INTIX 2020: Highlights from Day 1

Ticketing professionals from all over the world took bites out of the Big Apple on Day 1 of INTIX’s 41st Annual Conference & Exhibition. New York City is indeed the host city for this year’s four-day event, and attendees had the opportunity to get a taste of everything from Midtown Manhattan to Broadway and Times Square to two of Gotham’s most well-known venues. Let’s explore the highlights from the first day.

Registration: Getting Everyone Signed In

The registration tables began signing in and credentialing people promptly at 11 a.m. on the second floor promenade of the New York Hilton Midtown. For many, this was the first opportunity to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, make new contacts and pick up swag bags that included a New York Mets T-shirt, an AudienceView notebook, sunglasses featuring the logo of the hit Broadway musical “Wicked” and more.

Aren Murray, Director of Ticketing for the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, says, “Every year when you go to register, it’s kind of like a homecoming. You come in and people are hanging out who have been there before. They want to see everybody who’s registering and be where the action is right from the start. And there’s other people who walk up to you and who don’t have their name tags yet, and they say, ‘Hey! I met you last year!’ I love it.”

For Tickets for Kids Charities Executive Director Jason Riley, this was his first INTIX Conference experience, and he found the registration process smooth and welcoming, “Everyone was super friendly and made me feel like part of the family,” he says. “As a first-time newcomer, it was a good feeling to have right from the get-go. I’m so looking forward to the next few days of networking and seeing where Tickets for Kids’ mission aligns with the efforts of what others are doing in ticketing.”

Radio City Music Hall^® Stage Door Tour

One of the first experiences attendees had was the opportunity to go behind the scenes of Radio City Music Hall^®, which is located just a few blocks down from the Hilton. Groups began leaving the hotel shortly before 1 p.m. and were treated to an approximately 75-minute guided tour of the historic venue that hosts the Tony Awards each year and is home to the world-famous Rockettes.

INTIX 2020 attendees toured Radio City Music Hall^®.

Among those most impressed was Ebony Hattix, Box Office Manager for FedExForum in Memphis, the home arena of the Memphis Grizzlies NBA basketball team. “It was so interesting to hear about the history of the interior lobby,” she says. “Everything about the place is eye-opening and catches your attention. It’s truly larger than life when you walk in.” Hattix says the most notable factoid she heard from the tour guide was that each Rockette does over 300 leg lifts per performance.

Amy Pelzl, Senior Manager of Strategic Support for the ticketing software company Saffire, also took the tour. “What I found most amazing was the hydraulic system has never been changed or replaced,” she says. “All they’ve done over the years is minor repairs and maintenance. And we’re talking since the 1930s.”

MetLife Stadium Venue Tour

The other big tour INTIX attendees could sign up for was a bus trip out to MetLife Stadium, which holds the distinction of being the only active venue to serve as the home stadium of two NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets. Those lucky 100 INTIX attendees who got to partake in this tour were able to go on the field, walk through the Jets’ locker room, see such premium spaces as the Commissioners Club and the Coaches Club, photo opps from the field and lunch.

INTIX 2020 attendees tour the New York Jets locker room at MetLife Stadium.

Elizabeth McClees, Box Office Manager for the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, picked MetLife over Radio City Music Hall^®. “I’m a big sports fan, and I already work for a performing arts venue. So, it was really neat to see inside of an NFL stadium,” she says. “The fact that they had two different visiting team locker rooms was particularly fascinating.”

Chris Hannon, a staffer for Maryland-based ticket broker Karen Sparks, says, “I’m a big football fan, so I definitely wanted to check it out. I figured if INTIX was involved, it was going to be a pretty comprehensive tour. And it definitely was! It was really interesting to hear how the Giants and the Jets work together to share the space and split everything 50-50.”

For more on the stadium, read the latest MetLife Stadium Guide.

INTIX 2020 Opening Night on Broadway Reception at the Minskoff Theatre

Later Monday evening, INTIX attendees literally got their own opening night on Broadway. The first day of INTIX 2020 indeed climaxed with a swanky gala at the Minskoff Theatre, which has been the Broadway home of “The Lion King” since June 2006. The event was sponsored by Broadway Direct and featured a live band and the best view on Broadway. Old friends, new colleagues, vendors and clients got together to catch up and renew their INTIX spirit. It was a full-to-capacity crowd for the cocktails and dessert reception that was held in the theatre’s grand foyer lobby, featuring spectacular floor-to-ceiling views of Times Square.