For the first time, Titanium Security Arena (TSA) is offering an exclusive Arena membership for selected events held at Titanium Security Arena. This membership will be known as Club 99.

Valid from 1^st September 2018 – 31st August 2019

Includes;

• Reserved Seating Area for Club 99 members for all selected events.
• Reserved Car Park (1 reserved car park per 2 memberships) in the Southern Car Park for all selected events.

Events included in the membership;

• NBL including home finals
• WNBL including home finals
• All cooperating events held at Titanium Security Arena

For this past year, TSA has hosted the following events. These are examples of the type of events that will be included in membership;

• Concerts – I Love the 90’s
• Major Sporting events – Australian Boomers Men’s Basketball Team, Australian Diamonds Netball Team, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)
• Entertainment – Professional Wrestling and Harlem Globetrotters

This exclusive introductory Arena membership offer is $1,200 + GST per seat

As TSA confirm cooperating events on the calendar, you will be notified of the additional events and your barcode will be activated.

We will also be hosting a networking event throughout the year for all Club 99 members as well as offering special deals for Private Suites and on food and beverage.

For businesses taking up membership, you can also be spotlighted in the Arena newsletter that goes out to over 25,000 unique subscribers and all members will also go into the running for Club 99 lotteries to win exciting prizes.

This exclusive TSA Membership is capped at 99, so get in quick to secure your place!

To secure your place, email club99@titaniumarena.com.au

by Guy Hedderwick, CEO Titanium Security Arena

“The night is dark and full of terrors”, or so I learned watching Game of Thrones. It is true, venues are overwhelmed with new security issues, patron safety is a topic at every conference and ‘security’ is the first word on everyone’s lips. We underwent a huge transformation with the Millennial (Gen-Y) and their need for an experience over and above ‘just’ an event, by providing a variety of catering choices and creating different gathering areas to suit diverse patrons in our venues and at our events. This disruption took venues from places where events took place to an experience-based business where our focus was on meeting the needs of the fan or customer rather than just putting on an event.

The Millennials are now the largest workforce and old Baby Boomers like me have had to change the way we operate, how we manage and how we think to fit in with well-educated driven young men and women who are creative thinkers and who value teams and the collective over the individual. They are now the decision makers and networking beats the prestige of being able to afford a suite.

A dark and way scarier force is building and as venues we need to be nimble if we want to continue to fill our venues with fans and customers. The rise of Gen Z or the Boomlet is going to take us by storm and we are going to need to plan and adapt now to meet their needs. Software and technology is going to disrupt like never before.

Our world is about to change and change at a rate which is exponential. Here is South Australia we have been trialling driverless vehicles and they will start to appear on our streets. Can you imagine a world where our children won’t get a drivers licence, perhaps won’t own a car. The MD of Daimler Benz says, just like Uber who owns no taxi’s, the future is a world with no car owners. Instead of owning cars we will simply call them when we need one, meaning we will need 90% less vehicles, less car parking and perhaps large car parks outside stadiums which are used for tailgating will now become green space, albeit used for a similar purpose. We will go from 1.2 million deaths and an accident every 60,000 miles (100,000 km) to one every 10 million. The predication is that insurance will be X100 times cheaper. We need to be thinking how this affects both our space and our current commercial properties we sell. We are not here to talk about the motor industry and the affects it has on our business but it’s an example of the changes coming. If we don’t have to drive our cars and there will be less cars on the road, then we can live further away and our venues may not need to be located in urban spaces, whereas now location is always so important for access. Charging stations for electric vehicles will be a consideration rather than the eco-friendly venue the Millennial demanded.

Gen-Z is the ‘no childhood’ generation, and in the US, 49% of births were Hispanic. Both these trends will change the US culture and behaviour. It’s an exciting time where 50% of Bloomlets will be University educated, extremely technology literate and grown up before their time. Toy companies are under pressure. Barbie’s target market in the 1990 was children aged 10; by the year 2000 it had dropped to age 3. Babies now playing on screens and other electronic devices. The Gen-Z is already a savvy consumer who is over saturated with brands. How will this affect the way we advertise and commercialise in venues?

61% of this generation has a TV in their room, they have Video games, ultra-fast internet and a smart phone. They live in a world where information is immediately available and Google is the first call for advice before parents.

I overheard an amazing conversation between Boomlets and a Pro-Basketball coach selling them on the game. The questions asked were really quite interesting.

“Can we vote on who you sub in and out?”

“Why did you sub player X? He is very good looking and funny and really good for the game”

“I saw this amazing play on YouTube, why don’t you use it or would you like me to show you?”

“I don’t know if I will come again the venue didn’t have any bubble tea.”

“Were there any celebrates here today?”

Research shows that 65% of the Boomlets go to events because they want to be seen at the event. Being seen at the event was the number one reason they came.

We have tinkered with getting people involved in the experience with fantasy leagues, tweets to the screens etc., but imagine catering to a brand-saturated group who require Bubble tea this week, Ice Coffee next and the latest energy drink the week after? A group who was raised on reality TV want to vote and be part of the change, where an emotional connection with the team is more important than the game. Will we be better off getting eyeballs if the players have a good and/or tragic backstory? Where players and entertainment providers have to spill the beans on their pasts in order to make the event compelling, because we have created a generation who need their happy chemicals triggered before they engage?

Gen-Z are a generation who want not only instant content but the ability to take that content and use it for themselves and publish it where and when they want. How does this effect our huge TV deals? In Johnathan Livingston Seagull they say “If you love something set it free, if it comes back it loves you and if it doesn’t it never did”. This is a generation who will decide how the brand unfolds not the team or the venue or the owner and that is scary. Likewise, in our venues we are going to have to be nimble. We are going to become technology hubs delivering content to consumers. The secret is, we deliver content and right now, content is still King.

