What Theatrical and Event Technology Investors Look For

One year ago, this September I enrolled in the Entertainment Business Masters program at Full Sail University and I have learned so much in less than a year.  I have learned the importance of a professional blog and regularly maintain the one you are currently reading.  The big payoff is my business plan thesis, which is due next month.  All of our classes have been leading up to the final project, our completed business plan.  I am extremely excited by this project because I have never written a business plan before.  I think I have a quality business plan on my hands.  When I am done refining it, I will need to find investors to fund the business venture.  Finding the right investor for a particular business plan is the key for successfully starting any business, regardless of the industry.  Capturing the attention of an investor and getting them to read through the whole business plan can be tricky, but if you know the potential investor, you can tailor the business plan to what they are looking for.

For my industry of theatrical and event technology, there are only a few companies out there with investor entrepreneur CEOs that invest in companies like the one I am writing my business plan for.  One these investors is Jeremiah "Jere" Harris, the Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG).  PRG is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology.  Jeremiah’s philosophy involves investing in new technologies as well as partnering with other similar industry companies.  This approach has brought him considerable success.  He buys up smaller, strategic companies and new ideas to keep PRG fresh and current.  Being on the leading edge of technologies, trends and changes has kept him at the forefront of the industry.  Another one these investors is Jason Friedman, the Chairman and former CEO of Creative Realties (CRI).  CRI is an experiential marketing design firm with a theatrical flare.  CRI grew rapidly by investing in the early stages of digital signage, before it became a standardized commodity, but Jason made his money while the area was hot.  Jason is also the CEO of Wind Tunnel, Inc., an entrepreneurial think tank and investment group.  It is his smart investment thinking and ability to see around the curve that has kept him at the helm of many successful companies.  For these investors, I will tailor my business plan by having an extensive operations and technology section.  Both Jeremiah and Jason are big into technology; what new technology and new ways of working with it can achieve.  They both have companies that are well established and very profitable.  These investors are looking for new ideas and resources and my business plan will be designed to grab their attention and be what they are looking for.

Successful investor entrepreneurs know what they are looking for in a business plan, enabling them to invest money wisely into what will hopefully become a successful business.  Tailoring my future business plans to the wants and needs of a particular potential investor is extremely important to capturing their attention.  Creating a business plan that seem profitable and fits into what the investor wants to invest in is important.  Also, having new and innovative ideas in new and/or underdeveloped niches that leverage and compliment the knowledge, skills, expertise they already have will surely enable a business plan to jump out at them.

Theatrical and Event Technology Investors

Finding the right investor for a particular business plan or project is key for successfully starting any business, regardless of the industry.  The theatrical and event industries have their share of production companies out there to get a project done.  Starting a new company can be a mixed bag in today’s age.  There is plenty of work to be had out there, but the industries are so small and incestuous that the big name companies already have the big name clients locked down.  Luckily, these big time companies have investor CEOs and owners that are always looking for a new business venture to fund or acquire.

One these investors is Jeremiah "Jere" Harris, the Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG).  PRG is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology and grown into this position due to his leadership.  Jeremiah has done this by investing in new technologies and partnering with other similar companies.  Like any good investor, you should take all the opportunities that are presented to you to improve your business, just like PRG did by acquiring Nocturne Productions.  With the addition of Nocturne, PRG will have a much larger footprint in the concert touring market, an area they were looking to expand.  Mr. Harris also dabbles in other projects, like being a producer of the "Spider-Man" Musical, Turn Off the Dark that just opened a few weeks ago.  The high profile musical has been in the news a lot recently for being over budget but with the help of Jeremiah and the other producers they finally seem to have the musical on a profitable track.  Jeremiah invests in the newest technologies that are coming down the pipe in the theatrical and event industries and being on top of the newest technology keeps him on top of the industry.

Another one these investors is Jason Friedman, the Chairman and former CEO of Creative Realties (CRI).  CRI is an experiential marketing design firm with a theatrical flare that Jason founded in 1997.  It has a number of Fortune 500 Companies as clients.  The company really began to blow up by investing digital signage early on.  Digital signage is now everywhere and Jason made his money when the iron was hot.  He is now the co-founder of TrackPro Advisors, an online community for hardcore racers.  This site will help give the best information and advice to racers in the community.  No more searching for information on any part of your car or where to go to find it.  TrackPro brings all this information in one legit place.  This company comes from the think tank ideas of his other company Wind Tunnel, Inc., where he is CEO of this entrepreneurial think tank and investment group.  It is this smart investment thinking on business plans and being able to see around the curve that has kept Jason at the helm of many successful companies.

Both of these very successful investor entrepreneurs know what to look for in a business plan to able to turn it into a successful business.  They are both on top of two highly successful multi-million dollar companies.  These companies are not only profiting but expanding as well.  The side projects that both Jeremiah and Jason invest in normally seem to grow as well.  The future seems bright for both these investors and the projects they touch.  They are looking for interesting innovative ideas, new and/or underdeveloped niches, and new business plans that leverage and compliment the knowledge, skills, expertise they already have.  Looks like I have few people in mind to send my future business plans to as soon as I get them nice and polished.

