Dave Wakeman's The Business of Fun Podcast

I'm talking with Paul Bailey from Halo in Bristol, UK today.  We are discussing brand and this is a great one because we set out to hit on a few really important topics: Research Brand Purpose Top of Funnel Activity Paul was kind enough to come on to be the first guest to talk about brand exclusively so that I would have some conversations that I directed to include as resources for my upcoming ap...

My final conversation from the floor of INTIX at the Booking Protect booth.  This time I catch up with friend of the podcast, Christy Grantham.  We talk about why she goes to INTIX.  Christy talks about how INTIX helps her learn about new tech, new ideas, and avoid burnout.  One of the important things Christy learned was around the shift from "no refunds, no exchanges".  She also highlights the i...

Here's another conversation live from the Cover Genius booth at INTIX 2023 in Seattle with Casey Thomas of AudienceView.  We talk about what Casey likes about INTIX. We hit on things she's learned. And, why we are snazzy dressers.  Check out AudienceView at www.audienceview.com   Hook up with my friends at Cover Genius and find out how they've helped folks like AudienceView and the Playhouse Theat...

I did some quick podcast conversations at INTIX that I loosely called, "8 minutes at INTIX" from the Cover Genius booth.  This first one is with Angela Higgins. Along with Jo Michel, Angela does the Ticketing Professionals Conference of Australia.  The conference is in October this year. Check out my friends at Cover Genius: www. CoverGenius.com We did a really interesting panel at INTIX with Jo-A...

REPOST WITH REPAIRED FILE Totally new idea this week.  Chris Furnell offered up the idea of a conversation centered entirely on the process of change and making change stick in our organizations.  I jumped at the chance because I've been talking with y'all about change for years.  So we dug in deep on change.  We cover things like: Dealing with constant change.  Leaders wanting to shorten the dist...

I'm my own guest today with an audio version of my "2023 Numbers to Know" webinar.  This is something I started during the lockdown year of 2020 and I'm back with a lot of intersting stuff like: What the 60% projected drop in GDP means for Australia. And, how this will help you look at numbers.  1 and what Return to Work policies have really looked like.  63% of Americans want to take a vacation i...

My guest today is Bruce McTague.  Bruce is a first in two ways for the podcast: A think tank person A futurist This opens up the door to a really new type of conversation for listeners.  We discuss things like: Adding value Lack of innovation in the economy Why large companies can have similar challenges Cruise lines and "butts in berths" "us v. them" narratives And, a whole lot more.  Get my week...

My guest today is Dave Harland...the Wordman himself. Get his excellent newsletter: The Word !  This is an excellent conversation about things like: Dave's Uncle Tony, Gary V, and Simon Sinek and what all three of them have in common.  Why being a trained journalist helps Dave be a better copywriter. How to not take yourself seriously as a marketer. What a perfect email might look like... And, mor...

My guest today is Eduardo Lebre from Circular Unity. www.circularunity.com We discuss sustainability in the live entertainment business.  Eduardo teaches us about things like: Why Coldplay's touring habits are so important to a sustainable touring business.  How likely ticket buyers are to pay for more sustainable events.  Why you need to consider things like travel in the environmental impact of...

A little different episode today, but Sheryl Lynn from Joyley comes on and teaches me a mindfulness technique that might be useful to y'all during the holiday season.  Her take on mindfulness is called "The Chair of Joy".  We discuss mental health, mindfulness, negativity, and getting your mind right.  Check out my friends at Booking Protect at INTIX in Seattle in January. Booking Protect is now a...

My buddy, Simon Severino, is back!  We wanted to discuss planning for 2023. We also talk about his new book, Strategy Sprints. Simon gives away some valuable resources...and more.  Visit my website: www.davewakeman.com Get the 'Talking Tickets' newsletter at http://talkingtickets.substack.com New stuff for 2023 on the way.  Visit my friends at Booking Protect. www.bookingprotect.com They had a gre...

My guests today are: Morgan Harper and Krista Brown from American Economic Liberties Project.  I wanted to have them come on and talk about the campaign that they are working on around monopoly power. As we discuss on the podcast, monopoly power isn't unique to tickets, but it is an area where people can see and feel the impact with little education needed.  Going through this, we talk about why b...

