TOP 10 CONCERT EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

1. Paul McCartney
2. Rolling Stones
3. Luke Bryan
4. Steely Dan
5. Taylor Swift
6. Vicente Fernandez
7. Fleetwood Mac
8. Pink
9. Black Sabbath
10. Zac Brown Band

Sir Paul remains king this week as our most popular event on VIPSeats.com.  Paul McCartney tickets are in demand as the legendary rocker will be touring all over N. America starting in a few weeks.  McCartney has some old friends on top of the rankings with him as the Rolling Stones, who kickoff their 50th Anniversary Tour on Sunday, remain close behind.  Summer concerts outdoors are also picking up some steam this week as shows by Luke Bryan, Zac Brown Band and Taylor Swift gain popularity. 

TOP 10 SPORTS EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

1. Boston Red Sox
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Floyd Mayweather vs Robert Guerrero
4. New York Yankees
5. New York Knicks
6. San Francisco 49ers
7. Green Bay Packers
8. Detroit Tigers
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. Los Angeles Clippers

In the Sports world, despite the NBA and NHL both starting their playoffs, baseball and football top the list! Usual best-sellers include the Yankees, Red Sox, and defending World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants.  With the release of the NFL schedule, we are starting to see some football teams crack the Top 10.  NFC powers like San Francisco, Green Bay and Dallas all make their first appearance in 2013.

TOP 10 THEATER EVENTS OF THE WEEK:

1. The Book of Mormon
2. Wicked
3. Matilda
4. Lion King
5. Motown - The Musical
6. Jersey Boys
7. Lucky Guy
8. Andrea Bocelli
9. Sue Mengers
10. Les Miserables

Not much change in our Top 10 Theater Events.  Book of Mormon and Wicked stay at #1 and #2.  The brand new production "Matilda" moves into 3rd while usual hits like Jersey Boys and the Lion King hang around for another week.

 

Taylor Swift is, hands down, the most anticipated Tour of 2013! The Tour announcement was strategically announced just in time for the holiday shopping season.  What could possibly be a better stocking stuffer than tickets to a live Taylor Swift concert?!  

VIP Taylor Swift Experience Packages are available which include a ticket within the first twenty rows on the floor, a signed RED CD, pre and post concert hospitality which includes food, desserts and soft drinks.  

Taylor Swift VIP Meet 'N Greet tickets will be availble for select performances.    

Chris Marasco
Client Relations Manager
Since 2009

Chris Marasco is responsible for VIP Seats' client relations team, inside sales, and sell tickets program. Chris is credited with taking our client relations department to a whole new level and guiding our sell tickets program from its infancy.  Chris previously served as Inventory and Purchasing Manager and also managed major events. 

Prior to VIP Seats, Chris was a Sales Manager at LG Electronics and owned a successful business of his own in Precision Landscaping & Lawncare. 

A Buffalonian, Chris moved his company to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1995.  Down South in Charlotte is where Chris met his wife Lori and had a son Nicholas in 2003.

Life on the road with LG Electronics grew tiresome and days away from his wife and young son made him think long and hard about his life and his priorities.  Chris was yearning to get home to his aging parents and to re-connect with childhood friends and his roots back in Clarence, NY.

Chris was a long time friend of VIP Seats President & CEO Nick Giammusso.  The two were teammates and played against one another on the soccer fields of WNY.  As fate would have it, Chris and Nick would become teammates yet again, this time in the game of business strategizing daily at VIP Seats! 

Chris attended Buffalo State College where he majored in Business and played soccer for the Bengals. He is an avid NASCAR and Football fanatic and enjoys the outdoors, particularly fishing.

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

In an age where social media can bring you closer to your favorite performers than ever before, many fans looking are finding it tough to actually “get close” to them in person.  The experience of meeting your favorite musician, singer, or even athlete is often irreplaceable.  The memories of your time with someone you admire will last a lifetime.  But how does one go about finding those opportunities?

First off, it is important to know which performers are offering the chance for you to meet them.  In the first half of 2012, VIP Seats has sold Meet and Greet Passes to such performers as One Direction, Big Time Rush, and even Aerosmith! While there is no official list of tours that offer these opportunities, we have largely seen Meet and Greets sold to the younger and newer acts like the aforementioned Big Time Rush, One Direction as well as performers like Victoria Justice, Selena Gomez and even on rare occasions, Justin Bieber.

This of course begs the question, “Why aren’t more artists offering Meet and Greet passes?” With today’s tours ruled by mostly by the all mighty dollar, promoters try to jam in as many shows as they can into a small period of time.  As a result, singers are often fatigued or bands need down time to relax before the stresses of another sold-out show.  More established artists often become road-weary and need to recuperate.  Younger acts like the ones mentioned above often have plenty of energy or are looking to interact with their fans as a way to give back. 

When artists do decide that they want to give back, meet and greet passes go fast!  Sometimes, concert promoters will sell them direct to fans right from the box office, Live Nation or Ticketmaster, but very few are put on the market.  Often times the experience with the performer is accompanied by a ticket that is guaranteed to be within a certain number of rows from the stage or in a certain section.  When those tickets hit the secondary market, they often command high prices.  Other times, meet and greet passes are sold exclusively to fan club members or handed out to local radio or TV stations for contests and promotions.

Take advantage of our connections here in Western New York! We own meet and greet passes to both Big Time Rush on August 9^th and to Victoria Justice at the Erie County Fair on August 11^th!  Call the office for details! We specialize in those hard to find seats, VIP packages and even meet and greet passes!  Don’t miss out!  Follow me to your VIP Seats!

