout says. “This year, we were able to bring in a new person from East Lansing who hadn’t been a part of anything with us in the past. She must have read or heard about it, and she said, ‘Hey, can I play golf with you guys?’ We said, ‘Absolutely! This is what it is all about.’ We are trying to bring in new people, and the golf outing is growing. This year, we had over 20 people, which was great.”
Ticketing professionals from the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Red Wings, 313 Presents (Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, Fox Theatre, Pine Knob Music Theatre, Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre), Ticketmaster, AXS, Van Andel Arena, Wharton Center, Masonic Temple and Motor City Casino Sound Board at the 2025 MIPTA golf outing.
When MIPTA first formed, the relationships between venues were not always as collegial as they are today. “Back then, there was a little bit of competitiveness between the two arenas in town,” Trout remembers. “It was almost like, ‘We shouldn’t talk to them — they’re the bad guys.’ That was kind of the culture from above us. But once the box office people got together, it was more like, ‘Hey, you’re dealing with the same issues we’re dealing with. We can help each other.’”
That shift from competition to collaboration became one of MIPTA’s defining qualities. Trout explains that it wasn’t about rivalry anymore. “It was good to get together and talk with people from other box offices that were experiencing some of the same things.”
Unlike some regional groups, MIPTA has no membership fees, official rosters or meeting requirements. “We really don’t have an official membership sign-up or anything like that,” Trout shares. “We have never had any costs associated with anything, and I’m not too interested in trying to deal with that anyway. We just do things and let everyone know.”
When events are planned — whether it is golf, bowling, Topgolf or a night at a game — an email goes out to what Trout describes as a “pretty inclusive email list of people in the ticketing world in Michigan.” He explains, “We just say, ‘If anyone wants to go, let us know.’ Some played golf last year who didn’t this year, and vice versa. If you threw everyone together who has been at one of our events, we would probably exceed 30.”
Bruce Trout
And there is one more thing that makes MIPTA stand out: “We have never had a meeting,” Trout says. “It’s always an event.”
Those events are more than social gatherings. They are opportunities to discuss the real challenges that ticketing professionals face. And for Trout, there is no better venue for those conversations than a golf cart.
“There is no better place than sitting on a golf cart with no rush in the world and just talking about how you are dealing with fraud, bad barcodes, secondary marketplace issues or whatever,” he says. “Golf is a great way to spend four or five hours with someone who you would never otherwise spend that much time with. The same goes for going to a game in a suite and sitting down to talk to someone for 20 or 30 minutes. That doesn’t happen otherwise. We are always so busy in our day that we would never take that time.”
Hot topics at recent outings have included the rise of resale, customer confusion over third-party transfers and how venues are adapting their ticket office models. “The box office experience on the night of an event now often involves helping people figure out issues with accepting their transfers from whomever or wherever they bought their tickets,” Trout explains. “They are not coming up to the box office anymore to buy tickets, like walking up on the night of the show and paying for tickets. They are coming to say, ‘I can’t get my tickets, what’s wrong?’ … We try our best to figure it out and get them into the venue so that they have a great time and want to come back again.”
One of MIPTA’s strengths is its diversity — not just in venue type, but in age and experience. “We have a pretty wide range of ages,” Trout says. “There are people in their late 20s and early 30s, like at the golf outing, and I’m in my 60s. We are pretty well represented in the various age groups, and it is a good opportunity for us seasoned veterans to pass along experiences and stories.”
That mentorship element has become increasingly important to Trout personally. “It has transitioned me into the later part of my career and made me realize I need to be a leader for others,” he says. “I shouldn’t just focus on myself, but I should try to help other people who are coming up behind me.”
The peer-to-peer learning that happens through MIPTA mirrors the broader benefits of professional networks like INTIX. “You learn from each other. Someone from the Lions talks to someone from the Tigers about what they are experiencing with bad barcodes,” Trout says. “People try to circumvent the technology of whatever ticketing platform you are on, whether it’s Ticketmaster, Tickets.com, AXS or whatever, and circumvent the barcodes and create their own barcodes. You get an opportunity to talk to each other and see what other venues are doing. Some don’t do will call anymore, while others still do for artists … I don’t profess to have every perfect answer as the business changes, so it is great to [hear other people’s perspectives].”
Trout continues, “That is also why INTIX is so great. Being able to get on the [Wednesday Wisdom] call or listen to the recordings of other people around the country who are facing the same challenges. Like, are we going to do away with the glass at the box office and have an open window? We are all working on the same issues, and it is helpful to hear other ideas.”
And while INTIX may not officially be involved in MIPTA’s activities, its influence is undeniable. “I think INTIX probably gave us the idea, and we saw other regional groups form … Christine said, ‘We’re Michigan, we should have our group.’”
As MIPTA looks to the future, Trout hopes it will grow in both size and frequency. “I wish we were meeting four times a year. Right now, it’s twice a year at best,” he says. “I wish there were other creative, low-cost ideas to get together. We need a reason for somebody to drive an hour from their location to spend two or three hours together. I think that’s our biggest challenge … We always have the best time [when we do events] and always say we are going to do this more often, but we never do enough.”
After over three decades in ticketing, Trout sees MIPTA as more than just a professional network. It is a source of connection, purpose and friendship. “I didn’t even know who Christine was when she first reached out, and now we are good friends,” he says. “We share life challenges, like our parents getting older.”
And for anyone considering joining or starting a regional group of their own, Trout’s advice is simple: “It’s beneficial. It is going to help you run your own box office, even if it is just one small thing or one small opinion from someone else that can have an impact. It’s certainly worth a few hours a year to get together with other professionals facing the same challenges.”
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