My guest today is Simon Weber, Co-Founder of Vivenu!  We had a great talk. It was really nice to get to know Simon.  We covered: The importance of controlling your brand.  Data. The power of market research.  I pushed back on Simon's talk of Vivenu being "product oriented" because the amount of research they did into developing the product says that they are market focused.  www.vivenu.com Check o...

My guest today is the 800 pound guerilla, Bill Guertin!  I should have asked why it isn't the thousand pound gorilla!? Save that one for the second conversation!  I'm surprised that I haven't had Bill on before this, but the conversation we had is worth the wait.  We discuss the costs of bad sales hires. We talk about how successful the ISBI has been developing sales leaders.  We cover a lot of te...

My guest today is Scott Goodacre.  Scott runs a website www.theonlinerule.com  that focuses on marekting football clubs.  We had a great chat about brands, marketing, and football.  We cover why red should be everywhere when Man U does anything. Why the Spurs cockerel matters and a lot more.  Check out my 'Talking Tickets' newsletter at http://talkingtickets.substack.com   Visit my site at www.dav...

My guest today is Aren Murray from Tix Ticketing.  We chat about new technologies, the pandemic, and being customer focused.  Aren shares her experiences with INTIX. We discuss what matters about a cloud based ticketing solution. Aren gives me some examples of how ticketing can be fun and intuitive for the folks that work in box offices and a lot more.  Check out my friends at Booking Protect. www...

My guest today is Matt Zarracina from True Tickets.  We talk about the Spurs, obviously. We also hit on True Tickets' announcement of their new offering around "Rules Based Ticketing".  Matt shares with us his ideas about NFTs and Blockchain in ticketing and offers up a slightly different take than we typically hear when discussing this topic.  We discuss brand impact, the secondary market, relati...

Today, my guest is Martin Gammeltoft from Activity Stream.  We talk about Activity Stream's buying spree and mergers. We talk about technology, marketing, and a lot more.  Visit my friends at Booking Protect and find out why refund protection is a valuable tool as businesses in entertainment continue to recover. www.bookingprotect.com Check out my weekly ticket newsletter at http://talkingtickets....

My guest today is Brett Goldberg, Co-CEO of TickPick.  On today's episode we find out the origin of TickPick's name. We also cover how he managed his business during the pandemic and why being lean helped them react effectively.  We get into all-in pricing. We cover market fragmentation, market power, and how to win business.  We also hit on NFTs, Blockchain, and spec selling.  Check out my websit...

My guest today is Amanda Lester. Amanda is a former performer and is now a marketer.  This is a really great conversation around marketing research. We cover how to use market research to uncover actionable insights. We talk about pricing research. And, we cover the ideas that drive audience development.  Visit my website: www.davewakeman.com Check out my friends at Booking Protect to help you off...

This was a great conversation with Paul Williamson from Two Circles.  Paul mentioned to me recently that every project he works on has the feel of a startup and we explore that idea.  Along the way, Paul teaches us how to think through complex projects. He talks about market research, using pricing to create opportunities, and how to balance attendance and revenue.  Check out my newsletter at http...

My guest today is Asher Weiss from Tixologi.  Asher is my first guest in a series of episodes I'm going to do around recovery from the pandemic.  His company is involved in blockchain ticketing, but Asher realizes that the blockchain is a door to a bigger world, not just an end in itself.  So we discuss data, revenue, marketing, and recovery.  Get my weekly newsletter on tickets at http://talkingt...

This is a broadcast of the audio of a free webinar I did to test out some new technology and some new learnings.  The technology was a bit problematic, so I wanted to get the audio out ASAP.  We cover discounts, price wars, premium pricing, and a lot more.  Check out my friends at Booking Protect.  We are working to turn the podcast feed into 'The Road to Recovery' in May to help y'all find new id...

I've brought back Simon Severino to the podcast.  His new book,  Strategy Sprints,  is available on Amazon.  www.strategysprints.com   We talk about strategy, marketing, revenue generation, saving your money, and a lot more.  I'll be at TPC in Birmingham, UK from 16-18 March. If you've never been, this is probably my favorite conference in the world. The TPC team has done a great job creating a re...

I'm my own guest today when I give a guest lecture to Ken Troupe's sports management class at SMU.  We hit on all the core Dave topics including strategy, branding, marketing, tactics, and the big dog, pricing. I'll be at the Ticketing Professionals Conference in Birmingham, UK on 16-18 March. Andrew Thomas tells me that this is going to be the biggest event yet with 500+ people. The trade floor i...