Leadership / 05.15.24
Regional Groups: Bay Area Professional Ticketing Association
Christine Payne
In late 2023, INTIX Access began a series on regional ticketing groups and their origin stories. Our first feature showcased OTT-TIX, founded almost a decade ago in Canada’s capital.
Though not officially affiliated with INTIX, many regionals are supported by some of our most enthusiastic and dedicated members. The regional groups and their members share an important goal — keeping ticketing professionals connected within their home communities.
“[Regional groups like BAPTA are important] to provide as a resource and connection point for ticketing professionals in the Bay Area,” Josh Ziegenbusch, the current President of the Bay Area Professional Ticketing Association (BAPTA), Chair of the INTIX Board of Directors and Senior Director, Service and Retention for the Oakland Athletics, says. “[It is] a safe place for support, networking and outreach with others in our local area.”
The idea for BAPTA was born during a passionate conversation between Russ Stanley, now Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales and Client Relations for the San Francisco Giants, and Rïse Walter, then of the San Francisco Symphony while attending the 2000 INTIX conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As the pair sipped coffee and chatted at a stoplight, they found the idea of forming a group for ticketing professionals from the Bay Area intriguing and fun. “We also discussed how it was crazy that the Bay Area group had to fly 800 miles to get together and wouldn’t it be great to get together at home,” Stanley, a BAPTA co-founder, former President and current member-at-large, recalls.
Upon returning from the conference, Stanley and Walter wasted no time organizing an informal gathering. The response was impressive, with many ticketing professionals showing up and engaging in lively conversations. This initial meeting was the start of a strong community that would become BAPTA.
“It was the who’s who of Bay Area ticketing professionals,” Stanley, who fondly recalls the early days of BAPTA, says, though he can’t remember if the first meeting was at the ballpark or the symphony. “We tried to rotate, so it was not thought of as exclusively sports or the arts.”
Attendance at the first meeting included Stanley, Walters, Morey Koretsky (Ticketmaster), Cliff Thrasher (Blue & Gold Fleet), Terry Breedlove (San Francisco Symphony), Liz Baqir (Cal Performances), Jole Mendoza (San Francisco Performances), Leslie Zane, who was at the time with the Montalvo Arts Center, and Randy Rofelson, who was then with Bill Graham Presents.
Indeed, the attendance was a testament to the sense of community and camaraderie upon which BAPTA was built.
L-R: BAPTA members Shane Mealor, Liz Baqir and the late Anita Sprinkles.
Fast forward to today, and BAPTA now has 100+ members across genres and membership types.
“The membership is spread across sports, arts, venues, promoters, attractions and vendors,” Geo Haynes, BAPTA’s Membership Director and the Assistant Head Treasurer for Ambassador Theatre Group in San Francisco, shares. “[As of May 2024,] the current membership breakdown is 107 members, 34 individual memberships, 15 organizational memberships and one vendor membership.”
“It has to be a place to bring new ideas and products to break down pros and cons,” Stanley says. “We have tried to bring in vendors doing something new and creative.”
BAPTA members enjoy a night at Oracle Park, 2024.
Indeed, BAPTA members support each other by sharing knowledge, encouraging professional development and growth, and being a resource for other organizations. We asked about some of the trending topics that the group is currently discussing.
“Hot topics include the Go-Ahead Entry piloted at San Francisco Giants games, incorporating biometrics and facial analysis. We are also closely monitoring the new ticket legislation laws that are scheduled to start on July 1 this year,” Ziegenbusch says.
In addition to helping advance the industry while staying on top of the latest developments, BAPTA members enjoy plenty of fun together.
“We now try to host one to two social events as well as one educational event [each year],” Stanley says. “One of the social events is usually at the ballpark in our Alaska Airlines Loft premium area. The other is our annual holiday party at the San Francisco Symphony.”
BAPTA holiday get-together at Davies Symphony Hall, 2022.
Special memories and relationships are made at all BAPTA gatherings, even when times are tough, like during the pandemic.
“One of my most meaningful moments with BAPTA has been being their Past President for two consecutive terms, part of which was during the pandemic. We made it through the pandemic with the help and support of each other and became closer because of it,” Carolyn Uroz, who started as a ticket seller with the Giants in 1993, says. She has since been elevated twice within the organization to reach her current role as Executive Assistant to Russ Stanley.
Uroz continues, “We continued to hold our bi-monthly board meetings through Zoom as well as co-hosting a tri-Zoom educational get-together with Kelly Brennan [of the Tri-Tix regional ticketing group], and Maureen Andersen [President and CEO of INTIX] was our star guest. We also held trivia via Zoom as well as an entertainment holiday Zoom get-together where a few of our amazing board members sang for the group. We joined in on the Wednesday chats with INTIX. It was truly inspiring in a time of definite uncertainty!”
Stanley's most memorable BAPTA moment took place almost a decade earlier.
“[It was] hosting the sports session [for the INTIX conference] in the clubhouse in 2011,” he says. “This was right after winning the World Series, and we were able to do a photoshoot with one of the World Series trophies.”
“BAPTA engages closely with INTIX,” Ziegenbusch says. “We have INTIX members as part of our community. We have a scholarship program annually to use BAPTA dues to fund registrations to the INTIX conference. With the conference in Las Vegas this year, we were able to send two BAPTA folks to the conference.”
Reflecting on what has been learned at BAPTA that could help other regionals, Uroz says, “To me, it is truly about the connections that are made while within the group. We try to start most of our bi-monthly board meetings with a round of questions as to what everyone is working on and/or what challenges they are facing. Best practices are key to our discussions. With Zoom and Google Meet, it is super easy to get together and host a meeting.”
And what advice would this passionate team of ticketing professionals share with INTIX members who have not yet joined or started a regional group?
“What are you waiting for?” Ziegenbusch says. “Join a group to connect with others in your local area to learn, network and share knowledge. If there is no group currently, find a ticketing friend in your region and start a group.”
BAPTA 15th anniversary celebration.
BAPTA is currently in the planning stages for a grand 25th anniversary celebration in 2025. As the preparations continue, the memories of a very special friend live on in the hearts of BAPTA members.
“Anita Sprinkles [was a] dear friend, colleague, ticketing professional and one of our first members who played a massive part in helping Russ to get BAPTA off and running. Sadly, she passed away in 2013,” Uroz says. As BAPTA continues to remember the impact she made, in each year that followed her passing, the Giants have bestowed the Sprinkles of Love award upon the employee who most exemplifies Anita Sprinkles’ inclusive, hardworking and loving spirit.
Anita Sprinkles
“We are all so very passionate about [BAPTA] and hold it close to our hearts,” Uroz says. “To me, it really is our ticketing family and such an incredible group of extremely talented individuals, many of whom I am so honored to call friends as well as counterparts and colleagues.”
Ticketing professionals in the Bay Area can contact BAPTA via the group’s website. INTIX members in other areas are encouraged to visit the INTIX website to find and connect with the regional group nearest them.
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Tags: Leadership , Regional Groups