We round up the latest movements from the ticketing ecosystem…
Ticket protection solutions provider Protecht has appointed Mark Kramer (pictured left) as chief technology officer.
Kramer spent eight years as vice-president of engineering at Pac-12 Networks, an American sports-orientated digital cable and satellite television network. He earned multiple awards for his work in sports and media workflows at scale in the cloud.
Prior to joining Protecht, Kramer was executive vice-president of engineering at Shopkick, an app that offers rewards while shopping. He worked on mobile and platform engineering, infrastructure, data engineering and Q&A teams. He has also worked as vice-president of digital technology and products at Future Publishing and as XM Satellite Radio’s director of digital engineering and products.
Bryan Derbyshire, chief executive of Protecht, said: “Mark Kramer is a phenomenon, a transformational leader, and a huge asset to Protecht. He possesses a brilliant engineering mind and combines it with a truly awesome ability to collaborate with, empower, and motivate teams in their drive to develop innovative solutions for our clients and their customers in today’s experience economy.
“His focus is unrivalled, and he will power Protecht toward superior technological advances to enhance consumer needs.”
Kramer added: “Being part of such an impressive team developing important and impactful products is the opportunity of a lifetime. There is this palpable collective energy at Protecht that comes from a blend of the team’s talent combined with a clear mission and shared vision. I’m confident that we will achieve whatever we set out to do.”
Maddie Arnold has become a promoter at Live Nation UK in its concerts division.
Arnold has spent five years at the entertainment company and has worked with artists such as J Cole, Machine Gun Kelly, Halsey and Idles. She is now responsible for artists such as Ashnikko, Jazmin Bean, Cassyette, Lauren Sanderson, Matt Maltese, Bleach Labs, Caity Baser, Ellie Dixon and Jazmine Flowers.
Elsewhere at Live Nation, three new hires have been brought in to expand the Latin touring strategy across North America.
Ricardo Taco (pictured middle left) will lead Latin music strategy for Live Nation’s concerts division across all of Canada. He will be responsible for growing the company’s music presence in Toronto and further afield.
Claudia Valencia (pictured right) has also joined the entertainment company as a new tour director based out of Guadalajara, Mexico and Maritsa Restrepo (pictured middle right) has joined as a ticketing coordinator based in Los Angeles.
Hans Schafer, senior vice-president of global touring for Live Nation, said: “We have steadily grown our Latin division at Live Nation with experts who understand the music and represent Latin fans, allowing us to better service our artists.
“Canada is a strong Latin music market, and our new key touring hires will help set the strategy to continue building on our expansion to reach new audiences throughout North America.”
ASM Global has appointed James Taylor as sales director for sports and alternative content for UK venues.
Taylor has joined the entertainment and venue management company in the newly created role from Wembley Stadium. He will be responsible for ASM Global venues such as AO Arena in Manchester, OVO Arena Wembley, Olympia London, P&J Live Aberdeen, first direct Arena Leeds and more.
Marie Lindqvist, senior vice-president operations Europe at ASM Global, said: “I am very pleased to have James joining our team with his background in sports and high profiled events. It’s a great appointment that will complement our UK programming team with James Harrison heading up the touring music shows.
“This new role is an important addition to grow and develop the most exciting, relevant and diverse calendar for the growing portfolio of stadiums, arenas, theatres and convention centres in the UK.”
Taylor added: “I’m really excited to be joining ASM Global in this brand-new role at such an exciting time for the business given the major investments taking place across ASM properties. I look forward to working with the team to bring world class events to ASM venues across the UK.”
He will begin his new role from early September.
Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing [email protected] and we’ll include it in our next Wednesday round-up…