News and Discussion

Vibe Signs Female Leader to Challenge Ticketing Monopolies  

Ex-Groupon and ticketscript boss brings growth experience to tech start-up

Vibe Tickets – founded in 2013 by tech entrepreneur Luke Massie – has appointed Hannah Morris as its Commercial Director.

Hannah will lead Vibe’s commercial strategy as the firm continues to attract significant interest from global investors.

A trailblazer and thought-provoking leader with a career that’s included senior positions with Groupon and ticketscript, Hannah will play a key role in expanding the firm’s London presence and accelerating its monetisation plans.

A positive example of ‘women in tech’, Hannah played an instrumental role in building ticketscript which led to its acquisition by Eventbrite in 2017. In the previous year, ticketscript and Eventbrite’s combined European operations processed more than 35 million tickets worth over €500 million.

Hannah said: “I’m incredibly excited to have joined Vibe at such a monumental time in its journey. The team is one of the most passionate and talented I’ve met. They have a desire to innovate and provide consumers with a genuine alternative choice within the ticketing industry.

“This business was started with a desire to find a better way of doing things – that driver is still at the centre of Vibe’s mission. Luke Massie, the group’s founder and CEO is one of the major reasons I joined Vibe, his determination to revolutionise the industry is really inspiring. I’m looking forward to leading the team with strategies that will amplify their achievements and accelerate growth.”

Hannah Morris

Vibe has processed over £10m worth of tickets on its platform in the last 12 months alone through a purely organic growth model. Vibe’s popularity continues to grow as consumers are becoming more aware of the industry’s failings.

With artists such as Ed Sheeran and Paul McCartney recently caught-up in the ticketing furore and discussions being raised in Parliament, the future of ticketing is a hot topic. Vibe’s message is that resale is needed, but how it’s currently being delivered is wrong. Sir Richard Branson showed his support for Vibe’s founder after being runner-up in Virgin Media’s VOOM 2016 competition.

On Hannah’s appointment, Luke said: “The commercial role is one of the most crucial for Vibe in its current position – we need someone of the highest calibre, with the right experience to action our big plans and the right attitude to bring the best out of our talented team. Hannah ticks all of those boxes. Her expertise will accelerate our growth plans and allow me to manage the interest we’re receiving from investors which has peaked in recent weeks.”

 “We’re very aware that the gender gap in the tech space needs to be addressed and start-ups like Vibe should lead that charge. Hannah is keen to share her experience of a successful career in tech, to encourage girls into STEM subjects and to champion women in the tech sector. Hannah has already been visiting schools, spreading Vibe’s message and inspiring the next generation of women in Tech. Vibe will continue to support her in that.”

 Luke continued: “We have a real belief that if we are going to solve all of the issues in the secondary market, then we need to solve problems in the primary as well. Hannah is a great fit for Vibe with our big ambitions to change the marketplace for the benefit of fans.

“Hannah’s appointment is one of a number of significant decisions we’ve made in recent months as we respond to unprecedented interest in Vibe’s overall vision. We expect to announce more important news in the coming weeks.”

The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is very pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Brundle as its new Chairman. Brundle was approved unanimously at STAR’s recent AGM and takes over from Adrian Sanders who has retired after two and a half years in the role.

As Managing Director of the ticket agency Edwards and Edwards, Richard Brundle was part of the original team that created STAR in the mid-1990s and was a STAR council member from 1997–2001. He was a board member of INTIX (International Ticketing association) 1997-2000 and he, along with colleagues, managed the INTIX offshoot ETT (Europe Talks Tickets) from 2003 to 2009.

Richard is a qualified accountant who has specialised in the theatre, entertainment, and hospitality industries, and who has a particular knowledge and passion for ticketing. He has held numerous senior and board level positions in the commercial theatre and entertainment industries for 30 years.

Through his consultancy, RCNA Partnership, Richard has supported well-known clients such as the Society of London Theatres’ (SOLT), where he initiated and ran the first four of their Get Into London Theatre campaigns; Ambassador Theatre Group, the largest European theatre group; Fiery Angel, producers of West End and touring hits; The Art of the Brick temporary art exhibition; and many others.

He has spoken at conferences and seminars on entertainment issues extensively in the UK, the US and Europe and is a board member of London Welsh Amateur Rugby Club.

Speaking to STAR’s members at the AGM, Brundle said, “Many splinter groups have come into existence to put their own version of what ticketing should look like in 2018. Some have their own agendas to promote and validate their own business model, others seem to be on a crusade and we have still more groups trying to bring order in a commercial world which has many different levels of complexity to it.

“STAR needs to unify where it can, lead the ticketing charter, and to make a difference in how people choose to buy their tickets. “STAR ‘s role must be to help to ensure that the public are well informed and clear before they purchase a ticket. The public need to know that whoever they buy their ticket from is it a legal transaction or not, and where to turn to if something goes wrong.”

One of Richard’s immediate aims is for the ticketing and wider entertainment industry to meet the challenges set out in Attitude is Everything’s recent State of Access Report. He said, “We need to bring together as many parties as possible to make tickets available to all, including those with access issues. Great strides have started on that and one of my goals is bring an industry wide standard in this area.”

STAR members include all the biggest names in entertainment ticketing and the organisation is committed to high standards of service and information for ticket buyers.

Jonathan Brown, Chief Executive of STAR said, “It’s great to have Richard on board again. He knows the ticketing industry inside-out and, as a founder of STAR, he has great clarity and vision about strengthening and extending STAR’s role in safeguarding the interests of the ticket-buying public and the industry its members serve. He has tremendous support from the membership and I know that the STAR Council are looking forward very much to working under Richard’s leadership

Queue-it’s Virtual Waiting Room Surpasses 3 Billion End-Users

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – July 11, 2018 —- Danish technology provider Queue-it announces a historic milestone: over 3 billion end-users have passed through the company’s virtual waiting room platform.

That means 3 billion concertgoers, streetwear enthusiasts, university applicants, and taxpayers have gone through one of the online queues set up by Queue-it’s customers in the ticketing, ecommerce, education, and public sectors.

In 2010, co-foundersNiels Henrik Sodemann, Camilla Ley Valentin and Martin Pronk saw a gap in the increasingly-digital world. All websites and apps have traffic thresholds. But unlike in the physical world, there was no online equivalent to forming an orderly line. So, the three co-founded Queue-it, a virtual waiting room platform that prevents website or app downtime due to traffic peaks.

“This milestone shows how far we’ve come as a company. Eight years and 3 billion users later, here we are. We’re really thrilled with such growth,” says Co-founder and CEO Niels Henrik Sodemann. “We’re very proud of the value Queue-it has provided to our customers, and the fairness and transparency our virtual waiting room has brought to the end-user experience overall,” he adds.

With unresponsive websites, some end-users haphazardly get through to lagging websites or apps, while others don’t.

Queue-it’s virtual waiting room, on the other hand, offloads excess end-users to a customizable queue page, and returns them in a first-come, first-served order. End-users can see their place in line, estimated wait time, and any messages from the website or app administrators. The transparent first-in, first-out system is the most equitable way to process high-traffic events.

Queue-it’s solution also ensures the humanity of queuing by banishing the bots. “It should be people, not bots, who get the coveted concert tickets or the stylish new sneakers” says Co-founder and CCO Camilla Ley Valentin. By deploying Queue-it’s built-in fraud protection, Dutch streetwear retailer Patta was able to flag 80% of those in line as malicious bots.

“With busy Black Friday ecommerce sales just around the corner, we’re already gearing up for our four-billionth end-user, which we expect to surpass this year as well.” says Ley Valentin.