Concierge Live lets companies better manage their tickets and suites

Concierge Live, a new Web-based software product and consulting and management service, helps businesses track, distribute and ultimately better utilize the event tickets and suites companies use for client entertainment and employee reward programs.

Launched last month, the site offers companies the opportunity to take an in depth look at who's using the tickets, which games, concerts or shows are the most – or least – popular, what's the return on investment (ROI) for the tickets or suites, and how should resources be allocated for them.

The system uses an intuitive, graphical interface that can display the location of the seats being used on a stadium map, and charts and graphs to visually demonstrate the ROI. For example, if a company owns a suite or several tickets at stadium, once the tickets and recipients are entered into the system, each seat is then tracked for when it was used and by whom, right up to the minute.

"Over the past year, 'hospitality' has become a bit of a toxic term for many companies," Tren Hopkins, a former Bank of America (BoA) executive who is now a principal with Concierge Live, told TicketNews. Hopkins created a prototype program at BoA that managed the bank's event ticketing inventory. "There's a demand for accountability and measureable results as it relates to these tickets, and what our system is all about is data. It helps with justification for what assets these companies are buying."

While Hopkins and fellow company principal Ben Johnson said large companies might benefit the most because they often buy the most tickets, the two are quick to add that any size company can use the system, and Concierge Live will tailor it to the specific needs and size of the company. The product's pricing model is based on the number of users and other factors.

"We're able to consolidate a company's tickets and calculate the ROI, which allows companies to see who they entertained with the tickets, which tickets were wasted, etc. We help companies get the most out of their tickets. And, it's Web-based, so employees can log in and request tickets, too," Johnson said.

Also on board at Concierge Live is Brian Lafemina, a former senior vice president at Madison Square Garden in New York, who said he used to talk about a need for this type of system when he was handling sales and marketing for the Knicks and Rangers.

"Executives have a hard time coming up with an ROI figure when it comes to these tickets, so it becomes easy to take it out of the budget because was so tough to quantify the value," Lafemina said. "These assets are a legitimate business tool, and companies need to know just how good these assets are, and whether they're being under-utilized."