Quick Links:
Justin Bieber Tickets
One Direction Tickets
Big Time Rush Tickets - Meet & Greet Passes for Darien Lake
Victoria Justice Tickets - Meet & Greet Passes for Erie County Fair

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

Now is that great time of year, where summer reaches its midway point and attentions return to football.  The dog days of summer are in full swing and soon training camps for 32 hopeful teams will spring up across the country.  Diehard fans will be dreaming of New Orleans and Super Bowl XLVII and how their team will be the ones lifting the Lombardi Trophy in February.

No matter how a club is projected to finish, hope springs eternal around the NFL.  Most teams have put single game seats on sale (with the rest to follow in the coming weeks) and here at VIP Seats, we are already seeing an increased demand for the hottest games of 2012.  On Tuesday, tickets went on sale for two of the league’s hottest up and coming teams: the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions.

The Bills, our local team here in Western New York, haven’t sniffed the playoffs in a dozen years and have remained largely irrelevant league-wide.  Adding to a good core of players like Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson and Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills added a HUGE piece on defensive by adding top defensive free agent, Mario Williams.  Improving on the great young talent developing on the defensive side of the ball, the Bills are hoping the former #1 overall pick is the missing piece of the puzzle.  With Buffalo’s rabid fan base, seats are going quick for the team’s home games!

The Lions, much like their Lake Erie counterparts to the East, also had gone more than a decade without the postseason before finally achieving their goal in 2011.  Unlike the Bills, who waded in mediocrity, the Lions hit rock bottom with 5 seasons tallying less than 4 wins in during their drought including their infamous 0-16 mark in 2008.  Behind offensive weapons Matthew Stafford and the amazing Calvin Johnson, Detroit has an explosive offense that they used to obtain a Wild Card berth last year.  Fans have been scooping up tickets in near record numbers and demand is through the roof!

Similar stories are popping up around the league as teams once down on their luck in recent years like the 49ers, Bengals, and Texans have turned around in a hurry to make the playoff push.  Parity is at an all-time high as there is usually a worst-to-first story each year.  Each fanbase has reasons to be excited and to dream big.  Ticket sales across the NFL reflect that.

Of course it’s never too soon to start thinking Super Bowl! Our dedicated Super Bowl XLVII website will stay up to date during the 2012 season bringing you the latest news on ticket prices, hotel deals, all-in-one packages, and even celebrity parties so that you can plan your trip to the Big Easy.  Your favorite team may have some trouble reaching the big game, but you don’t have to! It doesn’t matter if you want to set up some high end clients, or check Super Sunday off your bucket list; allow VIP Seats to take the stress out of Super Bowl planning!

Quick Links:
Buffalo Bills Tickets
Detroit Lions Tickets
NFL Tickets
Super Bowl Tickets

By Alex Szczesny, Marketing Director

Many people are surprised to find out that in addition to buying premium event tickets, VIP Seats can also help you sell your extra seats and earn a little bit of cash! Listing your seats in a worldwide marketplace can be intimidating and we understand that you may have some questions.  Let us put our nearly 20 years of experience to work for you!!!

To get started, click “Sell Tickets” in the upper right hand corner of the page, or call one of our ticket specialists right away at 1-800-371-6323.  You will of course want to get the most back for your extra seats, but it’s sometimes tough to know what to list them for.  This is where the personal touch of VIP Seats comes in handy!  You can either do your homework on our very own site, or speak to us in person/over the phone and we’ll give you a rundown of the market and honest opinions about how to ensure a quick, easy sale.

When listing your seats with VIP Seats you get MAXIMUM EXPOSURE! Instead of fiddling with one or a few websites, VIP Seats cannot only manage your listing (in terms of pricing) but we use our resources to get you on nearly every Ticket Website or Exchange in the World! With tons of exposure and a great list price, we can usually come through for our clients in a timely manner.

A full list of specific questions can be found here, or to get started, call our offices or fill out our form online.  We are confident VIP Seats can take the stress out of selling your tickets and with our quick payments; you’ll want to use us again and again!

By Ethan Brooks
Taken from Ticket News Tues 3/27/12

Twitter is a growing news source for people who are on the go. Customizable, portable, and to the point, users can stay up-to-date by "following" their favorite friends, celebrities, and companies, whose updates — limited to 140 characters — are delivered directly to a user's phone. Keeping up with friends is important, but Twitter can be leveraged as a work-horse too. In this case, to make sure you never miss a concert again. Whether you are a long-time concert lover, or are just getting into the music scene, use these tips to make sure you don't miss out on your favorite bands coming to town.

With more than a hundred-million users it's difficult to decide whom to follow. Too few people, and you risk missing important information, too many, and you can't possibly see it all. The key lies in finding the fewest, most important accounts, and becoming a loyal reader.

Follow Your Favorite Venues

Start with the basics: your local venues. Forget the places you swore you'd never go to again, and anywhere you wouldn't drive to on a half-hour's notice. Worried about missing your favorite artist's performance that's happening in the next state over? We'll get to that later. For now, choose just a few accounts, so that you can hear who is coming to town, receive reminders of when tickets go on sale, and get notified of cancellations and/or date changes.

Follow Your Favorite Radio Stations

Follow the station, not the individual shows. Station accounts will announce opportunities across the board, tweeting ticket sales, contests, and events that all of their radio personalities are hosting. On the other hand, individual show accounts usually only focus on fan interaction, and will clutter your newsfeed with anecdotes about that day's segments.

Follow Your Favorite Bands

Don't follow every artist on your iPod, just the ones you'd drive 3+ hours to see. For these, you qualify as a die-hard fan, so you'll appreciate the bonus info, like back-stage pictures, stories from the road, and television appearance announcements. Of course, your favorite artists' feeds also keep you posted on new tour dates and locations, so you'll know just when to fuel up the fan-van.

While you're at it, follow us @VIPSeats as well!