Dave Wakeman's The Business of Fun Podcast
When you work in entertainment, you are in the business of fun. This podcast will focus on the challenges and opportunities associated with helping your customers create memories and special moments. We will talk about sports, theatre, performing arts, and other forms of entertainment, highlighting the best ideas in marketing live experiences, creating long-term customers, and growing revenues.
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 48 minutes
- Episodes
- 227
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
Angela Meleca wants us to look at "Return on Arts"
My guest today is Angela Meleca.
What a great conversation.
We got into a really interesting conversation about:
- Arts' business models
- Funding
- Arts as a business
- The public value of the arts
- Framin…
Stephen Glicken updates us on Project Admission
My guest today is Stephen Glicken from Project Admission.
You have heard from Stephen before, but I wanted to have a chat about what Project Admission has been working on...
Including new areas of f…
A Secutix super episode about technology, customer experience, and tickets...
I have two guests today: David Hornby and Michael McDermott.
David is the Managing Director Northern Europe, UK, and Ireland for SecuTix and Michale McDermott is the General Manager of the Americas …
Brian Hess explains "sports washing" to me and you!
Brian Hess is back!
We are talking sports washing.
I thought I had a better grasp on the subject than I did. But Brian discusses the many ways that sports washing presents a challenge to sports fan…
Sabrina Carrazzo is a fantastic teacher, PR person, and leader!
I loved this conversation because I totally got Sabrina Carrazzo worked up about teaching, women's sports, and helping international soccer teams enter the US market.
Sabrina and Asli Pelit teach a …
Jason Velez sells baseball in NYC and isn't competing head to head with any of the bigger teams...
My guest today is Jason Velez from the Staten Island Ferry Hawks.
I've known Jason for a long time. So long that he has one of the OG Dave business cards.
So, it was great to catch up with Jason.
…
Lauren Teague talks about 'second fan fashion'
Lauren Teague returns!
Lauren is the CEO of FanWgn. She has created an idea that is called "Second Fan Fashion" and it is very cool.
FanWgn ties together a few of Lauren's favorite things:
- Sports
- …
Chris Pantani teaches us that brand activations still matter
My guest today is Chris Pantani.
Chris is the GM of the NY Mavericks of the Professional Bull Riders.
We talk about bull riding and why there is now a professional bull riding team representing New…
Let's celebrate the 200th episode of 'The Business of Fun'
Today is the 200th episode of 'The Business of Fun' podcast!
You didn't think I would not have something special prepared, did you?
I will share some lessons learned and some things I'm thinking abo…
Solene Jimenez teaches us about the culture of sales in the arts...
My guest today is Solene Jimenez.
She is Head of International Development for arenametrix. www.arenametrix.com
This is Solene's first podcast appearance and we had a good time.
Of course, she didn'…
Alasdair Crawley says sports business is at a crossroads...
I have a good conversation for you today with Alasdair Crawley from FanBase.
We had a great time talking about sports business including:
- Why sports business is at a crossroads.
- The challenge of ge…
Dr. Bijoy John Teaches Us About Our Superpower: SLEEP!
I haven't always been a champion sleeper.
Like a lot of my friends, I haven't always had a regular bedtime due to work, school, social life, whatever.
In college, at the University of Alabama, I co…
Brian Hess doesn't put much validity in the numbers of the proposed new Northern VA arena.
Today's episode is personal because it is about the proposed arena in Northern VA.
My guest is Brian Hess from I Street Advisors.
Like me, Brian lives in the area.
We discuss the arena at length:
- …
Jeffrey Shaw teaches me how selling eggs explains positioning...
Jeffrey Shaw, author of The Self-Employed Life, teaches me some great lessons about positioning, strategy, marketing, branding, and sales.
Listen and find out how selling eggs explains all of this.
…
I teach you how to plan for 2024
This is a me episode with a recording of my 'First Wednesday with Dave' session from December where we talk about planning for 2024.
I'm hosting a FREE strategy webinar on 31 January 2024 at 11 AM E…
What Do Brokers Really Want to See When a Ticket Goes On Sale?
"What do scalpers really like to see when a ticket goes on-sale?"
That question popped up in my inbox about a week ago. It got me thinking about the questions that people ask me when they want to kno…
Have You Ever Worried That Your Website or Experience Isn't Accessible Enough?
My guest today, Caspian Turner, helps me answer that question and shows us how you can take some easy steps to solve the problem for yourself.
I want you to be more a part of 'The Business of Fun'.
…
The TiqAssist guys teach us about how understanding fans' pain can lead to opportunity!
I've got the TiqAssist guys on today.
Chris Babu and Jamie Zimmerman.
We got into a bunch of stuff like:
- How feeling pain as STHs led them to start TiqAssist.
- Jumping careers to…
Drew McManus says "one size fits none" is a bad idea...
My guest today is Drew McManus from UpStage CRM: www.upstagecrm.io
We had a great time catching up in Seattle at INTIX and now we've gone and done a podcast!
We hit on a lot of topics like what led…
Brain Bump will make you smarter...
I have Mark Herschberg back today to talk about his new app, Brain Bump.
This is a really cool tool that lets you bring learning with you wherever you are. I've been taking part in the launch and it…