09/04/2008
More than 1000 registrants from six countries representing over 200 organizations which use Tessitura Software gathered in Nashville, Tennessee last week for the 8th annual Tessitura Network user
conference at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. A 70+ member committee of Tessitura users planned sessions over a five day period ranging from E-Philanthropy to Cross Marketing Tickets and Donations, to Group Sales Toolbox to Discounts, Dynamic Pricing and Yield Management, to Technology’s Impact, Change or Business as Usual? and many more. Networking receptions and dinners were held at venues across the city including the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, home of the Nashville Symphony, the Grand Ole Opry, and a closing bash at the Wildhorse Saloon, which included a smash performance by The Tessiturians, a country/rock band comprised of software users and Tessitura Network employees. The Tessiturian “manager” and lyric author for a number of the songs is James Walker from the Stratford Festival in Canada.
Alan Valentine, Executive Director of the Nashville Symphony, welcomed the group to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center with a story describing the recent explosive growth of the Nashville Symphony in terms of musicians, staff, budget, assets and the client / donor base. He said that managing the growth “would not have been possible without
Tessitura Software.”
With conference registrants representing roles ranging from Executive Director to Development, Marketing, New Media, Box Office, Finance, Operations, Technical and more, the conference content was specifically tailored so that each functional area participated in as many relevant sessions as they desired. At the same time, with the web pervading all
organizational areas, cross-departmental sessions were held to highlight the trend. These included topics such as Enabling Personalized Web Content, Focus on the Web-Is it Core to Your Business Strategy? Web Analytics and Marketing Intelligence, Building Long-Term Digital Strategy and more. Don Youngberg, Conference Chair and
Tessitura Network VP, commented – “our goal was to ensure that targeted topics were presented for all attendees and our Conference Planning Committee nailed it.” User comments such as “This conference is fantastic. I was overwhelmed as soon as I got here. I want to be in all of the sessions.” (San Francisco Ballet) and "Tessitura is the most documented
program I have ever seen. I am almost always able to get what I need from the help button." (Los Angeles Opera) highlight the value of the Software and the Network.
40% of the conference attendees were first-timers. Their experiences were highlighted with feedback such as “I was blown away by how well put together the whole experience was…it was a learning experience wrapped around a fantastic time.” (Dallas Children’s Theatre) ; and “in all my years of being an IT director and such I have never been to a conference that was nearly as much fun or as informative as the Tessitura Conference.” (Center Theatre Group)
The not-for-profit business model of the Tessitura Network serves arts and cultural organizations including theatres, museums, performing arts centers, ballets and dance companies, operas, symphony orchestras, festivals, universities and others. Jack Rubin, President of the Tessitura Network, commented “both the conference and the Tessitura Network community are structured to foster cross-genre idea and information sharing between all organizations. Thus the Tessitura Network User Conference offers the opportunity for broadness of input and knowledge sharing that typical genre-specific conferences cannot offer. The fact that all of the organizations represent nonprofits of various types keeps the group from being diverted by sports or other non-aligned markets.”
Simon Pearce, Commercial and Customer Service Director of Royal & Derngate in Northampton, UK characterized howwell the conference and software fulfilled their goals, “there is nothing like Tessitura in the market, it helped change our organization.” Users at the conference have worked on many other systems in the past and their exposure to Tessitura Software points out the many advantages to users of the no fee, flexible software approach. David Seifert from the LA Opera commented at the conference, “"I came to LA from Phoenix where I worked for a ballet company for three years in the box office on Ticketmaster. Working with Tessitura is a whole different world, and so much easier! I can set up discounts or promotions quickly in Tessitura that would take Ticketmaster more than a week, sometimes two because I would need to get it in the queue with my rep. What a great thing Tessitura is that I can take care of something right away, keep my sales on my own website, and not have to pay such fees.”
New services were launched at the conference including T-Stats™, Business Intelligence at the Speed of Thought. This sophisticated data mining tool complements and enhances Tessitura Software reporting and query capabilities. T-Stats™ allows Tessitura end-users to browse their data and create their own reports in seconds in order to do analysis, track successes, uncover opportunities and much more. While development costs were extensive, the nonprofit Network model allowed this new capacity to be provided at no charge to all license holders.
Chief Technical Officer, Chuck Reif, wowed the group during a Tessitura Development Department Update session with highlights from the latest version of Tessitura Software, v8.0, which was released this week. Among hundreds of other highlights it is now possible to change the screen text on most field labels and column headings in Tessitura, easily change prices on the fly, edit flex packages, and create user-defined payment schedules with even more flexible options than past versions. A new Kiosk Dashboard for adjusting and monitoring multiple kiosks with a browser-type interface was also released. To enable users to stress test their web environments, the Network also released an “API Test Harness.”
Jack Rubin closed the conference with the announcement that the 2009 Conference will be held August 23-27 at the new Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas. The conference close also included a review of exciting long term plans for Tessitura Software and the Tessitura Network.
About Tessitura Software® and the Tessitura Network, Inc.
Tessitura Software® is enterprise software that enables an integrated approach to “constituent management” for arts and cultural organizations. Using a single database, the system empowers the user organization to record, track and manage all contacts. Tessitura includes ticketing, fundraising, CRM, marketing, reporting and analysis, subscriptions, membership functionality and full no-fee internet capability. Promotions, solicitations and campaigns can be highly targeted and conducted in a cost-efficient manner. A key benefit of the system is its ability for relationship managers to have a full view of each constituent – their history, preferences and all contacts with the organization. Over 250 organizations use Tessitura in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States. Tessitura Software® is owned by Impresario, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Metropolitan Opera.
The Tessitura Network, Inc. is a nonprofit company established to further enhance Tessitura Software® over time and to provide ongoing support, consulting and community services for Tessitura licensees. A worldwide Tessitura Network, Inc. team provides these services. Licensees become “members” of the Tessitura Network once they start using Tessitura to process transactions for their organization.
Contact: Jack Rubin
www.tessiturasoftware.com
Phone: 214.265.1908
jrubin@tessiturasoftware.com