VenuesNow (06/23/21) Zoltak, James
A panel at the 2021 Pollstar Live conference discussed contactless transaction technology for venue ticketing and concessions stemming from the pandemic. TD Garden President Amy Latimer said contactless was initiated to improve game days for fans, maximizing safety and ease. "We just did a $100 million renovation to kind of fix stuff from the past, prepare for today and make sure we are anticipating for the future," she explained. Michael Conley with the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse said the team begins with a problem and works its way backward "to fill in use cases" and arrive at solutions. He said the first step involves measuring fan appetite for the technology, and then considering ways to improve the general fan experience. "We focused on integration directly into the ticketing experience," Conley explained. "That way we can cross every type of event we have in our venue." BillfoldPOS CEO Stas Chijik said making the customer experience as smooth and easy as possible has become more relevant than ever because of the pandemic, while Appetize's Wayne Scarsella said mobile ordering platforms must feature both ease of use and ease of integration. "What we saw coming out of the pandemic, if there is a silver lining, is that it's motivated and kind of forced the usage of QR codes, mobile ordering," he noted.
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