The night is dark and full of terrors but the future is going to be equally amazing.

1. Happy Chemicals

1Endorphins- the chemical release during exercise which makes us feel good. Dopamine- the chemical released when we reach mini milestones which keeps us going, unfortunately also the addictive chemical which is triggered when we gamble, get likes on Facebook, very addictive. Serotonin- the happiness or emotion we feel when one sees someone do something for someone else- the one mentioned in the article (creates connection) Oxytocin – the love chemical.

1Guy Hedderwick

1Executive Director Adelaide 36ers and Adelaide Lightning basketball and CEO Titanium Security Arena.

1Basketball Security Venue Management

The female facilities at Titanium Security Arena are set to undergo an upgrade thanks to a $500,000 State Government grant.

The arena’s co-owner, Scouts SA, was awarded the Office for Recreation and Sport’s Female Facilities Program Grant and will use the funds to revamp the women’s change room facilities.

Titanium Security Arena Chief Executive Officer Guy Hedderwick is thrilled with the planned upgrade.

“It is fantastic we will now be able to provide our elite and grassroots female athletes with the facilities they deserve. I would like to extend sincere thanks to the State Government for making it possible,” Hedderwick said.

“The venue is 25-years-old so the current change rooms are no longer adequate for the growing needs of our female participants. It’s very pleasing the upgrade will now reflect the caliber of the amazing athletes the venue attracts.”

With the multi-purpose venue experiencing an influx of female sporting activities, Scouts SA Chief Executive Officer Dan Ryan is adamant the grant will assist the growth of women’s sport.

“South Australia has long been a leader in gender equality and we are committed to helping this state carry on its legacy,” Ryan said.

“By providing appropriate female facilities in Titanium Security Arena, we are sending a clear message that active participation women’s sport is important to the youth of South Australia.”

The project is expected to take 12 months, with the initial phase of the upgrade expected to be completed before the start of the Adelaide Lightning season.

In an Australian first, potentially life-saving EpiPen stations are being installed at Titanium Security Arena, the home court for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League.

Six EpiPen stations are being installed at publicly accessible locations within the stadium so that EpiPens are readily available in the event that spectators, players or officials suffer a potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis attack and need an urgent injection of adrenaline.

Titanium Arena will be the first major Australian sporting stadium to fitted with such equipment.

The initiative has been developed by Dr Pooja Newman, the founder of Global Anaphylaxis Awareness and Inclusivity (globalaai), and Clinical Director of Ananda Aged Care, one of the Adelaide 36ers’ major sponsors.

Dr Newman, who almost died after suffering an anaphylaxis reaction to latex at an Adele concert in Adelaide earlier this year, said that for someone suffering a severe allergic response, an EpiPen could literally be the difference between life and death.

“Up to 20% of the population is known to suffer allergies. These include foods such as nuts, fish, crustaceans, eggs, milk and grains, while other common allergies include pollen, pet hair, dust mites, latex and insect bites,” she said.

“For someone suffering an extreme allergic reaction, an injection of adrenaline from an EpiPen can be the difference between survival and death.

“While many people who are susceptible to allergies carry their own EpiPens, there are times when an attack will be sudden and unexpected and the victims may not be able to treat themselves.

“Having EpiPen stations in the stadium will significantly increase the likelihood that someone suffering anaphylaxis will survive.”

Titanium Security Arena CEO, Guy Hedderwick, said the organisation was delighted to work with Ananda Aged Care and globalaai on the initiative.

“Anything that makes Titanium Security Arena a safer place for spectators, players and officials is something we support,” he said.

“When Dr Newman contacted us about this initiative, we didn’t hesitate to offer our backing.

“We see this as an important public health initiative and we are delighted to be the first major stadium in Australia to offer this service.”

Mr Hedderwick said he hoped similar EpiPen stations would be rolled out in other stadiums across the nation.

The Aliens have invaded, well that is how it sometimes feels when you are trying to navigate to find the correct website to purchase your event ticket. I always ask myself, am I on the right website to get my official tickets?

Having the potential customer get to the venue website is becoming infinitely important to be able to direct them to the official ticketing website, allowing customers to buy tickets at the advertised price and to receive the official tickets for the event.

With the increased use of 3^rd party resale websites, it has had an impact on the customer experience. Having to turn away patrons who have purchased invalid tickets and their emotional turmoil of not being able to see the event has become an increased occurrence throughout venues in Australia.

Some 3^rd party resale incidents at our venue include; the same tickets being sold multiple times and only the first buyer gets into the venue, tickets not arriving and the buyer tries to get them reprinted at the ticket box with no success (ticket is not purchased under their name from 3^rd party sites), buying adult tickets and they all come through as children tickets. There is also the big sting of over inflated costs when they could have gone to the official website and purchased tickets. It’s just not happening for sold-out events, it can happen for any event!

What can venues do? Venues already work with the promoters to ensure that their marketing plan highlights the venue’s official ticketing agent is important and is consistently done throughout the industry. Consumers are increasingly using the internet to purchase tickets and regularly use search engines to look up the latest artist coming to town and buying Google Search ad space for your website keywords can become costly if your venue doesn’t have a high marketing budget.

Should the Government get involved to legislate to define clear lines? Or is it up to venues, promotors, artists and the events community to educate the consumer to buy right.

The only recourse is for the buyer to lodge a complaint with their bank and with the resale site they purchased from.

Until we find a solution to help our potential customers, the aliens will continue to invade.

Titanium Security Arena’s official ticketing partner is ticketmaster, head to ticketmaster.com.au for all purchasing of tickets to events held at the venue.

Skye Harwood

Ticketing Manager