Social Media at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Social Media is everywhere nowadays.  With almost everyone in the world having some type of social media account, it is not just a trend; it is a whole new way of connecting and interacting with each other.  Tweets and status updates give followers up to the second updates of their favorite celebrities and industry figures.  Thanks to these new technologies, previously closed-door events are now open to public viewing and critiquing such as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which takes place twice a year in one of the major fashion capitals of the world, New Year City.

Within the last four seasons, a season being the new spring or fall collection every six months, social media has taken a more dominant role at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW).  MBFW now has their own Facebook and Twitter pages so everyone can follow the action as it unfolds live over the course of fashion week.  Social media has a huge impact on how fashion followers can keep current with the industry.  Even before fashion week starts, MBFW releases productions pictures and schedules of the tents at Lincoln Center, the heart of MBFW, being built.  The day of the each show, MBFW sends updates about daily schedules of the different designers and what tent they are showing in.  TwitPics show the latest fashions as they march down the runway and show off celebrity sightings of who is at what show.  MBFW tweets about the latest announcements as they happen in real time and unveils all the surprises of fashion week.  What use to be exclusively seen and read about in newspapers and magazines the next day now all happens in real time.  Social media helps followers feel as if they are sitting right there, next to the runway.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City is just the beginning for social media to connect more people to otherwise limited or closed-door industry events.  Video game conventions like PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts are starting to tweet on the official PAX Twitter page with insider info for their show.  The E3 Expo is doing the same thing but has partnered with GameTrailers to have them be the exclusive tweeters for the show.  E3 has gone even further by having Spike TV's Games & Gadgets be the official cable TV provider.  Social media is going to get bigger and better as the technology evolves and I for one am very excited for the increased interaction and coverage that social media can provide to otherwise inaccessible events.

Digital Marketing in Streaming Content

Nowadays almost everything is online in some form or another.  With the coming of reliable high speed Internet, it is now easier than ever to stream digital content through all sorts of devices from desktop computers to laptops, media servers, tablets, and smartphones.  Many of these are designed with specialized apps to make playing the streaming video simple.  With this rise of these new distribution methods for TV shows and other content, the advertising and marketing must change and evolve to keep up.

            There are tons of ways to watch TV shows and other content online at your leisure.  As a result of these free streaming sources, digital marketing has had to step up its game.  There are still traditional TV advertisements on cable television and they are not going away anytime soon.  They are only getting bigger with more production value thanks to the numerous cable providers and now web series, and streaming services out there today.  Comcast, Optimum Online, Road Runner, Time Warner, AT&T Uverse, and Verizon Fios are just a few of the traditional cable companies.  These companies run traditional paid commercial ads.  They offer on demand services normally with ads before the free on demand content.  Technology has now allowed for mobile streaming on smartphones and tablets in addition to streaming on desktop computers and laptops.  There are now special products just for streaming like Apple TV.  YouTube and Hulu are both popular sites for streaming free TV shows among other things.  Due to their popularity there are now commercials being shown before the media.  Web series have even become a new way of multimedia story telling thanks to the Internet complete with commercial ads.  Mortal Kombat: Legacy is excellent example.  The revenue from these ads keeps the free content on these sites, so it is worth it, as many of these web series are quite good with high production value.  Even the big three gaming consoles, Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 are in the streaming business.  They all host one of the premium subscription streaming services, Netflix.  Netflix lets you stream TV shows and movies to every device under the sun.  HBO is another company following this route with their HBO GO service.  There are even rumors of announcements from the E3 conference this week of a Microsoft Xbox 360 Xbox Live Diamond subscription TV service coming soon.  Makes me wonder what kind of digital marketing this service will bring.

            As these companies and their subscriptions and services continue to grow and expand along with technology and the Internet then digital marketing and advertising will certainly grow and expand with them.  New ways of integrating ads into streaming content apps and similar distribution centers will have to be created to keep up.  With cloud based products beginning to emerge, it will definitely be interesting to see how digital marketing takes hold and adapts itself to these new cloud based services in the future.

Xbox Live, PSN, and the Digital Future

        Video games are huge in today’s society and they are not going away anytime soon. There is a modern day renaissance of gaming underway and tons of titles coming out every year.  The traditional method of game release is changing with the rise of new technology and digital downloads.  Video game powerhouses Microsoft and Sony both have their online networks to distribute games and other content.  They are both very similar to each other while remaining different, with exclusive software and services.  It pretty much comes down to gamer’s console of choice.

