Name: Kim Damron
Company: Paciolan     
Title: President & Chief Operating Officer
Twitter Handle: @PaciolanTix

Paciolan empowers clients to engage fans, drive revenue, and build loyalty. We power many of the nation’s largest college athletics, performing arts, professional sports, and arena organizations. With more than 120 college athletics institutions leveraging our technology and solutions, we are the market leader in college sports. As a leader in ticketing, fundraising, marketing, analytics, and technology solutions we have more than 35 years of experience powering more than 500 live entertainment organizations that sell more than 120 million tickets each year. By using our industry-leading solutions, Paciolan clients bring their venues to life by filling them with fans. Using our technology allows clients to engage with their fans, creating fanatics that return again and again.

Describe why you chose to sponsor such a new association? 

We value our partnership with NAATSO. The organization has filled a gap in our industry, providing a space for ticketing professionals to network and ruminate on best practices, professional and ethical standards. With so many of our clients working in the collegiate space, NAATSO provides professional development opportunities to the organizations and individuals we work with — a goal that is important for us to support. Our continued collaboration with NAATSO and its partner organization has led to well-received and informative webinars, ensuring interesting growth opportunities for our clients.

What innovative practices is your company doing to help advance the industry?

We at Paciolan are committed to providing our clients with technology that reinvents the world of live events and fan engagement.

Ticketing & CRM: Our ticketing platform allows clients to provide customized experiences and expanded choices for their audiences. We’re designing with mobile in mind and responsive technology, making it easy for audiences to buy tickets, manage accounts, and transfer or resell tickets while on the go. PAC CRM allows for a 360-degree view of each customer with the opportunity to personalize future messaging.

 Fundraising: PAC Fund elevates our client’s fundraising efforts by providing flexible payment options and customer-friendly tools to allow for the greatest ease of transaction. Our customized points programs facilitate the development of lifetime donor relationships and serve to maximize donation revenue.

Marketing: Paciolan's Marketing Services continue to innovate to provide the best possible experience and opportunities for our clients. Clients can personalize the experience and conversation with their fans through personalized, automated campaigns and growing technology including Personalized URLs (PURLs). Expanding remarketing to include cross-device retargeting and Facebook Events enhances event discovery, serving customers tickets where they already spend time, driving repeat transactions and elevating the customer experience.

Data & Analytics: We provide for our clients a complete view of their organization’s activities, including visual dashboards and reporting on key performance metrics. The curated information allows our clients to make sophisticated, data-driven decisions that improve their bottom lines and grow revenue.

Mobile: The continued growth of ‘mobile first’ in every aspect has accelerated and evolved our design methodology. Mobile delivery is off the charts, and mobile sales are up 120% year over year.

How do you see the ticketing environment changing in the near future?

There will be a continued focus on the fan, with everything geared toward making the experience easier and better for the fan and patron. We’ll definitely continue to see the growth of ‘mobile first’ with everything. We will see more innovation in event discovery and distribution channels. It will easier for fans to find upcoming events wherever they are consuming digital content. This will continue to bring more eyeballs to client's events and put more butts in seats. Teams and venues will continue to double down on digital for advertising spend, and we’ll continue to see the blur of primary and secondary ticketing markets.

What challenges do you see for ticket sales and operations due to the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics?

New payment methods and keeping pace by implementing the latest technology provide great opportunities for the future of ticketing. Designing for mobile commerce and evolving, wearable technologies will require investments in order to maintain a best-in-class customer experience. It is important to adapt the various services that we offer to ensure a great mobile experience. With the continued growth of mobile commerce, offering risk-free mobile payment options is key.

What is the biggest misconception people have about the ticketing industry? 

That I have tickets for the next game in a drawer at my office that I can dole out upon request!

What is the best motivator for employees?

Empowerment & Accountability. In my opinion the best way to keep talented employees motivated is to empower them to own their role and responsibilities, make decisions based on their role and the goals of the company and see successful programs through from beginning to end. With that empowerment comes accountability, that there are pre set expectations based on their responsibilities and we encourage them to meet and exceed those goals based on their ideas, innovation, skill sets and execution. It becomes a loop that feeds successful careers and keeps talented employees motivated.

How do you measure success at your company? 

We deploy a client satisfaction survey each year to ask our clients how they rank our services using the Net Promoter Score methodology. It is a great tool to measure not only overall satisfaction, but also areas of strength or areas for improvement. This last year we had the highest NPR score in our company’s history, which we are proud of, but strive for it to reach higher.

What is your favorite college tradition/rivalry?

The games between USC and UCLA are always big events in our house because I went to USC and my husband went to UCLA. It’s a fun rivalry (especially when USC wins!)

Where is your favorite city in the world?

Punta Mita, Mexico. It’s still sort of hidden and doesn’t attract too many tourists. There’s bad cell reception and a beautiful beach, making it easy to disconnect and relax.

What is your most vivid sports memory? 

USC winning the Rose Bowl in January!

 

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I always wanted to be a singer, but I’m tone deaf. It doesn’t stop me! Every once in a while I’ll ease into a rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ at holiday parties or PACnet.

What is your favorite meal of the day?

Dinner with my family.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

Everyone always says this, but it’s because it’s true. Hire the best team. Surround yourself with the best people.

 

Whom do you admire most as a business leader?

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO at Facebook and founder of leanin.org, has empowered so many women and has really impacted my career.  I bought her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead,for all of the women that worked on my team. It resonated so well with me.

 

VIew on the NAATSO Website.