is always key. No one wants to sit in a stadium with several thousand other people and not be able to post a selfie of them at the game.” This social sharing creates powerful marketing opportunities that venues can leverage. “We also want them to share it because their influence circle is what’s so powerful to connect to the next generation,” he explains. Technology also offers solutions to practical problems, like managing concessions during brief intermissions. “There’s also limited space. A lot of performing arts centers have history with them, and they’re not that large,” Mitchell notes. “How can you move people through those lines when you have a 15, 20-minute intermission? There’s an opportunity there to get people to spend money, but how do you do that in a way that you get them through quickly, so they don’t get fed up?” The financial equation remains challenging for a gifted child, which is what the character is in that production,” Mitchell shares. These supplementary experiences can transform a single performance into a memorable event that resonates beyond the final curtain.“I think we have to think differently,” Mitchell suggests. “We have to think in the minds of who we’re trying to attract, but I think there are ways to do that and be inventive about it.” TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION IN MODERN VENUES The digital transformation reshaping our world hasn’t bypassed performance venues. Mitchell points to findings from the stadium connectivity report that apply across the venue spectrum. “When I read the report, it was for stadiums. I think it applies to all venues,” Mitchell says.“We’re looking at how consumers are really engaging when they’re inside our spaces, and I think wireless connectivity 97 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 03 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VENUE MANAGERS (IAVM)
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