DESERT DOINGS: Oak View Group founders Irving Azoff and Tim Leiweke, the company’s chairman and CEO, stand outside Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. (Getty Images)
Confab will touch on every topic venue professionals grapple with today
An opening reception at the year-old Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert will be a featured event at the end of the first day of VenuesNow Conference, which gets underway Wednesday morning at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa.
The arena is home to the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds and has hosted dozens of top-flight acts since it opened with a Dave Chappelle show last December. A host of panel discussions will tackle topics from sustainability to the current threat landscape.
There’s still time to register. for this year’s conference. with a number of nearby hotels from which to choose.
The panel discussions, ranging from topics that include assessing the threat environment, ticketing, sustainability, the international business climate for live entertainment and much more over the two-day event,.
The conference’s “Bigger Than The Drop” casino entertainment discussion, taking place Sept. 28, will be moderated by casino talent buying veteran Billy Brill and also includes Deana Baker, senior entertainment manager at Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma; Wasserman Music’s Natalka Dudynsk, Agua Caliente Casino (Palm Springs) senior director of entertainment Monica Reeves and UTA’s Darius Sabet.
The conference won’t waste any time wading into one of the thorniest issues in live events when the two-day event convenes Sept. 27 in Greater Palm Springs. The “Venue’s Role in Fair and Equitable Ticketing Solutions,” the first panel discussion of the conference, takes on “fairness and challenges around making sure fans have first crack at hot tickets prior to their sale on the secondary market.” Panelists Scott Aller Sr., director, NBA, NHL & Arenas, Ticketmaster; Michele Bernstein, founder, Michi B. Inc.; Alex Maxwell, vice president, touring, Live Nation; Josephine Vaccarello executive vice president, live, Madison Square Garden Entertainment; and Jed Weitzman, head of music, Logitix, will examine how venues can help put tickets in the hands of fans, not profiteers.
The first day keynote speaker is Kathy Carter, recently named CEO of LA28 as the City of Angels prepares to host the Summer Olympics in 2028.
See a list of this year’s conference speakers here.
