Founded more than 30 years ago, See Tickets has emerged as a leader in the global ticketing market with a strong presence in Europe and the United States. A subsidiary of Vivendi, See Tickets sold more than 20 million tickets in 2019 for 8,000 clients, ranging from the legendary Glastonbury Festival and the LA Pride Festival to AmericanaFest and the Pitchfork Music Festival.
But that was 2019. Everything changed for everybody in ticketing once March 2020 hit. See Tickets has been one of the companies that has weathered the pandemic era well and come out strong on the other side. Much of it has come down to sound and steady leadership.
Rob Wilmshurst
Rob Wilmshurst, See Tickets Global CEO, looks back on these past 20-plus COVID-19 months and remarks, “Survival has never been a concern. We’re a debt-free business with a very healthy balance sheet. That being said, as all businesses did, we needed to consider the immediate crisis and prepare ourselves for the new normal at the end. First, we applied ourselves fully to support the clients as well as service the ticket buyers to the highest standards possible across all of our operating territories. Next, we realized this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to step back as a business and reassess all of our operating practices with a view to coming out with a stronger business than before COVID-19. And using both of these, we reset our market story and prospecting approach.”
He continues, “We think, in the main, we achieved our objectives. We have massive new wins across the group, the most notable probably being Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park that should attract 3 million paid visitors this year. This is a huge project and one where we deployed a new platform component developed during the lockdown. This was one of many new clients signed during the COVID-19 crisis.”
See Tickets also put its money to work in the United States, supporting the likes of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), and in the United Kingdom where the firm supported Independent Venue Week and will do so again in 2022.
Tony DiCamillo
With so much of the population getting vaccinated and more and more live events back on, See Tickets has definitely been re-gearing its business to serve the increased number of people who have resumed buying tickets. Technology has played a key role in this. Tony DiCamillo, Vice President of Business Development for See Tickets – North America, says, “One of the things we’ve done to adapt and help our client base is we integrated the ability for patrons and consumers to upload their vaccine cards into the system. So, they have it on file, it’s been validated, and the RFID access control has been activated based on whether it’s a valid card. That’s really helped our venues all over, as some geographies are more stringent than others.”
Currently, 460 employees are united under the See Tickets brand in Nottingham, London, Los Angeles, Nashville, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Paris and other markets around the globe. DiCamillo, the former President of ExtremeTix at the time of its acquisition by Etix, states, “Like many industry leaders, we are hiring aggressively. It’s important to note that we didn’t have any layoffs or furloughs during the entire COVID-19 period. We actually experienced a tremendous amount of growth. We’re working very hard to onboard talent and bring experienced professionals into our space. And we’re also working on technology. If one positive thing has come out of this, it’s that it has forced consumers to transition in a lot of ways. You’re going to see less and less of the paper and hard stock tickets. People are getting used to contactless from venue access to point of sale. You’re going to see more and more of that technology come into play, and I don’t think we’re ever going back from that. Once you make that transition, you don’t take a step back.”
Wilmshurst concurs, adding, “We had invested in a number of automated service tools pre-COVID-19 that were quickly augmented, which allowed us to serve far more customers that we could have previously with a service layer that requires full human contact. Our focus has been more about new services and approaching segments that had previously not seen value in the services we provide. We were quick to expand our business development toward possible clients that we could use our services during and post-pandemic.”
Both spoke of the outsized leadership challenges they have faced during these COVID-19 times as opposed to live in the ticketing biz before the virus. Wilmshurst says his biggest test has been “managing uncertainty. But, as I said before, we knew we could use the time wisely to come out of the situation a stronger business. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. When you meet the unexpected, greet it as an opportunity.”
For his part, DiCamillo says “staying positive and optimistic has been my greatest challenge. What most people don’t talk about is the mental side of things, right? This cloud has now been over our industry for a long period of time, and it’s had a negative impact on so many in our business. The bright spots are participating with INTIX and being on those calls and understanding that we’re all in the same place. It’s really help me keep my optimism!”
He concludes, “What I’ve learned is that the INTIX community is a family. We’re all just so supportive of each other. It’s really kind of leveled the playing field. You’re also going to have your sports and your arts and your colleges and festivals spaces. But suddenly, we all started having the same conversations about the best way to move forward and how to do it in a safe and responsible way. That’s been refreshing. It’s going to be so exciting to see everyone in Orlando face to face!”
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