Behind every unforgettable live event are ticketing professionals whose leadership, passion and innovation shape the moments fans cherish. Now in its ninth year, our “Getting to Know You” series shines a spotlight on these remarkable individuals, sharing their personal journeys, professional insights, passions and values. Each story is unique, but together they weave a vibrant tapestry that strengthens our shared sense of community.
Anwar Nasir
Anwar Nasir, Executive Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), emphasizes that ticketing professionals are a close and helpful group. “I love our industry because there are so many different types of people that thrive in what we do, and it's incredibly supportive … Whether we're running a small 100-seat theater or a 100,000-seat venue serving millions of people every year, we are still a community … Everybody is welcome. I have never felt ostracized as part of this community. Even as a newbie or the first time coming to a conference, I always felt so welcomed, uplifted and appreciated for what I was bringing to the table. Everybody can find a home within our community.”
Anwar also feels at home wherever there is music. It is his constant companion and has helped shape his personal and professional journey.
From his earliest days to the present, many of Anwar’s most cherished memories have been deeply rooted in music. His first concert? Salt-N-Pepa at the Mann Center in Philadelphia. His standout live event experience? The Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour. Some of his fondest memories? Remembering the songs that his mom and grandmother used to play. At the LPO, Anwar appreciates that his role allows him to remain connected to his artistic side.
“Throughout my career, music has always been the thing that I know I can turn to when I'm happy, sad, indifferent, need to fall asleep or need to wake up. It is everything. I can't imagine a life without it. I would be shattered if I didn't have music in my life."
In a defining moment during his career, Anwar helped lead the LPO to its first Grammy win in 2024, taking home Best Regional Roots Album for "Live: Orpheum Theater Nola,” a collaboration with Cajun band Lost Bayou Ramblers.
Anwar says, “Winning a Grammy and getting to walk across the stage and represent the orchestra [is my most memorable career moment]. It was wonderful. I never in my wildest dreams imagined something like that would happen. It all happened so fast, and it was truly magical to go from running a small box office to now winning a Grammy Award on behalf of this orchestra.”
That magical Grammy moment was not just a professional highlight for Anwar. It is a reflection of the transformative work he leads every day at the LPO, where he channels his deep love of music into visionary leadership, fostering artistic innovation and community connection. Under his guidance, the LPO has flourished, becoming more culturally relevant, accessible and representative of the vibrant, diverse community it serves.
“Throughout my career, music has always been the thing that I know I can turn to when I'm happy, sad, indifferent, need to fall asleep or need to wake up. It is everything. I can't imagine a life without it. I would be shattered if I didn't have music in my life.”
- Anwar Nasir, Executive Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
“Someone came up to me at one of our parks concerts [and] said, ‘This orchestra feels culturally relevant in a way that it never has before.’ That stuck with me that an orchestra is nothing but a group of people that comes together and make music, but in reality, it is tying those two things together. It really does take everybody [on our team] to get these things done.”
Steve Stonehouse
For Steve Stonehouse, Head of North American Markets at 3D Digital Venue, success is deeply rooted in family and authenticity. Growing up in California’s Bay Area, Steve was inspired by his father’s example, a man who was “larger than life” and “known for his jovial, happy nature.”
“He was successful in business. He was successful in family,” Steve shared. “He showed my sister and me every day exactly what putting family first meant.” Steve’s father reached his 58th wedding anniversary before he passed, and two sets of grandparents made it to their 60th wedding anniversaries, a testament to enduring relationships and legacy.
That legacy of connection informs how Steve leads and builds trust in an industry where technology and partnerships are key. “In this industry, you get the opportunity to sit down with so many different people, from venue operators to tech providers to club executives,” Steve said. “And when it comes time to close a deal or build a long-term relationship, authenticity really stands out.”
At 3D Digital Venue, the foundation is clear: “We have built everything on … being real, honest and consistent. It is how we have managed to partner with some of the most renowned names in the industry.”
Steve’s passion extends beyond work into his hobbies, including a love for speed. “I like to golf, and I drive the carts as fast as they will go,” he said. “I will gladly take anyone on at a local go-kart track.” His enthusiasm for racing and Formula 1 has been lifelong, he said, remarking, “I believe I’ve watched over 95% of the races over the past 40-plus years.”
Steve’s selfie at a Porsche driving event at Laguna Seca Raceway.
One of his fondest memories brought his personal and professional worlds together. In his early twenties, he produced a Volkswagen Beetle commercial featuring his grandparents, who were then 92 and 89 years old. “It was a lot of fun to produce, and it’s a great memory with them.” Behind the scenes, Steve was the professional driver on a closed course, a “favorite credit” in his life.
For Steve, the live events industry is a close-knit community where relationships matter above all else. “In such a niche industry like ticketing, most of the real business happens through word of mouth and trusted connections,” he said. “INTIX provides exactly that: a space where meaningful conversations happen, where you can learn from others facing similar challenges, and where collaboration feels natural.”
Mary Jane Avans
With a remarkable gift for making people feel genuinely valued, Mary Jane Avans has built a four-decade career in ticketing on the foundation of authentic, lasting connections. She began her journey at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre and held subsequent roles at the Atlanta Symphony and the Alliance Theatre. After 25 impactful years with SD&A, she plans to retire at the end of August, leaving behind a legacy of warmth, professionalism and dedication.
