COMPANY

Birthplace of Country Musichttp://www.birthplaceofcountrymusic.org/

TYPE OF EVENTS

Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunionhttp://www.bristolrhythm.com/

SUMMARY

As Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion grew from six stages and 7,500 guests to 21 stages and more than 50,000 guests, the festival management system needed to scale. Vendini’s all-in-one Festival Solution streamlined management operations, and helped sell 30% more tickets during peak hours. Vendini’s technology offerings also led to faster and easier entry, more robust festivalgoer data and shorter lines.

The Problem What worked for crowds of 7,500 did not translate when attendance exceeded 50,000. The festival was using management methods that could not scale as it grew,

which included printing their own tickets, using a manual check-in process, and keeping track of each artist individually through Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.This approach caused a myriad of

CASE STUDY

Saving Time, Money and Headaches: Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Taps All-In-One Solution to Streamline Festival ManagementEvery fall for the past 14 years, something very special has been happening in the town of Bristol. With its downtown straddling the Virginia-Tennessee border, the city transforms into the three-day Americana Bluegrass wonderland known as the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. Organized by the Birthplace of Country Music and known as one of the top festivals in the Southeast, the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion has drawn some of the biggest names in the industry, including Emmylou Harris, Robert Earl Keen and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.

Beginning in October 2001 with only six stages and 7,500 attendees, the festival has exploded in popularity and now has 21 stages with over 50,000 guests. Yet, as the festival flourished and evolved, the underlying management system became cumbersome.

challenges for the festival, including missed ticket sale opportunities, long lines due to a limited number of entry points, counterfeit tickets, a lack of pre and post-sale tracking and reporting, and a massive time sink in administering artist contracts and credentials, vendor and volunteer management and more. And on top of all of this, different facets of their festival management were being contracted from separate providers, which created a disjointed and disconnected management system. The festival recognized it needed a third-party event partner to provide on-the-ground support and expertise during the event.

“Previous vendors did a good job, but we needed a partner that would come in and evaluate areas for growth and effectiveness,” said Leah Ross, Executive Director of Birthplace of Country Music.

The SolutionThe Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion team was on the hunt for a new partner, and they had a big decision to make. They needed one comprehensive solution to take care of their management and organizational needs, including ticketing and back-office management, access control, data management and cutting-

edge technology that went above and beyond to deliver a premier experience for festivalgoers.

Enter Vendini Vendini’s soultion eliminates the piecemeal approach to festival management, and provides everything an event may need to be successful, from talent acquisition to catering, ticketing to promotion.

As part of that comprehensive solution, Vendini brought onsite support to answer questions and solve issues, from setup to break down. “If there was an issue, someone was there quickly to address it,” continued Ross. “It gives us confidence and a sense of relief to know that whatever issues we have, Vendini will handle it in a professional and efficient manner.”

The ResultThe Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion team used the all-in-

Vendini’s mobile box office let Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion sell tickets on the fly from any location – even the parking lot – which lead to a 30% increase in ticket sales during peak hours.

VENDINI’S MOBILE BOX OFFICE IOS APPLICATIONS LED TO A 30 PERCENT INCREASE IN TICKET SALES.

one solution to streamline every aspect of festival management: back office documents, artist and vendor contracts, stage schedules and more, all managed in the Vendini system. Organizers can even prepopulate different contracts with previously entered information, meaning no more searching for, copying, pasting and editing contracts.

Vendini also uses the latest Apple devices, credit card reading technology and scanning methods to take the box office mobile iOS applications which led to a 30 percent increase in ticket sales during peak hours of the festival. Additionally, the ability to presell RFID wristbands allowed festivalgoers to simply register their bands before the festival and be scanned in right at the gate without any hassle.

The RFID technology kept the lines short and moving quickly, allowed the festival to expand from six entry points to 17 and collected valuable data like attendee information from wristband registration. This not only allowed the festival to use more entry points, but also revealed which entrances were used the most, which weren’t used at all and

general flow of traffic through the festival.

“We’re very proud and very confident in what Vendini is doing for us technology wise,” said Ross.

“We’ve streamlined many of our event processes with Vendini’s advanced technology, which has helped us be more successful year after year.”

Growing from a town celebration to

a full scale regional music festival takes determination, hard work and commitment, and incorporating a successful solution by partnering with Vendini proved to be crucial.

“It ’s been very rewarding for us to have someone that really cares about making sure our needs are met,” said Ross. “Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion has had a great partnership with Vendini, and we look forward to growing our festival together.”

“WE’VE STREAMLINED MANY OF OUR EVENT PROCESSES WITH VENDINI’S ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, WHICH HAS HELPED US BE MORE SUCCESSFUL YEAR AFTER YEAR.”

Founded in 2001, Vendini makes the business of live events simple. Offering a full suite of solutions built for the performing arts, live music, music festival and live event spaces, Vendini is helping thousands of venues increase revenue, collect valuable data and make running an event simple. In a world of endless single-use vendors, Vendini is the first company to offer one comprehensive solution for multiple aspects of live events including ticketing, marketing, fundraising, logistics and more. Vendini is based in San Francisco, CA, with offices in Boston,

MA, New York, NY, Knoxville, TN and Vancouver, BC. To learn more about Vendini, please visit http://www.vendini.com

all-in-onesystem

TICKETINGSYSTEM

PATRONMANAGEMENT

NEWWEBSITE

MARKETING FUNDRAISING

EVENTLOGISTICS

all-in-onesolution

TICKETINGSYSTEM

PATRONMANAGEMENT

WEBSITEMANAGEMENT

MARKETING FUNDRAISING

EVENTLOGISTICS