George Will raises interesting perspectives on greed in the entertainment ticket market. http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/opinion/columnists/george-will-greed-is-punished-just-ask-a-ticket-scalper-121608.html. Ticket scalpers turn up at every venue and almost all performances.
Let's ask our corporate leaders additional questions ...
*If you receive tickets from a sponsorship agreement, how do you track them at the corporate level?
*If you purchase annual suites or boxes at stadiums, do you know the different types of tax deductions? (for suites, boxes, for clients, for individual ticket purchases?)
*How do you know, globally, the distribution of tickets that have went to your top clients annually?
*How do you know, globally, if the suite or box you've chosen and the individual tickets you're purchasing are the right mix for your clients?
*How many seats (box, suite or individual tickets) were purchased, and not used?
*How many seats, globally, went to internal users?
*Do you know how much, globally, you're spending on entertainment tickets and the return on investment?
To George's point "...price gougers are at the mercy of a public armed with information..." Guess what? "The public" buying tickets at premium prices are often corporate buyers. Without laws in place to curtail the spending, corporate leadership owns accountability.
In my informal LinkedIn poll asking "Why aren't tickets strategically sourced?" http://polls.linkedin.com/p/36855/dpjrl, 28% (as of today) say that tickets cannot be managed through normal procurement methods because it is too political -- and that corporate leaders are managing them. As we seek transparency in our corporate spending, I recommend a marketing entertainment ticket strategy, across the entire global organization, a ticket technology distribution method, adding strong policy language to your current T&E policy, monitoring compliance and using consequences when not followed. In fact, few companies have this in place today. Thus, corporations often take part in Ticket Scalping.
Without a global strategy, you're spending just as much on tickets as you are other travel, meetings and events...but you probably don't realize it. A handful of ticket brokers offer a corporate methodology strategy. Only a few have technology tools in place to manage distribution. An example of one tool on the market: http://www.ovationsmanagement.com/ Keep in mind, the supplier is not the place to start -- but rather, with a financial and procurement strategy and someone who knows the industry. Contact me if you want help.
Debi Scholar, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT
Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation plus more...
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