Microsoft has their Xbox Live service for their Xbox 360 game console, which started out on their original Xbox in 2002.  Nowadays it is only on Xbox 360 and Windows Phones with an annual subscription fee of $59.99, which includes online gaming as well as all their other services.  Users make an avatar to go along with their Xbox Live ID that tracks their game progress and stats through achievements.  In addition to match making online gaming, users get access to the Xbox Live Arcade store and Zune Marketplace.  Here users can purchase exclusive Xbox Live Arcade games, Indie games, game add-on content, Games on demand, HD movies, and TV shows.  You can also stream last.fm, Hulu, ESPN, and Netflix. Xbox Live has their own Twitter and Facebook interfaces for social media.  You can do all this online while connecting with friends and other users through friend lists.  Now users can even take the experience mobile if they have a Windows mobile phone.  Their account and avatar carry over as if they were playing at home on their Xbox 360.  The $59.99 a year goes to dedicated servers to ensure games run smoothly and the network is always on.  Find more information on Xbox Live at their website, http://www.xbox.com:80/en-US/live.

Sony has their PlayStation Network (PSN), which supports their PlayStation 3 console as well as their handheld PlayStation Portable (PSP).  PSN is completely free to play online games, make an avatar, and create a PSN ID to have their game progress and stats tracked through trophies.  Unlike Microsoft they do no charge a fee but they do have a PlayStation Plus package for $49.99 a year.  This fee is for premium users who want the most of their PlayStation 3.  In addition to free games and content every month, the system auto updates so players never need to sit through another update screen again.  In addition to match making online gaming, users get access to the PlayStation store where users can purchase exclusive PSN games, game add-on content, HD movies, and TV shows.  You can also stream Hulu, Netflix, and access the Qriocity music service.  Users do all this online while connecting with friends and other users through friend lists and unique simulation experience called PlayStation Home.  In Home, players bring their avatars to life and interact with each other in different game worlds and locations.  Home members can chat, dance, watch movies, play games, or just hang out in a 3D world on their PlayStation.  Now users can even take the PSN experience mobile if they have a PSP, which can access all these great features.  PSP owners can also download motion comics and connect and stream all their content from their PlayStation 3 system at home by remote.  Sony’s network offers a lot for being free but it was recently hacked and was down for about a month.  While this is an inconvenience for a lot of people and made Sony lose face with its users, perhaps they will look to service fees like Microsoft has for dedicated protected servers so this does not happen again.  Check out http://us.playstation.com/psn/, for more information on PlayStation Network.

With these great online networks both on consoles hooked up to your TV and in your pocket with games and other content on demand it is only going to further digital downloads.  Traditional disc media is not going away anytime soon but with indie developers making more and more games exclusive to Xbox Live and PSN it looks to be going in that direction.  Most Triple-A disc based games are available for direct download and all add-on content for these games is digital download only.  Look for these networks to grow over the years to come each with new products and services.  The good news is with each one being so competitive with the other, it is only a matter of time before each network has the others features.  It is all personal preference and most hardcore gamers today are subscribing as members to both.

Distributors' Social Networks

Social Networks are popping up all over the Internet and are the latest trend.  They help us connect to each other through our shared interests and passions.  In the last year, a lot of companies have noticed this trend and created pages related to their businesses.  Nowadays, it seems that every business has a “follow us” on Twitter or Facebook somewhere in their marketing.  A few companies have taken this idea a step farther and created their own propriety social networks to help them promote and distribute content.

One such company is the current technology innovation king, Apple.  Last year, Apple released their special social network, Ping, that is built right into their iTunes program.  Apple requires iTunes for its customers to manage their music and other digital content.  Having their own social network for music built right into their store offers a unique way for people to connect and share their music.  It is basically Facebook meets Twitter meets iTunes, all for free.  It was a great move for Apple because as soon as they made Ping live they had a potential user base of 160 million users in 23 different countries.  With customers already familiar with how to use iTunes, and who may have never used Facebook or Twitter, it is a great way to bring a new audience to the social media scene.  Users can make a profile and see what their friends and favorite artists are listening to and downloading.  Ping also has partnered with Live Nation to provide concert listings for the artists as well.  Ping is becoming the one premiere site for social networking about music.

Another company is AMC theaters.  AMC recently launched their AMC Stubs program, which is a reward and social networking site for AMC moviegoers.  It costs $12 a year to join and offers rewards galore.  For every $100 dollars you spend, you get $10 back as well as free concession upgrades.  Once a member, you get your own online ticket stub collection of all the movies you have seen.  This way you can always have the memories of going to the movies and sharing what you liked and saw with friends.  The service also waives all online fees for buying tickets so you can buy a ticket and go straight to the theater with no extra charges or hassle.  This is not a game changer by any means, but a nice step by a traditional movie theater company into the realm of social networking.  It will be interesting to see what AMC does with this in future and whether other movie companies will look to jump on board with similar sites.

These distributor social networks are a great way for these companies to maintain business while keeping up with social media trends.  With the amount of time people are spending on social networking sites, Apple and AMC have found a way to incorporate that into their business.  They have begun to further blur the line between social media and online stores.  For more on Apple’s Ping and AMC Stubs check out their official websites, http://www.apple.com/itunes/ping/ and https://www.amcstubs.com/.