Event planners on tech: Ross Easton, Head of Commercial & Hospitality, the OVO Hydro

If you don’t live in Scotland, you might not be aware of the OVO Hydro arena. If you're an event professional, you probably should be: it's one of the world's busiest live entertainment venues.

At zkipster, we learn about dozens of amazing new venues and events every day, but we have to admit: we hadn't heard of the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, before the venue signed up for our platform. We were intrigued, so we checked in with Ross Easton, zkipster administrator on the OVO Hydro team, to find out more. Ross oversees the venue's hospitality portfolio, including product creation and development, sales, event management, customer experience and delivery.

Ross covers the velvet rope part of the 12,000 capacity venue. His team of six serves the executive suites and other private lounge facilities. “Part of the enjoyment of the job is that there are no regular days”, says Ross, who is a music fan and gig-goer. Since the OVO Hydro opened in 2013, superstars like Beyoncé, Bieber and Bublé have swung by Ross' “office” to put on their shows.

For Ross, it is “a hugely rewarding experience”, when days, months or sometimes years of planning come together on one night. “I also love the fact that the job allows me to combine professional and personal interests.”

Ross knows that teamwork and communication are essential to events running smoothly, but sometimes even the best-run show can hit a snag. “There are things out of our control that can impact the customer – a late performance cancellation due to illness, an act coming on stage late, and equipment breaking down are all examples of issues that we have had to react to.”

But he's thankful that these instances are rare, and that technology has helped to improve the experiences in every section of the arena – from guest list management to stage design. “We see regular advancements in the technology employed by artists to make their productions more spectacular and engage their fans, and this will continue as the industry grows.” Ross has already digitized the VIP guest check-in process, and believes that we will see further advances in ticketing technology, to better protect audiences from the impact of touts.

Ross, are you an Android or an iPhone person?

‍iPhone.

Are you using any tools to manage your event planning process? If so, which ones and why?

‍We use a variety of software to manage our processes – Ticketmaster for the sale and distribution of event tickets, zkipster for guest list management, Bookatable for restaurant reservations, and MCR Systems to manage our new loyalty programme.

What’s your favorite application or service for marketing your events and why?

‍We communicate to our customers with bespoke emails issued through Cheetahmail. It allows us to get relevant information to the right people at the right time.

What applications are you using to engage your event attendees and why?

‍We use social media channels to post show-times and specific event information such as merchandise offers, whilst keeping our website up to date with relevant venue info. A pre-event email is sent to all ticket purchasers with options to book dinner reservations on site.

How have you used technology to add a special or unique touch to your event?

‍We have recently provided our members with complimentary access to a hospitality parking facility at the venue. Members received a personalized Membership Card which, when presented to our card reader at the car park entrance, authorizes access. It has been a welcome addition to the guests' customer journey at both arrival and departure.

Now for the rapid fire round! Tell us which application or service you’re using for…

• Project management: Excel and Ticketmaster
• Event registration: zkipster
• Ticketing: Ticketmaster
• Check-in: zkipster
• Meeting scheduling: Outlook
• Presentations: Prezi and PowerPoint
• Floorplan design: Bookatable

What applications or services are you using after your event to help you evaluate its success or gather feedback from attendees?

‍Bookatable provides us with a monthly report on customer experience and benchmarks us against other restaurants in the city. In addition, guests who log in to the venue WiFi are sent a post event questionnaire to obtain feedback on their experience. We send an annual customer satisfaction survey to our club members which helps form the strategy for future developments.

Finally, what piece of event tech can’t you live without?

Our in-house radio system allows me to communicate with our full team at any time, meaning I can always keep up to date with everything that is happening throughout the arena and assistance to any issues that we face is never more than a radio call away.