Duncan Moss does not spend much time talking about himself. It is not avoidance. It is instinctive. Ask him a question that most people would answer with a name, a milestone or a moment, and he shifts the focus almost immediately. Not away from the question, but outward.
“I like to admire groups of people, teams that work together,” he says. “They are just people doing their best and working together for the common good. It always inspires what I do. It makes me happy when I see something like that.”
That answer tells you almost everything you need to know about how he works, how he leads and why he has stayed so deeply connected to both his organization and the industry around it.
At Ravinia Festival, just outside Chicago, Duncan operates at the center of a complex, high-volume live events environment. It is a place where ticketing, operations, patrons, artists and expectations meet. The systems and logistics matter. But for him, they are never the starting point. The starting point is always people.
“Focusing on my staff, I love working with them and seeing them every single day. They bring positivity, they bring great energy and they are also very good at their jobs.”
That positivity carries into every area of Duncan’s life. When talking about the qualities he values in others, he does not reach for something abstract.
“A genuine person brings a smile and is willing to laugh. Comedy is a big part of my life. I think the best quality is when you can bring a smile to somebody’s face, or somebody brings a smile to your face. It really levels the playing field. It allows all of us to feel comfortable with each other, which I think is super important, no matter what age you’re at.”
With colleagues, the tone shifts slightly, but not far. The focus moves from bringing a smile to someone’s face to building the kind of trust that allows people to support one another at work.
“[I value colleagues who are] genuine, but I think trust is probably the biggest one … I trust them to be a good person, but I also trust them to support me when I need to be supported and allow me to support them when I can. When there is a lack of trust, it’s a little bit scary. The relationship becomes a little more tense than positive in certain situations. If we can trust each other, we can really achieve great things.”
That same thinking shapes how he views leadership.
“A couple of words come to mind. Empathy is one, kindness is another. A lot of times, people think of leaders as strong, loudest-voice-in-the-room types, and I don’t think that’s always the best definition. I think people can be successful with those qualities, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone is truly listening. If you really want everybody to listen to what you are saying, and also really embrace it, empathy goes a long way.”
In an industry where people carry multiple responsibilities, that awareness is not optional.
“There are so many people who wear so many hats … Being able to empathize and understand that [is important], so if they’re focused on a task, you can see a much longer road … because you understand that there are a lot of things that go into whatever they are doing. Without that, you can sometimes keep going and not realize that there might be a path of resistance in your way, because you’re creating it.”
That belief extends beyond individual relationships to how Duncan sees the industry as a whole.
“It’s small, but really huge, and really impactful … we are making experiences that last a lifetime for people. As Maureen [Andersen, President and CEO of INTIX] likes to say, we are the magic behind the button. We really are, because nobody really knows what goes into [ticketing]. Nobody necessarily goes to the butcher, buys a sausage and says, “How did you make this?” They just trust that they made it, it's good and they are going to buy and eat it. It's very similar in our industry … There are a lot of us who work behind closed doors, and we do a lot of things, but events couldn’t happen without us.”
Outside of work, the same themes Duncan spoke of earlier appear again. When asked what he values most in his friends, he points to the importance of comfort, connection and the ability to laugh together.
“A friend should make you feel good, they should make you feel welcome and they should be able to go through all of your range of emotions, but laughter is a big one to me. If I can laugh with somebody, I instantly feel comfortable with them. I love telling jokes, and a lot of my friends do too, so laughter and humor come naturally. I think it is also a key human emotion that lets you break down barriers, because friendship can be hard. Emphasizing silliness and those kinds of things allows it to be a little bit softer, especially in some of the harder times.”
If people are one constant in Duncan’s life, his love of nature is the other.
“I would say nature is probably my biggest love. I love to travel and see the world, but the best thing is seeing and being in nature, how people or animals have adapted, or how the world has adapted to nature, because it is the common thing that brings us all together. We are all living in it … and I always have a curiosity around it and a love for it. I love being outside when I can. Sometimes there are days when I'm not outside that much, and I will wish I was outside. There's a longing for it when I can't have it, and then when I'm in it, I really love it.”
Duncan and a friend at Mount Etna stratovolcano in Sicily, Italy.
That pull has taken him far beyond Chicago.
“I like to climb mountains when I’m on vacation, and I have climbed a few mountains … Metaphorically and also physically, being able to get to the top of a mountain is quite an accomplishment. I think those are some of my greatest achievements.”
In Alaska, deep in the Wrangell–St. Elias mountain range during a two-week backpacking trip, Duncan reached the top of a climb and found himself lying on the ground as snow began to form just above him.
“That was probably one of the most memorable moments of my life. I was actually and literally at the top of the mountain. It was just a rocky surface. I lay down because I was a little disoriented and very tired from getting up there. It started to snow, and the cloud was literally three feet above my head, so the snow was literally being formed and falling. I was in my little bubble, and I was just like, ‘This is incredible.’”