Mary Jane at the Fox Theatre ticket office circa 1986.
Mary Jane has plenty of plans as the next stage of life approaches. “I'm going to work through the summer and retire at the end of August, after the Tessitura conference in Los Angeles. My company is based in Los Angeles, so I am going out there, and I will be able to see some of the folks that I work with. There are people that I rarely get to see because I work remotely, so I am excited that I will be having that one last trip to LA in my role.”
She continues, “My husband and I love to travel. We have taken some trips to Europe, but there’s a lot more traveling we want to do. We are certainly looking at planning a couple of trips a year. I'm not going to be away from home as much as Linda and Joe Forlini seem to be, but we have a long list of places. We want to go to Spain and Portugal. We want to do one of those Eastern European cruises. I also want to go to Norway and see the Northern Lights.”
Mary Jane and her husband Gary in Greece.
Beyond her ticketing industry relationships, Mary Jane has a strong connection to music and cats. She loves outdoor venues and listening to music outside, so it is no surprise that a trip to Red Rocks Amphitheatre is on her bucket list. And as for her feline friends?
Mary Jane and her late cat Mojo.
“I am known in my neighborhood as the cat rescuer. I live in an older neighborhood in Atlanta. When we moved here, there were a lot of feral cats or homeless cats. They were not neutered or spayed, so I was the one who figured out how to trap them. There is a program where you can take them and have them neutered or spayed. The challenge was that in one year, five litters of feral kittens were born in my block. I would go out and rescue them and find homes for the kittens. Since I've been very diligent about making sure that all the kitties are spayed and neutered, there are not as many as we used to have. That's one of the things that has stayed on my to-do list: Take care of cats.”
“My ferals are growing like wildflowers,” says Mary Jane.
Darren Coelho
Darren Coelho brings a powerful blend of leadership, teamwork and relationship-building to his role in college athletics. Now serving as Associate Athletic Director at San Jose State University, his work goes far beyond logistics and sales. He says it is rooted in creating meaningful fan experiences and fostering a sense of community. “I love the people and the fulfillment the most,” he says.
Early in his career, Darren made it his priority to learn people’s names and develop relationships. “Even though we are the ones behind the scenes and the actual ones working here, we are not that much different than our fan base. We all want our student-athletes to succeed, we want everyone to be safe and play fair, and we want to see competition at the highest level and experience achievements to celebrate.”
One of the most meaningful relationships in Darren Coelho’s career was with Dan DeBoer, whom he considered both a friend and mentor. DeBoer, the longtime Director of Ticket Operations at what is now the SAP Center at San Jose, first crossed paths with Darren in 1995 during his internship with the San Jose SaberCats. Their friendship lasted more than two decades, “through NCAA Tournaments and a lot of fun,” Darren reminisces.
He continues on the topic of mentors, saying, “Through INTIX, I also have to mention Dave Lowenstein. UCLA’s Central Ticket Office is second to none with all the places they support and what they are responsible for ... Plus, Dave is simply one of the best people you could ever be around. Everyone is better for knowing Dave.”
Darren’s ability to build genuine rapport has also led to meaningful one-on-one connections with fans. One memorable example involves a longtime single-game, single-ticket buyer who stopped by Darren’s office for a casual chat about upcoming games. That conversation sparked a deeper relationship, and the fan gradually deepened his commitment, first purchasing a mini plan, then upgrading to a premium season ticket in the venue’s best section the following year. Eventually, he became a recurring donor, all thanks to a moment of authentic engagement that left a lasting impact.
“My intent wasn’t any of those things for him when I invited him to my office, but it is cool that spending some time with him and engaging him on a personal level led to all of that,” he recalls.
Beyond San Jose State, Darren has found a second home with INTIX, where his passion for ticketing, customer experience and professional development converges. “I have been a member for almost 25 years, and I really enjoy the sense of community,” he says. “All of us are from different places, have different venues and different-sized shows [and] events, but at the core, we still are serving the same purpose — selling experiences and facilitating admissions to live events. [There is] nothing better than knowing while at an event that you directly or indirectly were involved in every admission.”
Bert Picot
After over four decades in the ticketing industry, Bert Picot is embracing retirement in the San Francisco Bay Area with his husband, Brad Arlett, and their two cats, Freddy and Worm. The couple relocated from New York City in 2016 after Brad received a job offer he couldn’t refuse.
Freddy grooming Worm.
Like Mary Jane, Bert has a deep love for animals. He serves on the board of the Nine Lives Foundation, a pet adoption center and low-cost clinic and spay-neuter service in the Bay Area. Freddy and Worm recently won a contest to appear in the Foundation’s 2026 calendar, while raising $1,550 to help save other cats and kittens. “I take care of the cats, and then I spend time going through their care and enrichment as a volunteer,” he explains. “For cats in these cages, they need to be interactive. They need to be socialized.”
