IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 27, 2012) - Paciolan, an industry-leading provider of ticketing, marketing, and fundraising solutions to more than 500 live entertainment organizations, held its annual PACnet community conference February 12th - 15th in Newport Beach, CA. The company, which signed 28 new clients in the past 18 months, achieved record conference attendance at PACnet '12. More than 600 clients, attendees and business partners, a 33 percent increase over 2011, participated in educational sessions covering social media and marketing, CRM, ticketing and fundraising -- all aimed at helping them sell more and maximize revenue streams. Keynotes were presented by USC Athletic Director Pat Haden, University of Arizona Director of Athletics Greg Byrne, the Long Center for the Performing Arts CEO Jamie Grant, and Philadelphia Phillies VP of Ticket Operations John Weber, as well as Paciolan Founder Jane Kleinberger and Paciolan CEO Dave Butler.
"This was our most successful PACnet conference to date, a true testament of the value our clients and business partners receive from the Paciolan community," said Dave Butler, chief executive officer of Paciolan. "We're committed to providing our clients with the best tools, consulting and industry best practices to help them succeed. We strive to give them everything they need to effectively run their organizations, manage their customer relationships and increase revenues."
At the conference, Paciolan also recognized clients that have achieved success over the past year with its 6th Annual Heroes Awards.
"Rookie of the Year," which is given to the client that has embraced new tools and technology to achieve outstanding success, was awarded to the Long Center for the Performing Arts. In record time, the Austin, Texas-based performing arts center implemented the Paciolan solution for its venue, as well as the Austin Lyric Opera. It also created a regional ticketing business, took on seven new ticketing clients for 10 different venues, and turned its box office into a profit center without having to increase overhead or staff. It also achieved marketing and sales success by implementing demand and dynamic pricing models using heat maps and customized analytical reports. Additionally, it grew its online adoption within the first year, including selling 60 percent of all single tickets online, as well as doubling online adoption for the Austin Lyric Opera from 22 percent to 50 percent.
"Innovator of the Year," which recognizes clients that have implemented the most innovative and creative programs, transforming their business and establishing themselves as an industry leader, was awarded to Montana State University and TicketsWest for their collaborative and innovative student entrance process. Montana State wanted to encourage students to reserve their free student ticket in advance of games, while accommodating those students without reserved tickets with possible available game-day seating. Students who logged into their account in advance of a game to reserve their seat on their student ID were guaranteed a seat, while those without a ticket could have their student IDs scanned at the gate and provided seats, if still available. The innovative process resulted in more than 18,000 successful student entries by the end of the football season, and was so well received the method was employed at the University of Nevada, Reno, where it met equal success.
"Star of the Year," which recognizes the client that has achieved great success and experienced outstanding results in the areas of marketing, ticketing and fundraising, was awarded to the University of Michigan. Michigan excelled in the area of online season renewals and ticket sales with over 66% of all football season tickets, and 85% of all single tickets sold online last year. Michigan also offered three new ticket packages that leveraged their high demand games to sell lower demand inventory and in 3 weeks sold almost 40,000 tickets for almost $3M in ticket revenue. In July of 2011, the university successfully launched its innovative "Ticket Interest List," which allowed those who donated an annual $500+ to be added to the Interest List at the "First Team Level" for priority on football season tickets. Michigan Athletics also ran the most profitable college athletics Facebook campaign on record, generating $74k in 24hrs with a fan-only presale. In addition, they created the largest mobile marketing database in college athletics (as measured by AT&T), and generated tens of thousands of incremental dollars through the channel. Michigan also implemented the integrated StubHub and Paciolan secondary ticketing solution to provide Wolverine fans with a trusted and easy-to-use method to buy and sell football tickets.
About Paciolan
Founded in 1980, Paciolan is the leader in venue enablement, powering ticketing, fundraising and marketing technology solutions for leading organizations across North America. Collectively, Paciolan powers over 500 live entertainment organizations that sell over 100 million tickets annually. Primary markets include college athletics, professional sports, performing arts, arenas and museums. Paciolan is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast-Spectacor.
Visit www.paciolan.com for additional company information.