In Guatemala, Duncan and a friend climbed a dormant volcano beside an active one and watched lava spew.
“We got super lucky and got to see a very big show of lava and explosions … It is a very active volcano, but this was extremely active, so the timing was just perfect, and I always say timing is everything.”
Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala.
And yet, after moments like these in Alaska and Guatemala, the place that stands out most to him is much closer to home.
“My favorite place to visit is the Northwoods of Wisconsin,” Duncan says. “When I was a kid, we used to vacation there, and my mom's side of the family is from that area. It's gorgeous, very wild and not necessarily industrialized. Sure, there are lots of farms and things like that, but things are spread out, so you get a little bit of that smaller town feel, and you get to really embrace some of the nature.”
He adds, “For places that I want to go, I have a passion for visiting volcanoes, so I have always really wanted to go to Iceland, just to see … super active volcanoes there. Same thing with Hawaii. I'd love to see that, because these are some of the ones that never go dormant, and they don't really stop bubbling.”
That same sense of connection Duncan describes in the Northwoods also shapes his relationship with INTIX and the broader ticketing community.
“Continuing to be of service and give time being on the INTIX board, volunteering through this organization and being able to see it grow and be part of it growing, in many different facets, has been fantastic. It is a great achievement, and I think it's something that doesn't end. Some achievements, you get to the top of a mountain, you are there and there is an end in sight. This is one of those achievements that's just ongoing, and I've seen it, because there are people who have given their entire lives to INTIX, or time from their entire lives to INTIX. It just keeps going, no matter what stage you are [in your career].”
When asked what career moment stands out for him personally, he says: “Winning the FutureTix Young Ticketing Professional Award at the Dallas conference [in 2019]. I did not expect to actually get it. I was really honored to be nominated. I know that I was working really hard, in so many different ways, working hard for INTIX, working hard professionally. When they called my name, I was kind of like, wait a minute, what? I was pretty stunned. And then again, when I joined the board. Those are such huge honors because they come from the membership. It means people really believe in what you’re doing and believe in you.”
Duncan was introduced to INTIX early, encouraged by his predecessors at Ravinia to get involved without really knowing what that meant. He credits several people along the way with helping him find his footing in ticketing and within the INTIX community.
“I've had a couple of different mentors. When I first started in ticketing, it was our [now retired] Director of Ticket Operations, Angus Watson. He was the first person to really show me about INTIX. Then my boss and predecessor in this position, Jennifer Butler, who has since moved to another role. Both have mentored me in different ways and helped me expand in my career here at Ravinia and also professionally … I would say this is more of a general thing; it's not a singular mentor, but INTIX itself. This is a weird answer, but the whole organization and what it stands for and what it does actually is mentoring all of us.”
That early encouragement stayed with him.
“I was quickly exposed to INTIX in a good way. And then they both encouraged me to just volunteer … When I first started with INTIX, I was like, ‘What does that even mean? How do you volunteer? What do you volunteer for?”
Then he simply started doing it.
“Getting involved was easier than I thought. Somebody said, ‘You should join a committee,’ and then I looked at the committees, and I didn't know which one I would join. Somebody I was sitting with at one of the tables when we used to do it at the conference said, ‘Oh, you should join this one, because XYZ,’ and I was like, “Oh, they seem to know what they're talking about, I'll join it.” And then the rest is history. I spent a couple of years on that committee, spent a couple of years on another, spent many years on more. The momentum keeps pushing you forward like a river. It keeps moving, and if you don't want it to move, you can jump out, and if you do want it to move, you just keep riding it.”
Duncan continues, “INTIX is like a river that just keeps going forward. It has a very fast current; you can jump in at any time and jump out at any time. I think it's fun riding the river. You are meeting a bunch of great people, getting involved in a bunch of great things, and making an impact and a difference in the world, whether it's our small industry or it's bigger than that. It's a wild ride, but it's a lot of fun.”
That sense of momentum has also shaped what INTIX means to Duncan in his day-to-day work.
“It’s a fantastic personal Rolodex for networking [and] it is all about the connections for me. For example, there are a couple of venues that are also INTIX members and are like Ravinia in so many ways. I've connected with those people to bounce ideas back and forth. Like, ‘Hey, how did this show sell? Have you been dealing with XYZ promoter? Have you ever tried this with your donors?’ It’s not just a cold email anymore. And it’s a place to learn through Access Weekly, the Wednesday Wisdom [weekly calls], the different webinars and the podcast. There is so much rich information that is available at our fingertips, and of course, there’s the conference and everything that goes along with that.”
Perhaps most of all, says Duncan, INTIX is a place to belong. He still remembers his first conference in Toronto, standing at the CN Tower and wondering if he had found his place.
“I was extremely nervous to go to this party all by myself, and I didn't know what mingling was. I was young, and it was a very scary moment.”
But he went, “and there was something really magical about it, because you realized that all of these really professional people can have a nice time together that doesn't have to be so professional. It was professional in the sense that we were all dressed up and here for this event at the top of this incredible tower, with this incredible view. You think, well, this is really an awesome place, and an awesome organization, and look at all these people having a great time, and all of a sudden, you realize I'm one of those people now. You are in the club, as it were, or you are part of the organization, or, as Maureen says, part of the community. I think that moment where you start feeling that is really awesome, because what you don't realize is the next time you go to a conference, or the next event that you go to, you are like, ‘Oh! I'm confident. I've done this. I'm in.’”
This realization is reflected in Duncan’s advice to first-time INTIX conference attendees.
“Don't stay in your hotel room. It's very cliché, but don't do it. And it is probably the best advice you can give somebody.”
Duncan (right) attending the Wizard of Oz with Shawn Robertson and Lenore Heller at the Sphere during INTIX 2026 in Las Vegas.
Back in Chicago, Duncan’s life is less dramatic, but no less grounded. He plays in a recreational 16-inch softball league, a uniquely local version of the game.
“It’s quintessential Chicago. Being able to be part of something that’s part of the city’s history is really awesome.”
Duncan and his softball teammates.
Duncan also enjoys walking, spending time with friends and getting out to see sports and concerts, especially at his favorite venue, Wrigley Field, where he saw what he calls the best live event he’s ever experienced.
“I saw Paul McCartney there. I love the Cubs. I love Wrigley Field. I love the Beatles. I love Paul McCartney. So, it was kind of this perfect menage of everything that I was into, so that was a really cool moment.”
He continues, “My favorite band of all time is the Beatles. Their music makes me feel good. Their story also makes me feel good about them and the music they created. More recently, Lake Street Dive has become another favorite band of mine. They have an awesome sound, and everything is just very feel-good … it makes you want to move and dance … I also really like Phish, and I’ve seen them a bunch of times. I have a group of friends that I go to see Phish with, and every time I go, it's such a fantastic time. It's a different concert every single time because it's not a cookie-cutter setlist. I like that.”
Duncan at a Phish concert in Chicago.
As much as Duncan loves Chicago, where would he most like to live?
“More recently, I have really fallen in love with Japan. If I had no strings attached and could pick up and go tomorrow, I would love to give it a try there. I think that their culture and the people are incredible … It was fantastic when I went there a few years ago, and I would love to go back. Could I make it there? I don't know. But you don't know until you try. If I could choose, that would be a place that I'd love to try.”
Duncan at Mount Fuji in Japan.
Duncan adds, “If I were ready to retire, and I didn’t need to do anything anymore, I would probably go live in a cabin somewhere, maybe in Alaska, because it is absolutely gorgeous up there. It is a little far away from everything, though … but hey, if it's retirement, maybe it's fine.”
Asked what brings him the most joy or greatest meaning in life, Duncan’s answer returns to where the interview started.
“Laughter, spending time with people and happiness in general. I think even sad moments are great when they are shared. So, if you can share moments together, whether it's a meal, going to a show together, or just a conversation around a cup of coffee, I think those are the best types of moments, and they bring me the most joy and happiness.”
That same outward focus reappears when Duncan is asked what he would wish for if given the chance.
“I would love a magic wand that can be waved and make somebody happy, to turn a frown upside down. I wish I could make more free time. Just in general, I wish I had more free time to do things. And then I wish for everybody not to have to work as hard in the world. I think people everywhere work very hard on so many different levels and in so many different ways, and I think that if we could all take a little breather together, it would go a long way. I know some of those are not very personal, like, they are not just me things, but that's okay. I don't necessarily need ‘me’ things. I'm not going to ask for the cliche, ‘Oh, I wish I had a billion dollars.’”
Near the end, he circles back to something he does not always say out loud.
“I am a big lover of animals, and I think that that goes hand-in-hand with nature, and they bring a lot of happiness just as much as people do. We are all animals in one way.”
Then, almost as a quiet summary of everything that has come before, Duncan says, “We are people who give a lot, and it is okay to take sometimes, and sometimes we forget that. I think the best things that you can take sometimes are the things that are free, which are humanity, humility, empathy, cuddling an animal, walking a path or climbing a mountain. I think that common theme is something that drives me every single day and allows me to get up in the morning.”
It is not a dramatic statement, and it is not meant to be. Like most things Duncan says, it lands simply and stays with you longer than you expect. And it is a spirit he continues to share — with a little help from his friends at INTIX.
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