Bert began his career with Globe Ticket Company in Horsham, Pennsylvania, just as the company wanted to move from traditional hard ticket printing into the emerging world of computer ticketing. “I was working at a software company at the time, and they hired me away,” he says. “My job was to code and write up a computer ticketing product around Select-a-Seat, which was one of the first original products.”
Bert’s Globe Ticket headshot, June 1981.
He has always loved the entertainment side of the business and made the most of the access it offered throughout his career. “When Globe Ticket offered me the job, I turned it down multiple times, and then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I could go to as many Bruce Springsteen shows as I want if I get into this industry.’ And what's so complicated about putting one butt into a seat?”
A big music fan, Bert cannot name a single live event that stood out amongst all others.
“You’re asking a tough question to be decisive,” he says, then pauses momentarily. “Live Aid in July 1985. I went to JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. That was a really important [show]. [And] Springsteen. I saw him at the Bottom Line in 1975, just before he released ‘Born to Run’. And Grateful Dead. I have seen many great shows. I'd say of the Dead shows, [it was when] I saw them at RFK Stadium in 1973. Somehow, it just sticks with me.”
After five years as Vice President at Globe Ticket, Bert and his partners purchased the company’s ticketing system and launched GIS Systems, Ltd. Under their leadership, it evolved into a significant player in computerized ticketing, boasting a strong presence in Florida and a wide range of clients, including baseball teams and Carnegie Hall.
Bert later consulted for Carnegie Hall for four years, continuing his influence in the industry through the mid-90s.
Bert then entered the longest phase of his career as the owner of Picot Entertainment Systems, a ticketing technology consultancy he led for over 30 years. His client list included major institutions like Madison Square Garden, the Lincoln Center, the Sundance Film Festival, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Swedish National Theater, among many others.
Though he considers himself “pretty much retired,” Bert stays connected to the industry through INTIX. He uses it to stay informed and share his experience and insights with the next generation of ticketing professionals.
“I go to the conferences and participate in the weekly Wednesday Wisdom calls,” he says. “INTIX gives me an opportunity to share some of my experience and talk to colleagues. I’m very much into artificial intelligence (AI) right now, and I use it a lot in everything I do. I rarely go to a Google browser and key in a question. I'll go to a number of AI tools to see what answers they provide. I appreciate when I sit down and talk to a colleague, I hear what they're doing, and I like thinking ahead of the crowd, if you will. That helps me feel relevant. Over time, I’ve met some younger people in the industry who I could help by introducing them to people. I’ve had a few contacts at the last couple of conferences where I reached out to somebody new, like a first-timer, and shared my experience or said, ‘You ought to talk to so-and-so.’ I like being able to do that.”
Bert with Elvis (Shawn Robertson) at INTIX 2024 in Las Vegas.
Dallas Janssen
The morals instilled by his grandparents have undoubtedly influenced Dallas Janssen and the way he lives his life. Today, as Senior Manager of Ticket Services at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Dallas embraces their guiding principles in all that he does, leading with empathy, fostering meaningful connections, and serving his community through the power of live performance.
“When I reflect on the values that shaped who I am — personally and professionally — I think of my grandparents, Gail and Janice Janssen,” he says. “My grandfather was the CEO of a regional bank chain, and my grandmother began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Wisconsin. Both were deeply committed to their community and lived with a quiet but powerful sense of purpose.”
In his earlier years, Dallas would spend afternoons with his grandmother, helping her sort through scholarship applications for the local health association she ran. He also remembers learning about the scholarship foundation they established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to support students in Biological Systems Engineering. Those moments sparked an awareness of the power of education and the importance of giving back.
“Even after their passing, I carry their values forward,” he reflects. “At the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, I helped create our Community Rush initiative — a program that provides low-cost tickets to families receiving government assistance. It is the kind of work I believe would make them proud, and in many ways, it’s their legacy in action.”
Dallas didn’t follow a traditional career path. He left university after two years to focus on paying the bills. He worked in retail and international logistics while also serving as a part-time ticket agent at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. That side job grew into a career, first as Ticket Manager, then to the senior leadership role he holds today.
“Even though not having a degree wasn’t holding me back professionally, it was always something that weighed on me,” he admits. “My grandparents placed a strong value on education. They believed in seeing things through and investing in yourself. After my grandmother passed away in 2023, I felt it was the right time to honor her by continuing my education.”
Dallas completed all his coursework in less than a year and graduated in September 2024 with an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “It wasn’t just about crossing something off a list. It was a promise fulfilled, and a reminder that even with a fast-paced life, I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I know my grandparents would be proud.”
Older brother Cody and Dallas with grandparents Gail and Janice.
At the heart of every event are the people who bring it to life, not just with technology or logistics, but with purpose and a deep love for what they do. From Anwar’s music-filled journey, Steve’s authenticity-driven leadership, and Mary Jane’s legacy of kindness and cat rescue to Darren’s relationship-first approach, Bert’s enduring curiosity and mentorship, and Dallas’ passion for making a difference, these ticketing professionals prove that the entertainment ticketing industry is about more than seats and sales. It is about people. It is about community. And whether they are guiding teams, winning Grammys or rescuing cats, they are ensuring the music and the magic never stop.
Read more from the Getting to Know You series on Access.
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