“According to Moore’s law, technology doubles every 18 months,” explained Mark Tacchi, President & CEO of Vendini, a San Franciso-based technology and ticketing company, in his blog-post about ticketing solutions that operate “on the clouds.” This off-site architecture allows for a user-friendly, all-in-one system whose infrastructure — servers, storage, and networking — is remote from the user.
In developing this previously underutilized design, Vendini revolutionized the business — with easier manageability and less maintenance they make rapid upgrades as frequently as they want, at minimal cost to their customers.
“We probably haven’t even seen some the new cloud-based technologies we’ll be using by the end of 2012,” wrote Tacchi. “The speed and flexibility that cloud-based systems offer will continue to significantly change the ticketing industry.”
Vendini started in 2001 on a card table with only an idea, and as of 2011 they maintained their “number one ranking as the fastest growing company [in the industry],” according to a Marketwire article from January, 2012.
In an interview with TicketNews, Mark Guarnera, the company’s second-in-command, widely credited Vendini’s success to its user driven approach and integrated system. “We know the technology,” he reflected. “People like it easy. Small theatres talk to each other — it’s grown by word of mouth.”
Their achievement is equally due to innovative business endeavors. 2011 illustrated Vendini’s foresight about the influence of mobile technology, something they project to be a substantial component in the future of ticketing. “Based on the growth mobile Vendini has seen in the past year, by 2015 fifty percent of ticket sales will be mobile,” wrote Tacchi, regarding the movement toward mobile technology. Combining the spontaneity of virtual box offices, the convenience of paperless tickets, mobile scanning solutions, and a drive for environmental sustainability, Vendini’s mobile initiative is leading the industry.
So what’s next?
“Vendini is a ticketing system with a heart!” the company boasted in a recent e-mail to TicketNews. A new and popular aspect of Vendini’s system is that they “can sell tickets and take donations all within the same system database.” Their fundraising tools allow for campaigns to be created quickly and managed fluidly, all from a single place. Including donation processing, tracking and reporting, funds management, redemption, matching, and automated pledging capabilities, this system is has been especially well received by the non-profits and universities that comprise a substantial portion of Vendini’s 1500-venue customer base.
When asked what inspired this initiative, Guarnera responded that Vendini’s community awareness is a deliberate effort. Seeing a need for a fundraising component, their team realized, “Don’t we have this information already?! Understanding that because of the architecture we have easy access [to it],” he noted, it was simply a matter of assembling a customer friendly package, which was developed quickly.
“Giving back to the arts community has always been part of our vision,” Guarnera asserted, an idea elaborated on in the press release for “Vendini Loves the Arts” — the company’s corporate giving program. “The arts are critical to developing strong, vibrant communities. The arts contribute more than just beauty to our world. They develop creative future employees, and improve children’s performance in school.” A community theatre was also quoted, saying that Vendini has provided support beyond charitable donations. “Vendini has helped us increase our revenue by providing an innovative and comprehensive system for ticketing and fundraising.”
One can hope that Vendini’s efforts will inspire others in the industry to take suit.
