Coming less than two weeks away on June 11, the FTC Online Ticket Sales Workshop – “That’s the Ticket” – will feature three panel discussions and a keynote, according to the schedule the organization released this week detailing the day’s discussions. A who’s who of industry professionals and economic experts are on the docket for the event, which kicks off with welcoming remarks from FTC Commissioner Rebecca K. Slaughter at 9:30 a.m.
The FTC online ticket sales workshop is free and open to the public, and will take place at the Constitution Center, located at 400 Seventh St. SW in Washington D.C. It will also be webcast on the FTC website and live tweeted (using #FTCticket) according to the press release announcing the schedule.
The day-long workshop will feature four panel discussions. The morning sessions will focus on ticket bots and the BOTS Act and on consumer protection issues around ticket availability. The afternoon sessions will consider the adequacy of ticket price and fee disclosures and other ticketing practices that can cause consumer confusion.
Following Slaughter’s opening remarks, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Economics Professor Eric Budish will provide a keynote address, expected to begin at or around 9:45 a.m. The first panel will then focus on Bots and the BOTS Act, with Mamie Kresses, an attorney in the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices moderating. Participants in the panel are Gary Adler of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, Rami Essaid of Distil Networks, David Marcus of Ticketmaster, Jeff Poirier of StubHub, Joe Ridout of Consumer Action, and Noah Stein of the New York Attorney General’s Office.
After a short break, the second panel, “Other Consumer Protection Issues around Ticket Availability” is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and will also be moderated by Kresses as well as Budish. Adler, Marcus, Poirier, Ridout and Stein will also sit on this second panel, joined by Russell D’Souza of SeatGeek and Bob Roux of Live Nation Entertainment.
The third panel, which is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. after a break for lunch, is titled “The Adequacy of Ticket Price and Fee Disclosures.”it will be moderated by Michael Ostheimer, Attorney in the Division of Advertising Practices of the FTC. D’Souza is the lone holdover on this panel from the morning. He will be joined by Laura Brett of the Better Business Bureau, Sarra Fisher Ellison of the Economics Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Anna Laitin of Consumer Reports, John Lawrence of StubHub, Tamara Mendelsohn of Eventbrite, and Patti-Anne Tarlton of Ticketmaster.
Wrapping up the panels on the day is a discussion titled “Consumer Confusion: What and From Whom and I Buying? – moderated by Devon W. Domond, also of the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices. Joining the discussion are TicketNetwork CEO Don Vaccaro, joh Breyault of National Consumers League, Gilbert Hoover of The Shubert Organization, Katy McCabe of Google, Michael Marion of the International Association of Venue Managers, Michael Newquist of Ultimate Fighting Championship, Carl Szabo of NetChoice, and Parul Shah of the United Kingdom’s Competition & Markets Authority. That is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.
At 4 p.m., the FTC Online Ticket Sales Workshop will close with remarks from Mary K. Engle, Associate Director of the Division of Advertising Practices, FTC.
The full schedule and speaker slate is below, and also available as a downloadable PDF at the FTC’s website.
Further reading: Why Everyone in Tickets Needs to be at the FTC Online Ticket Sales Workshop
That’s the Ticket – An FTC Workshop about Online Ticket Sales
June 11, 2019, Washington D.C.
9:30 a.m. – Welcoming Remarks
Rebecca K. Slaughter
Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission
9:45 a.m. – Keynote Speaker
Eric Budish
Professor of Economics, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
10:15 a.m. – Panel 1-A: Bots and the BOTS Act
Gary Adler
Executive Director and Counsel, National Association of Ticket Brokers
Rami Essaid
Co-Founder, Chief Product Officer, Distil Networks
David Marcus
Executive Vice President, Head of Ticketmaster Music, Ticketmaster
Jeff Poirier
General Manager of Music, Theatre & Performing Arts, StubHub
Joe Ridout
Manager of Consumer Services, Consumer Action
Noah Stein
Assistant Attorney General, Bureau of Internet & Technology, New York Attorney General’s Office
Moderator:
Mamie Kresses
Attorney, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
11:15 a.m. – Break
11:30 a.m. – Panel 1-B: Other Consumer Protection Issues Around Ticket Availability
Gary Adler
Executive Director and Counsel, National Association of Ticket Brokers
Russell D’Souza
Co-Founder, SeatGeek
David Marcus
Executive Vice President, Head of Ticketmaster Music, Ticketmaster
Jeff Poirier
General Manager of Music, Theatre & Performing Arts, StubHub
Joe Ridout
Manager of Consumer Services, Consumer Action
Bob Roux
President of United States Concerts, Live Nation Entertainment
Noah Stein
Assistant Attorney General, Bureau of Internet & Technology, New York Attorney General’s Office
Moderators:
Mamie Kresses
Attorney, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
Eric Budish
Professor of Economics, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
12:30 p.m. – Lunch Break
1:45 p.m. – Panel 2: The Adequacy of Ticket Price and Fee Disclosures
Laura Brett
Director, National Advertising Division of Better Business Bureau National Programs
Russell D’Souza
Co-Founder, SeatGeek
Sara Fisher Ellison
Senior Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Economics Department
Anna Laitin
Director of Financial Policy, Consumer Reports
John Lawrence
Regulatory and Compliance Counsel, StubHub
Tamara Mendelsohn
Vice President and General Manager of Consumer, Eventbrite
Patti-Anne Tarlton
Executive Vice President of Venues and Promoters, Ticketmaster
Moderator:
Michael Ostheimer
Attorney, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
2:45 p.m. – Break
3:00 p.m. – Panel 3: Consumer Confusion: What and From Whom Am I Buying?
John Breyault
Vice President for Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud, National Consumers League
Gilbert Hoover
Vice President and General Counsel, The Shubert Organization
Katy McCabe
Senior Policy Advisor, Global Product Policy Team, Google
Michael Marion
Chairman, International Association of Venue Managers
Michael Newquist
Vice President of Event Marketing & Ticketing, Ultimate Fighting Championship
Carl Szabo
Vice President and General Counsel, NetChoice
Parul Shah
Assistant Director, United Kingdom’s Competition & Markets Authority
Don Vaccaro
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, TicketNetwork
Moderator:
Devin W. Domond
Attorney, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
4:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks
Mary K. Engle
Associate Director, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission