Ticketing Australia Conference 2023

Michele is the Director of Business Data at AudienceView and has over 30 years of experience working for some of the largest Arts and Entertainment companies across the globe. She is passionate about building innovative data solutions that identify opportunities and achieve business objectives.

Her career began in finance, but she soon found herself in box office, where she was catapulted from manual plans to computerisation. This was where she thrived and moved into report writing and eventually database design and all things data.

In her role at AudienceView she manages a team of Data Engineers, Data Scientists and a Business Analyst, transforming multiple ticketing systems data, as well as financial and CRM systems that service all areas of the business.

Maureen has over four decades of experience encompassing not-for-profit, commercial arts, Broadway, regional ticketing, performing arts and colleges. Her experience spans the ticket office, call centers, season tickets, group sales, marketing, fundraising, strategic planning, and executive leadership.

Prior to joining INTIX Maureen had a rich career including VP of Arts & Entertainment at AudienceView, Senior Business Consultant at Paciolan and spent 23 years with The Denver Center for the Performing Arts as Director of Ticketing Services.

Maureen and is a frequent speaker at Industry conferences, seminars, and workshops.

She is the recipient of several high-profile awards from VenuesNow, INTIX, FutureTix, and Northeastern Junior College. 

Dan Armstrong serves as the EVP of Distributed Commerce for Ticketmaster/LiveNation, driving a mission to connect fans with off-platform ticketing in a wide variety of verticals and industries, including growing efforts to connect to the travel distribution ecosystem.

Since joining in 2015, he oversees distribution partnerships, product, and operations with companies ranging from TikTok to Spotify, from Google to Meta, as well as travel OTAs and channel managers, achieving the goals of venue and promoter clients to to make it easier for fans to buy tickets – no matter where they are.

Prior to Ticketmaster, Dan spent 8 years at the retail e-commerce engine of Connexity/Shopzilla, leading a number of strategic initiatives from syndication to product development. In a past life, Dan spent years in the Hollywood film industry as both a creative consultant and screenwriter.  

Dan received B.A.’s in both Film and English from University of Wisconsin-Madison. After more than twenty years in Los Angeles, he now calls London home with his wife and two children. 

Pauline Bagnall is a dedicated professional with a long history of service at the Frankston Arts Centre, where she began her journey in 2001 as a part-time ticketing officer.

Through years of hard work, passion, and a commitment to the arts, she has steadily climbed the ranks and now proudly serves as the Box Office Coordinator.

Pauline’s was instrumental in the successful implementation of two ticketing software systems during her tenure. Her team’s attention to detail and tireless dedication ensured that the transition to these new systems was seamless and beneficial to both the organization and its patrons.

With a wealth of experience and expertise, Pauline Bagnall currently leads a dynamic team of 10 staff members within the box office. Her leadership style is marked by mentorship, teamwork, and a commitment to delivering outstanding service to all those who pass through the Frankston Arts Centre’s doors.

Beyond her daily responsibilities, Pauline is also an industry enthusiast. She has been an active participant in VAPAC’s Bomnet and has attended various ticketing conferences over the years, staying at the forefront of industry trends and best practices. Her involvement in these events has kept the Frankston Arts Centre at the cutting edge of ticketing services.

Alissa joined Cirque du Soleil in 2021 as part of the relaunch of the organization’s Touring Shows Division.  Over the last 2 years, the Sales Team has grown to 14 and are focused on growing ticket sales and revenue through groups, corporate events and distribution partners.  

The Touring Shows Division will support 11 different productions traveling the world in 2023 and will visit just over 100 cities.

Prior to joining Cirque du Soleil, Alissa spent 10 years working with the top live entertainment partners at Travelzoo and was also instrumental in the launch of show ticket sales for EBG, the largest corporate benefits platform in the US. Alissa is a proud mom of two and is based in Miami, Florida. 

Nic Boling is the first Vice President of IT & Security at Tessitura. He was previously Chief Technology Officer at Sydney Opera House, where he led the teams responsible for networked systems, application support, web development, Tessitura, cyber security, and broadcast engineering. He was Sydney Opera House’s senior responsible officer for cyber security, records management, and freedom of information. He also managed the organization’s privacy function.

During more than a decade at Sydney Opera House, Nic managed a production services department, implemented state-of-the-art IPTV, wireless intercom, and two-way radio systems, and led the technical delivery for a digital transformation that rebuilt the website on an enterprise content management system and email marketing platform integrated with Tessitura. Nic holds a Bachelor of Security Analysis, a Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security, and a double Masters in Policing, Intelligence & Counter-Terrorism and International Security Studies.

From booking bands in high school to his role as Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Touring– Australia’s biggest independent music company – music and audiences have been part of Dion Brant’s whole life.

Bringing the experience of three decades in commercial radio, ticketing and sports and entertainment, Dion worked with the late Michael Gudinski to drive the day-to-day operations, strategy and future direction of Mushroom live touring brands, including Frontier Touring, Chugg Entertainment, A Day on the Green, and Illusive Presents.

Rebecca is an Executive Director of The Lab Insight & Strategy based in Melbourne. She has over 12 years consulting experience, sits on The Lab’s National Executive Leadership Team, and leads The Lab’s Arts, Entertainment, and Leisure client portfolio in Melbourne.

Rebecca’s core specialism is in brand development and audience growth strategy, in addition to cultural insights. Rebecca also serves as Head of the Australia Project, The Lab’s centrepiece of cultural insight work which has a team of ten consultants actively monitoring & mapping cultural trajectories within Australia to unlock growth opportunities for clients.

Joe Calnan is Partnership Director – Live Entertainment Ticketing at Cover Genius, the insurtech for embedded insurance that protects the global customers of the world’s largest digital companies including Amazon, Booking Holdings, eBay and Ryanair. 

Cover Genius recently expanded its reach in the Live Entertainment Ticketing market by acquiring Booking Protect, the leading specialist in embedded ticket protection for ticket sellers, platforms and live event companies such as Moshtix, Oztix, Seetickets, Seat Geek, Tessitura and Secutix. 

In his role, Joe is responsible for leading and executing Live Entertainment Ticketing partnerships across key regions globally. Prior to Cover Genius, Joe held leadership positions at AXS, a global industry leader in ticketing and data solutions, spearheading partnerships and strategy. He holds a Bachelors in Economics and Masters in Finance. 

Lizzie Coles is the co-founder of TicketHive, which provides a range of ticketing support and consultancy services from the purely administrative build and on sale setup, to ongoing ticketing management and strategy, optimisation of internal processes, training, and much more.

Over the past 15 years, Lizzie has had extensive experience overseeing ticketing operations for live entertainment events, managing theatrical venues and greenfield sites, and working as an Executive Producer on a diverse portfolio of attractions across London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Alex Craig (They/Them) is a Queer, blind dancer, performance maker and access consultant living and working on Gadigal land. Their work centres inclusivity, and aims to foster opportunities for connection, creative participation, and community building.

Alex has worked with Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Inner West Council, PACT, Critical Path, Performance Space and Taronga Zoo.

Emily Dash is an emerging writer, actor, producer, and speaker who works across theatre and screen.

Her acclaimed and wide ranging work emphasises social justice issues, community engagement, intersectionality, and expanding perceptions of disability.

The 17-day LGBTQIA+ Sydney WorldPride festival was the biggest global event Sydney had hosted in over a decade. Deloitte Access Economics found the festival attracted over 300,000 unique spectators, with over 1 million in total festival audience. Nearly 70,000 people visited Sydney specifically for the festival, with the NSW Government reporting the festival delivered a $235.4m visitor induced spend.

Scott has been working in marketing communications for over 15 years across the major event, government and not for profit sectors.

Starting his career as a publicist at BridgesPR in Melbourne, Scott worked on major musicals including The Lion King, Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical and King Kong. He also spent four years at Dainty Group learning the financing side of the live entertainment industry.

In Sydney, Scott worked for Opera Australia and Children’s Cancer Institute before joining Screen Australia, where he led the marcomms output for the Federal Government agency. Scott was then Head of Communications at Global Creatures, before joining Sydney WorldPride 2023 as Marketing Director.

Katie is the Group Account Director at The IMPACT Agency in Sydney. She has over 11 years communications experience, including seven years with IMPACT during which she has led or supported industry award winning campaigns.

Katie’s passion and expertise lies in developing and executing integrated strategies that utilise storytelling to connect with audiences.

Julia has over 25 years’ experience in leadership roles in the corporate, community and government sectors, including ten years working in senior roles for a range of influential not for profit organisations.

With experience in marketing, sales, fundraising and project management and a record of developing valuable relationships through stakeholder engagement, Julia is passionate about building collaborative support to fund research and mental health training programs for the Australian Entertainment Industry.

In her role as Chief Executive, Julia is determined to build awareness of Entertainment Assist and to work with the Board to ensure the organisation makes a positive contribution to the mental health and wellbeing of members of the Australian entertainment community.

Ian English has worked across the local and global ticketing markets for over 30 years and has engaged with small and large operations in a lot of different locations. This has provided a unique expanse of experience and knowledge while experiencing some the best (and sometimes the worst) of the day to day ticketing operations.

Since 2018, Ian has worked with Danish company Queue-it, amongst others, to assist their APAC growth, establishing a local technical team and opening a Sydney office. Along with this, other consulting work has been undertaken with site and system reviews, pan Asia projects and more.

Working with Queue-it has shown how it’s offering provides a service that often isn’t thought of until it is absolutely essential to use it, “that” major/high demand on-sale. Hear about a few of the ways that Queue-it might assist you to deal with those sometimes challenging on sale demands. 

Nick Falzon has been with Disney Theatrical Group since 2007, was most recently promoted to Vice President, Sales and Analytics in 2017 and reports to Angelo Desimini, Vice President, Marketing, Education, Publicity and Sales. 

Nick leads a team of seventeen Broadway Sales & Analytics professionals focused on digital marketing, tourism cultivation, group sales, yield management, dynamic pricing, ticketing operations and consumer relationship management. In addition, he provides oversight for the Box Office of Disney’s flagship Broadway theater – the New Amsterdam. Over the past decade-plus, this team has overseen THE LION KING’s pricing and sales strategy, which has been featured in the New York Times (“Ticket Pricing Puts THE LION KING Atop Broadway’s Circle of Life” – 3/17/14), helping it become the highest grossing global entertainment property ever. Other team successes include the launch of the Broadway musical FROZEN, the record-breaking productions of ALADDIN at the New Amsterdam Theatre and NEWSIES at the Nederlander Theatre and multiple North American touring productions as well as influencing countless international productions worldwide from Australia to Japan to Mexico. 

Nick joined Disney Theatrical Group in March 2007 as Manager, Sales & Ticketing and was promoted in June 2011 to Senior Manager and in December 2012 to Director. While at DTG, Nick has worked on other Broadway productions including BEAUTY & THE BEAST, TARZAN, MARY POPPINS and THE LITTLE MERMAID. 

Prior to his time at Disney, Nick worked for Plum Benefits – a corporate benefits program focused on entertainment events – as well as Broadway Across America, where he managed the operations for their New York Group Sales department. Currently, Nick also serves on the faculty of Columbia University’s School of the Arts. 

Nick earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Theory & Composition from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development and is a graduate of The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. Nick also holds a Certificate in Hotel Revenue Management from Cornell’s School of Hospitality Administration. He, his wife Laura, sons Asher and Axson and daughter Nora live in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

Andrew Guy is the Tourism and Venues Marketing Specialist at the Art Gallery of NSW. His responsibilities lie with for the development of international tourism products and packages, as well as international sales distribution through multiple tourism trade and stakeholder channels. 

Prior to this he worked for Opera Australia as the International Tourism Marketing Manager, responsible for developing and implementing the organisation’s post Covid-19 international tourism trade marketing strategy. Over the past two years he’s been in market to the US, UK, Germany, India, Korea, Japan and Singapore. 

Prior to this, his career has spanned across a variety of Sydney’s performing arts venues and companies including Sydney Opera House, City Recital Hall, Sydney Theatre Company and Theatre Royal. He has worked with different ticketing API programs including Rezdy and Ingresso. 

With a BBus in Tourism Management, he started work in the inbound tourism industry promoting Australian attractions, regions and destinations with Tourism Australia, Tourism Northern Territory and Destination Pacific Australia to both leisure and business travelers in the USA, Canada, UK, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. 

He was the Chair of Young ATEC from 2005 – 2008 and awarded the Young Australian Tourism Export Council Award for Excellence in 2007 and the Most Outstanding Contribution to Exports Award in 2008. 

Clayton is a well rounded events professional with experience in all facets of Major Events and Live Events. Clayton most recently worked as the Ticketing & Front of House Services Manager at Sydney Fringe Festival, NSW largest independent arts festival, and also seconded to Sydney WorldPride as a Ticketing Manager for the Pride Amplified program.

He now finds himself as the Events and Ticketing Manager at The Star Entertainment Group, leading the concert and live events business at The Star Sydney.

Clayton is also the recipient of the 2023 Ticketing Australia Pat Boggs OAM Scholarship

Glen Hosking is a Clinical Psychologist, academic and researcher currently working as Associate Professor of Psychology at La Trobe University.

Glen has over 20 years experience as a psychologist, much of this spent working with those in the performing arts industry. As a researcher, Glen’s research areas focus on performing arts psychology.

He is currently the lead researcher on projects investigating the mental health of music theatre performers, a project looking at the experience of professional orchestra musicians, and a project investigating body image in pre-professional dancers.

He is currently collaborating with Entertainment Assist on a number of projects for 2023 and beyond investigating the well being of the performing arts industry.

Gary joined Tennis Australia in March 2022 after 15 years in the aviation industry. He is responsible for ticketing sales & operations, oversees the AO Travel program and leads the premium experience sales team.

Since joining Tennis Australia, Gary has led the implementation of dynamic ticket pricing to drive accessibility to the Australian Open, increase patron attendance and optimise revenues. AO23 was the most successful AO to date, with a record attendance of more than 900k patrons.

Prior to joining Tennis Australia, Gary was with the Qantas Group. He held various roles across Pricing, Revenue Management & Forecasting, as well as developing the Hotels & Holidays ecommerce platforms.

John Jakovich leads Tessitura Network’s technology teams. Prior to joining Tessitura Network in November 2015, he had spent more than a decade as a senior technology leader working with some of the non-profit industry’s largest organizations and within the Tessitura Network ecosystem. He was the Vice President of Technology at SofTrek Corporation, a provider of non-profit CRM systems for philanthropic organizations and, before that, Chief Information Officer at Jacobson Consulting Applications (JCA), a firm that provides strategic and technology consulting to non-profit organizations.

John has over 20 years of experience in IT management and software development for enterprise systems, the majority of which he spent developing business intelligence solutions for the non-profit industry. He studied computer science at California State University Chico and San Marcos and started his engineering career in the dynamic southern California internet start-up market of the mid-nineties.  John worked at several successful start-ups in the e-commerce and artificial intelligence and eventually landed at Kintera, Inc. (later acquired by Blackbaud Inc.).

Caryl Jones (she/her) is Tessitura Development Manager at the Royal Albert Hall in London where she has worked for the last 22 years. Sitting in the IT department’s applications team Caryl works with the Hall’s Tessitura users to find and implement solutions for their business needs.

Prior to this role Caryl held roles in Box Office and Visitor Services at the Hall.

She currently sits on the Hall’s Staff Forum and Wellbeing Steering Group and in the past has sat on Tessitura’s Member Advisory Committee.

In a previous life, Caryl trained and worked as a Stage Manager.

Caryl is a trained Mental Health First Aider.

Melbourne born Suzanne has a longstanding love for live theatre and entertainment. Her career in main stage theatrical productions commenced with degrees in both economics and music leading to a start in the industry as a Sound Engineer with Arts Centre Melbourne and System Sound.

She spent several years working with GFO/Xroads and in 2017 she established JONES Theatrical Group to produce work in Australia and around the world. It is under this banner that Suzanne co-produced the Australian tours of the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Wizard of Oz, Chicago The Musical, Pippin, 9 to 5 The Musical, Madagascar, 2:22 A Ghost Story.

In 2023 JONES is co-producing the current tour of Chicago The Musical and is thrilled to be producing the brand new interactive magic show Metaverse of Magic. 

Sean Kelly is the Founder of Vatic. For over a decade he was the head of marketing at performing arts organizations large and small across the US.

During this time, he gained a deep understanding of live event pricing, and developed a new way of thinking about what we should be charging for a ticket.

Previous to his time in arts marketing, Sean worked for Starbucks Corporation as a product manager focused on creating future strategy. 

Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in the Creative and Live Performance industries in Australia.

Beginning her career in acting, writing, directing and stage production, Jennifer found herself in arts administration roles to pay the bills (as many of us do!) and went on to specialise in Ticketing, Customer Service, Client Services, CRM, Systems Administration, Front of House Experiences, Data Analysis, Event and Production Management.

A passionate arts advocate who has had a variety of roles across many organisations, venues, and festivals – including: QPAC; Sydney Theatre Company & Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre); Sydney Festival; Brisbane Festival; Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Cirque du Soleil (Aus Tours); Sydney Opera House; Brisbane Racing Club; Opera Qld; and Queensland Ballet.

Based in Brisbane, Jennifer has most recently joined the VIVATICKET team.

Bedelia (they/she) is a groovy disabled actor, dancer, singer, agitator and theatre maker. Bedelia frequently collaborates with their deaf, twin brother Jeremy, with their current work ‘Collision’ exploring the intersection of queerness, disability and deafness.

Most recently, Bedelia performed in her new work, COLLISION for Sydney WorldPride at PYT Fairfield, ANIMATE LOADING at Casula Powerhouse, and interned at Performance Space as a Createability intern. Currently, they are Access Coordinator at Performance Space for Liveworks Festival.

Bedelia has a keen interest in communal care, story sovereignty, reciprocity and advocacy in their arts practice. Bedelia lives and works on Wategoro and Wangal Land.

Kate is the Partner, Marketing & Operations at Anthem. She is a seasoned people leader and passionate problem solver, with 17 years’ experience across the performing arts and live entertainment sectors.

Having worked extensively as a producer, project manager, company manager and marketer, Kate has experienced all facets of the industry, affording her well-rounded capabilities in building influential campaigns to achieve market-leading industry outcomes.

Amy is the Managing Partner of Anthem based in Melbourne. She has over 20 years of international experience in the arts and entertainment industries having worked in London, New York and Australia.

She’s worked with cultural powerhouses including the National Theatre of Great Britain, The Sydney Opera House, The Australian Ballet and Arts Centre Melbourne, entertainment giants including Disney Theatrical, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Live Nation as well as an extensive list of West End and Broadway hits and subsidised cultural institutions.

Amy’s passion is audience building and behavioural economics and getting to the heart of WHY someone buys a ticket, loves a show or is a fan of a pop star.

As Patternmakers’ Manager, Research and Insights, Caitlin leads a team of analysts to deliver research and evaluation projects for arts and community organisations around Australia. She has managed projects for clients such as the Sydney Opera House, The Australian Ballet and ACMI, and works closely on the Audience Outlook Monitor, Australia’s major study of arts audiences.

Caitlin’s background is in arts management, with extensive experience in data analysis, ticketing, communications, audience development and fundraising. She is committed to accessibility and equity and brings a strong understanding from the frontline of how data can help strengthen the culture and community sectors.  

Amy Claire Mills is an emerging artist, curator and producer. Amy’s artistic practice delves into themes of advocacy, identity, and resistance, which are driven by her experiences as a disabled woman. By connecting to the role of both the artist and subject within her work, Amy explores disability culture and its social and political impacts. Her artworks serve as a provocative form of protest through distinctive, vibrant, and bold mediums.

Amy also works at Accessible Arts as the Arts Development Manager. Accessible Arts is the peak arts and disability organisation in New South Wales. We advance the rights of, and opportunities for, people with disability or who are d/Deaf to develop and sustain professional careers in the arts and have equitable access to arts and culture across NSW.

Michael has been leading Design at Backpocket since early 2022. Over the last 10 years he has worked with organisations of all shapes and sizes to launch new products and services. These include Virgin Australia, The Victorian Department of Health, PwC, Westpac, NAB, RMIT, HBF, Nura, and the Australian Government, amongst many others.

His work has been commended by the Australian Good Design awards, Red Dot International Product Design and iF Product Design awards.

At the heart of it all though is a passion for collaboration, and empowering teams to be at their most thoughtful and creative. Helping to unpack complex problems. Making sure businesses are designing the right Thing. Because only then can you make the Thing right.

Mandy Prowse is the Research and Insights Manager at the Art Gallery of NSW and has been with the institution for close to two years. Mandy is a skilled quantitative and quantitative researcher, cross-platform data analyst, facilitator and visual storyteller that has spent the last 20 years working for some of Australia’s most well-known media, public and cultural organisations.  

In collaboration with Visitor Experience team, Mandy has led the implementation of the Art Gallery’s in-house research model by introducing an enterprise data & research platform and upskilling a select group of Visitor Experience Hosts to perform onsite audience research.

Most recently she’s worked alongside the Art Gallery’s ticketing and people counting system suppliers to introduce an automated reporting platform that will give the Art Gallery a holistic view of visitation across its expanded campus, exhibitions and program offerings.  

Bridging passion with experience, Rob Raulings is a seasoned professional and technical innovator who has worked in event ticketing since the early 2000s. He has an extensive technical background including data analytics, software programming and cyber security, which he’s used as the Co-founder and CEO of Ferve Tickets to help create authentic connections between events and their audiences.

Rob loves helping clients gain what they value the most – increased ticket sales, improved customer satisfaction, and sustainable financial growth, while taking pride in enabling all forms of culture for audiences.

He has worked on over 650 festival editions across not just Australia, but including Greece, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the United States. Notable clients include Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Film Festivals, the National Film and Sound Archive, Melbourne Food and Wine, and Melbourne and Brisbane Writers Festivals.

Notably, Rob helped the Sydney Film Festival grow 184% from 2010 and 2019, and secured an average annual growth rate of 10-15% for many other clients through that period.

Outside of Ferve Tickets and professional life, Rob continues to stay active pursuing pilates and wine growing on Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne.

Rodney Rigby founded Newtheatricals; a producing group operating across Australia and on Broadway.

Current Australia:   Gaslight

Current Broadway: Water For Elephants a new musical.

On Broadway: Good Night, Oscar starring Tony Award Winner Sean Hayes, Come From Away (also Australia, North American tour, London – Winner of four Olivier Awards including Best Musical, Toronto), Diana, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Children Of A Lesser God, Rocky, Catch Me If You Can and Lend Me A Tenor. Off Broadway productions: David Bryne’s Joan of Arc: Into the Fire, Here Lies Love and Helder Guimarães: Verso. Regional: Marie (Little Dancer).

In Australia: Come From Away.2019-2023, Darkness, Jersey Boys 2009-13 and 2018-19,  Blue Man Group, The Addams Family,  Rock of Ages, Boeing Boeing, Mum’s the Word 2: Teenagers, Burt Bacharach and the Sydney Symphony, The Woman in Black, Jamie Oliver Live, Bryn Terfel – In Recital, David Campbell – Wild with Style,  Anthony Warlow – Under the Stars, Stuff Happens, Leader of the Pack, Lesley Garrett and Anthony Warlow – The Magic of The Music, Via Dolorosa (written and performed by David Hare), La Fura Dels Baus XXX and The Helpmann Awards (2001, 2004 and 2005). Awards include Live Performance Australia Life Member, Olivier Award for Best Musical 2019 (Come From Away) six Helpmann Awards including Best Musical 2010 (Jersey Boys) and Best Play 2006 (Stuff Happens), two Sydney Theatre Awards including Best Musical Production (Jersey Boys), eighteen Greenroom Awards and three time Tony Award nominee.

Cessalee Stovall is an artist, educator, and advocate who connects her theatre and performance practice, expertise as an educator, lived experience as a Black artist, and passion for engagement through the arts to deliver programming that serves artists and our industry on a global scale. She is the Founder and director of Stage A Change, and she works most frequently as a director, actor and intimacy professional. She holds a degree in theatre from Florida State University, an Arts Leadership Graduate certificate from University of Massachusetts, Amhurst, certificates in Diversity and Inclusion from Purdue University and Cornell University, and a Mental Health First Aid certification, she is uniquely qualified to support diversity, equity, inclusion and mental health in the performing arts sector.

Known for her open-minded perspective and knack for understanding the larger picture, Cessalee has earned the respect and support of performing arts industry professionals globally. In addition to providing access to training, Cessalee believes that by discussing and implementing both ground- and glass-breaking best practices, we will continue to diversify our industry, both onstage, offstage, and in the audiences, making space to hear more voices, understand more stories, and engage more authentically.

As a performer, Cessalee has worked in musical theatre, film, tv and commercials around the globe. Australian audiences have seen her onstage in The Book of Mormon, Emilia (Arts Center, Melbourne), Is God Is (Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company). On screen, she’s recently appeared in tv shows Clickbait, La Brea, Surviving Summer and in the films The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee and the upcoming Ricky Stanicky and Sleeping Dogs. Recent and current intimacy direction credits include Neighbours (current season), Better Man (feature film), Nosferatu, Anna K and Stay Woke (Malthouse), Choir Boy (National Theatre of Parramatta) Hairspray (Natl. Tour), The Wedding Singer (Natl. Tour), and Passing Strange (Antipodes Theatre Company).

Gavin Taylor is a seasoned venue, business management, and sports administration professional with experience across commercial and government sectors, with unrivalled industry knowledge in business strategy, government, change management, and facilities management.

Gavin moved to Melbourne from Perth in January 2021 to take up the role with Ticketmaster, where he is responsible for managing all aspects of the company’s strategy, products and ticketing solutions for clients and fans across the Australian market.

Prior to this role, Gavin held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the West Australian Football Commission, as well as General Manager at Perth Stadium Management. Gavin holds a Bachelor of Social Science with a specialisation in Leisure and Sports Management from Edith Cowan University.

Craig Thurmer is no newcomer to sales and technology development. You know he identifies a new trend, the industry quickly listens.

He knows how to make your sales tick and how to take the customer experience to the next level before and after the show. More importantly he has core skills in box office, marketing, philanthropy, and finance.

That is rare in this industry. He has worked for such leading companies as Sydney Opera House, Opera Australia, Carlson Marketing and City Recital Hall Angel Place.

He has worked for technology companies is Australia and UK. As Client Services Manager at Vivaticket, Craig concentrates on Project Management, Reports and Reporting and upskilling box office, marketing, philanthropy, and finance staff. Always with an eye on data, he is there ready to see our industry succeed.

Harry Tomasides is the Chief Revenue Officer of Digonex, the leading provider of customized and automated dynamic pricing solutions for the live entertainment and attractions/tour operator industries. Since 2015, Harry has been instrumental in driving the company’s growth in the United States and internationally.

Digonex’s success can be attributed to its cutting-edge pricing solutions developed by their in-house team of PhD Economists and an ever-expanding network of partnerships with ticketing providers.

Digonex has a broad portfolio portfolio of clients, including Edinburgh International Festival,  Roundabout Theatre Company, Grand Ole Opry, , Royal Albert Hall, Wales Millennium Centre,  Center Theatre Group, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Six Flags, Shedd Aquarium and Skydeck (formerly Sears Tower)

Prior to joining Digonex, Harry served in management roles with ABC/Disney and IHeart Radio.  Harry resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife Christine and 2 daughters.

Luke Trickett is the founder of the public equities fund, Blue Stamp Company, which he has led and managed for more than 13 years. Luke has also founded two other fintech startups, Marmalade and Backpocket.  

Backpocket is the first payment service in the world that allows customers to checkout and instantly share the cost. Group Organisers are able to book tickets without footing the bill and share a unique payment link instantly with other payers to settle up within a week.  

Since launch in late 2022, Backpocket has helped thousands of Aussies pay for group experiences and receives consistently strong customer reviews. 

Clare is Client Services Director for Two Circles, a data-driven sports marketing agency helping rights owners around the world to grow. She leads Two Circles’ marketing and consultancy services in Australia and New Zealand, working closely with clients to understand their business objectives and utilizing a deep understanding of fans and brands to get results.

Powered by data, brilliant digital products, and scroll-stopping content, Two Circles have developed unrivalled experience in fan insight and communication, which Clare and her teams leverage to get more people consuming sports in venues and beyond.

Beau is an executive leader with a vision to create a happier, healthier, connected society through memorable, fun and inspiring life experiences.

Beau recently led the end-to-end customer experience at Arts Centre Melbourne with a focus on engagement, innovation, growth, service and communications. Beau started with Arts Centre Melbourne as a casual usher in 2002 and through years of learning and leadership growth became the Executive Director of Customer Experience from April 2018 – October 2023.

Beau has previously been a Board Member with Arts Access Victoria and just finished his term as board member with Tessitura – a global arts and cultural technology organisation. Beau worked on customer transformation projects with Melbourne Recital Centre from 2010–14, and also worked with the Mushroom Group on A Day on the Green and starting up and leading the audience services for the iconic Hanging Rock concert venue in regional Victoria.

Beau thrives on enabling others to be their best self, think big, focus on impact and not be bound by tradition.

Dimity Vowles embarked on her professional journey over 25 years ago, commencing as a stage manager. Her career transitioned seamlessly from technical theatre to ticketing, where she found her true calling. With an unwavering passion for promoting Queensland artists and companies, Dimity is a seasoned arts manager who has honed her skills across a spectrum of arts management domains. Her extensive experience encompasses ticketing systems and services, sponsorship and philanthropy, comprehensive reporting, and adept data analysis.

Notably, Dimity played a pivotal role in the implementation of Tessitura at Queensland Ballet, while nurturing an evolving VIP Ticketing service. Her professional footprint extends beyond Australia, having worked int the West End, London, as well as with renowned institutions including, Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival, La Boite Theatre Queensland Ballet, the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka), and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

Currently working as Manager – Ticketing at QPAC, Dimity thrives on forging meaningful relationships in the arts world, bringing a dynamic touch to every project.

Heath is the Director of Customer Experience for the Sydney Theatre Company and has been delving into Ticketing and CRM for a decade.

Previously, they worked as Head of CRM and Business Intelligence for Sydney Dance Company, and in the Sydney Opera House ticketing department, on Gadigal land. Heath currently co-chairs the Neurodiversity & Mental Wellness and analytic Coffee! int the Tessitura International Community. 

 Away from STC, Heath has a Master’s in Medical Science (Neurophysiology) and a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts. They worked as an actor for 20 years in a variety of mediums from stand-up, theatre, and television, and still have a huge love of their science roots. Heath is active in the autistic community, regularly collaborating on projects providing support and awareness for neurodivergent folk. They operate and administer community forums for autistic adult professionals from around the world.

Stephen Wilson is the Ticketing Manager at The Art Gallery of New South Wales and has worked in the exciting world of box office and customer experience for the past 6 years. A huge arts lover, Stephen made the move from the performing arts to the visual arts 18 months ago to help AGNSW implement its first in house ticketing system. He oversees all the ticketing requirements for the museum’s exhibitions, openings, performances and events.  

Previously Stephen was Senior Customer Service Manager at The Sydney Symphony Orchestra. During the 4 years there, he helped subscribers and patrons navigate the temporary closure of the Sydney Opera House concert hall – the orchestra and audiences’ home for 45 years – to the Sydney Town Hall.  

Prior to working in ticketing, Stephen was a ballet dancer for 16 years with both the Australian Ballet and English National Ballet in London.  His love of the performing Arts has also seen him work backstage with Opera Australia in the props department.   

Louise Withers and Associates PL (“LWAA”) was established in 2002.

However prior to establishing LWAA, Louise undertook a Bachelor of Education, taught music, and performed professionally before working in administration and production in both the subsidised and commercial sectors. She held various positions including Administrator of the Youth Arts Festival (SA), Production Manager Elders Conservatorium Opera School and Production Co-ordinator for the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

From 1989, Louise worked for Cameron Mackintosh as Company Manager and Production Administrator on productions including The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Les Misérables. From 1995, Louise held positions of Director (Koan Advertising/Marketing Agency). the Director of Programming, Sponsorship and Marketing for the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and General Manager DCE Theatrical Division before becoming the Executive Producer of MAMMA MIA! for its Australian Premiere (2001).

Since that time, Louise has been a Producer/Executive Producer on Australian productions including Matilda the Musical, MAMMA MIA!, Miss Saigon, Billy Elliot the Musical, We Will Rock You, Spamalot, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced and Fawlty Towers. Touring includes Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Louise was an Associate Producer of Ghost the Musical (West End and Broadway), and has provided Producing Consultancy services to Disney’s The Lion King (Singapore), We Will Rock You (Japan), Ghost the Musial (Korea), Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Australia). and was Executive Producer for New Zealand’s Spark Arena for the International Touring production of Disney’s The Lion King in 2021.

Louise is currently Producer of the 2023 Australian Tour of MAMMA MIA!, Executive Producer Billy Elliot the Musical (Japan/Korea) on behalf of Working Titles Films, and Matilda the Musical (Korea) on behalf of the Royal Shakespeare Company, in addition to being a Producer of the recent Australian touring production of SIX the Musical.

Louise serves on the Executive Council of Live Performance Australia.