Dave Wakeman's The Business of Fun Podcast

Today's guest is Isabella Balsimelli. She is the COO of Ingresso Facil one of the leaders in ticketing in South America.  In this episode, we discuss experience, leading change, technology, the secondary market in Brazil, and a whole lot more.  You can find Isabella on LinkedIn .  As always, please visit my website www.davewakeman.com . Also, follow me on Twitter .  Want to email me with some idea...

Today's guest is Michael Broughton. Micheal is Partner & Co-Founder in Sports Investment Partners. I wanted to have Michael on because I really enjoy following his LinkedIn videos and the way that he tackles sport through the lens of an investor. In this episode, we talk about the size of the industry, the challenges and opportunities that investors look for, platforms, competition, communities, d...

Today's episode is a good one! I'm talking with Corey Gibbs. He's the Executive Managing Director of Ticket Solutions.  Corey is my first guest from the secondary market and we get into a lot. We cover: * Pricing * Verified Fan * Customer service * Customer focus * Getting fans to come to the stadium * Adding value And, that's just the surface. I think you are really going to enjoy this one. It is...

This is a really cool episode today with Kara Parkinson, Senior Marketing Director with Audience View.  Kara doesn't have the traditional arts, sports, entertainment background...in fact, working at Audience View is her first job in the industry. Which blew open a door for me to talk with her about some things that are common and different. We also discuss how working in packaged goods has helped...

Today I welcome Steven Dobesh to 'The Business of Fun.' I wanted to have Steven on to talk about ticketing in the era of buzzword heavy Blockchain. We also talk about how you should differentiate Bitcoin from Blockchain and where the confusion lies. We talk a lot about innovation, but, maybe, most importantly, we talk about how nothing will change in any business if the value proposition doesn't c...

My guest on episode 8 is Cat Spencer... Cat is the VP of Business Development with Booking Protect. I've been friends with Cat and her business partner, Simon, for several years now and one of the most impressive things I have seen is how well they manage to build and maintain relationships with their clients remotely.  As someone that does so much work remotely, I wanted to see if I could uncover...

My guest on Episode 7 is Ken Troupe. Ken is the Senior Director of Business Development with 4Front .  He is also the creator and host of the Twitter chat: #social4tixsales We have a long and wide-ranging conversation about selling tickets, building fans and customers, leadership, value, and a whole lot more.  *** I've been receiving a lot of feedback about the podcast and thank you... You can alw...

Today's guest is Lauren Teague... Lauren Teague is a digital strategist who puts social back into social media. She has worked with a range of media startups, non profits, professional sports leagues, teams, and athletes. She held the first social media position at the PGA TOUR and spent seven seasons covering live golf in social media. Now she's part of Convince & Convert consulting, a respected...

My guest today is Johannes Wohlert.  He is in charge of marketing for the Swedish Basketball Association.  I wanted to have Johannes on to discuss growing a sport from the grassroots level, fighting the discounting mindset, and using social media to build a fan base.  You can follow Johannes on Twitter .  You can connect with him on LinkedIn .  To learn more about the Swedish Basketball Associatio...

On this episode, I welcome Jo Michel.  Jo is a partner in Mission Tickets in Australia and she has spent over 20 years working with non-profits on ticketing events including festivals, productions, and other events.  In this episode, we discuss a wide range of challenges and opportunities that she deals with including team building in compressed timelines, learning from all areas of focus, and a n...

Today's episode of The Business of Fun features Rob Cressy.  Rob is one of the people that encouraged me to start a podcast and told me that the first few would be terrible, but I would get better.  This episode is a lot of fun because we talk about fun, creating content that is compelling, and how you can connect with people.  Rob is the Founder of Bacon Sports and is a forward-thinking content c...

  Today's episode is with VP of Commercial Activity for Activity Stream, Martin Gammeltoft.  Martin came on the podcast to discuss using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data in a way that creates impact and drives revenue for theatres, sports teams, and other organizations that are better trying to understand their consumers.  In this episode, we cover: * Why technology has evolved to allow anyone...

Welcome to "The Business of Fun" podcast.  This is my opportunity to talk to industry leaders in the world of entertainment, attractions, sports, and more.  My guest on this episode is Micheal Prindiville. Micheal is CEO of Team Dignitas, Harris Blitzer's eSports division.  Our conversation covers many of the core issues of eSports: What is eSports, really? What is the value of eSports? What is eS...

Welcome to "The Business of Fun" podcast.  This is my chance to talk with leaders in the world of theatre, sports, entertainment, and anywhere people go to be entertained, have experiences, or come together in a communal environment.  The first episode will launch Tuesday, May 22nd. I hope you will subscribe on iTunes, Sticher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  To find out more about me and the...