Dereth Salchak confesses that she came to ticketing like many other INTIX members. “In a roundabout way!” she laughs. How roundabout? Here’s her story.
A True Career Progression
Back in 1999, she was looking to move out of her small hometown in California. Her sister was living in Portland, Oregon, at the time, and told her, “If you come here in January, we will be hiring at the Portland Opera for Broadway subscriptions. My friend just bought a house and is looking for a roommate. It will be a perfect time!”
Dereth Salchak
Salchak always had a love for performing arts growing up, but no experience with opera. Still, she was excited for the opportunity. What started out as a temporary job while she found her footing in a new city and state has become a full-on, 25-year career. “I went from seasonal temp to Assistant Box Office Manager in less than a year,” she recalls. “My time there really introduced me to the business side of performing arts.”
After nearly five years at the Portland Opera, she departed to work for Ticketmaster. She then went to the Rose Garden Arena, now the Moda Center, fulfilling group sales orders. When the venue switched ticketing systems to New Era Tickets, she took over a lot of the event building.
“But I heard the siren’s call of the Opera and went back to [the Portland Opera to] support the group sales department and the box office once more,” she says. “After a while, I went to work for New Era Tickets and then TicketsWest, where I stayed for about eight years. I onboarded clients, which was really one of my favorite things to do. I loved consulting with them, helping them get started, and being there to support as they got more familiar with the product.”
Eventually, Salchak became a Regional Manager for TicketsWest, focusing on the West Coast. Unfortunately, in late 2020, she became what she describes as “a casualty of the pandemic.” She was out of a job. Once again, she took refuge at the Portland Opera. She came back as the Customer Service Manager for Broadway in the city, getting to work with old friends once again. “We survived the reopening of venues, a harrowing ‘Hamilton’ cancellation [four sold-out weekend performances canceled due to a flu outbreak within the cast and orchestra], an ice storm that took out nine performances of Disney’s ‘The Lion King,’ and on and on.”
This past December, she started at the Portland’5 Centers for the Arts as the Ticket Services Manager. She says, “I am still finding my feet here, but it felt like a natural progression. I have worked with P5 for 25 years as a resident company partner and as their client rep at New Era/TicketsWest. It made sense to give the venue side a shot.”
Duties, Responsibilities, Likes and Dislikes
In her current post, Salchak manages a part-time staff of sellers and supervisors, handles the “Broadway builds” for single tickets, and reconciles any issues with accounting. “The not-so-glamorous stuff,” she calls it. “I try to break it up by bringing in my themed cakes or other baked goods. Gluten-free, of course!”
When asked what she considers the favorite part of her job, she replies, “Honestly, I love building events and putting all the pieces together. I also love what I call ‘super sleuthing’ — figuring out why reports don’t balance, untangling what happened and fixing the problem. Troubleshooting has always been a strong suit of mine.”
But there are still aspects of the job she finds challenging, even hard. Where would she like to improve? “Navigating personalities, especially of the public,” she answers. “I really believe that folks came back from the pandemic a little meaner. It seems like no one wears ‘patient pants’ anymore.”
Advice From the Past, Tales to Tell Today and Looking Ahead
Salchak says she has had the honor of working with some amazing women over the years in this industry. At one point, she recalls asking former Paciolan executive Kim Damron for leadership advice, and one of the many things she told her was: “Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance.” Asking for such help, Salchak says, has never made her weak or inferior. “It’s just bouncing ideas around. That’s what I love about the INTIX community. Everyone is so willing to share ideas and collaborate. I reach out often to bounce ideas off folks.”
With this being our Women in Ticketing series of articles, is there any advice Salchak has from her more than quarter-century as a ticketing and live events professional for young woman reading this? “Don’t burn bridges!” she exclaims. “Every job I’ve had in the last 25 years came from relationships — people I’ve worked with directly or peripherally. But, certainly, sometimes you have to make your own opportunities.”
Along the way, Salchak has had her share of memorable experiences. Two came to mind during our recent interview, and both had to do with special events. She states, “One was when we were preparing for a big group sales and subscriber event when ‘War Horse’ was on our season. We had a ‘Joey’ — the horse — come to the event. Learning about the whole process that the actors went through as the ‘head, heart and hind’ of the horse was just so fascinating. To hear the gasps from the audience when Joey would walk around just brought tears to my eyes.”
The second on-the-job memory that stands out was when she and her colleagues had a so-called Touch Tour with Disney’s “The Lion King” for the Oregon School for the Blind. “Listening to the puppet master describe Zazu, or the wardrobe master describe the costumes, while the children were able to hold and touch them all was just so cool,” she recalls. “One of the moms came to me and thanked me for letting her know about it and told me how meaningful it was to her daughter to get to experience a show like this in that way.”
As for making future memories, Salchak is hopeful live events will continue to draw well, and the paying public continues to support the arts for the rest of 2025 and beyond. She says, “The arts organizations here in Portland have taken some serious hits, which makes me sad. It has been very difficult for smaller theaters — even some of the bigger ones — post-pandemic, and they are now taking pauses in their programming.”
She concludes, “We are seeing more folks coming out to concerts and comedy events, but still not in the same numbers as in the past. However, I have seen ups and downs in this industry. We have struggled, and we have come back to thrive. It’s all a cycle, and when things look bleak, I like to go to the theater because, to quote Cabaret, ‘In here … life is beautiful!’”
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