Tech Advances Make Event Planning Easier

Written by: Terry Charles, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, PMI Entertainment Group

The advance of technology is alive and growing in the entertainment industry. Some of it is obvious to guests of the Resch Center/Resch Expo and the Meyer Theatre, but much of it is behind the scenes on a laptop or tablet.

Our guests have been using mobile tickets that get scanned as they enter our venues for years. While purchasing, you can now almost always pick your seat from the comfort of your home or wherever you are with your smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

Technology continues to grow for POS systems (point-of-sale). You’re noticing more and more venues are going cashless for concession items. Many are offering more grab and go stands. The grab and go concession stands require less staff to manage and offer pretty much all of the payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the major credit cards.

When concerts or family events come to the Resch Center, they often have a wide array of merchandise to sell to fans. We use a software program called At Venue that digitally keeps track of the inventory as we are selling it for a tour. We can look in real time to know a certain size for a t-shirt/product is running low at the first floor merch stand and be able to bring down additional inventory from the second floor. The software also allows us to get photos and sizes of the merch from a tour in advance.

Internally, we use a key software program called Ungerboeck. We use it for an event booking calendar, event management, floor planning, event registration, and inventory. We also use the system to reserve event dates for every bookable space inside all of our venues. Vendors can use it to reserve tables and chairs for their exhibit and then pay for it on the spot, too! As equipment gets rented out, Ungerboeck keeps track of the inventory and rents only what is available.

While technology continues to advance in our industry, there is still no magic robot to set up the Resch Center for a concert or a hockey game. No push buttons or programs to get the Resch Expo ready for a large consumer expo. Manual labor is still required to set a stage, drop a curtain, or place a table or chair. Emerging technology, however, continues to help the process from booking to set-up.

PMI Entertainment Group manages the Resch Center, Resch Expo, Meyer Theatre, and owns the Green Bay Gamblers and Ticket Star.