Paciolan Announces the 2006 "Heroes Awards" - Oklahoma Sooners Win Innovator Of The Year

IRVINE, CA -- Paciolan announced today its inaugural class of the “Paciolan Heroes Awards.” Paciolan recognizes client achievement by awarding 3 of its 225 clients that showcased extraordinary usage of Paciolan solutions in 2006. The Oklahoma Sooners won Innovator of the Year, the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center won Rookie of the Year and PMI’s Ticket Star won Star of the Year.

The Innovator of the Year recognizes leading clients that implement groundbreaking programs and processes while leveraging Paciolan solutions to transform their business. This award placed 3 finalists; Boston College, the University of Hawaii and this year’s winner, the University of Oklahoma, for the successful launch of their Sooner Loyalty Program. This unique program showcases Oklahoma’s innovative approach of engendering fan loyalty by tracking and rewarding attendance for 9 sports with data electronically captured via Access Management. Points are accumulated over a fan’s lifetime and calculated into the current priority point system to allow fans another opportunity to obtain critical points. First year results have seen dramatic growth in attendance at a number of sports including wrestling and volleyball. Oklahoma has integrated online ticket transfers and the Ticket Marketplace to ensure ticket consumption and subsequently complement the attendance base component of its priority point system. “The Sooner Loyalty Program dramatically redefines and strengthens our relationship with our fans from donors to students to the general public,” stated Billy Ray Johnson, Assistant Athletics Director of Ticket Operations at the University of Oklahoma. “More people now attend our lower-demand events to have better access to the higher-demand events -- a real win-win for all.”

The Rookie of the Year recognizes leading clients that leverage the full suite of Paciolan technology and quickly embrace the “venue enablement” model. This award placed 3 finalists; Roy Thomson Hall / Massey Hall, the Portland Trailblazers and this year’s winner, the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Rushmore went live in January 2006 after implementing Paciolan’s ticketing, access management, retail outlet point of sale, and email marketing products. Rushmore increased online ticket sales 50% after their first year of operation, successfully implemented event presales, optimized marketing promotional activities, and implemented promotional codes to offer incremental benefits to targeted fans. Additionally, their “live” date coincided with their largest single event of the year, the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo, which spanned two weeks in January 2006. “We’re excited about our success during our first year using Paciolan’s products and services,” said Vicki Koch, Business Manager at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. “We successfully sell the majority of our ticket inventory online, which enables us to build stronger relationships with our patrons.”

The Star of the Year recognizes leading clients that not only define the high watermark of online tickets sold, but also fully implement Paciolan products and best practices. This award placed 3 finalists; The New York Mets, Louisiana State University and this year’s winner, PMI’s Ticket Star. Ticket Star is a regional ticketing distributor in Wisconsin which offers services for local clients including the Resch Center. Ticket Star holds the Paciolan client record for most tickets sold online in a 15-minute period -- 12,255 tickets sold for their client, the Green Bay Packers. Ticket Star complements high-ticket volume with fully implemented access management, 7 retail outlets, effective usage of email marketing and more. Additionally, the company reaps the benefit of offering promoters greater all-around flexibility with their concert and event management functionality and by providing sponsors with improved activation opportunities. “With the huge demand created by increasingly bigger names performing at our venues, we need to ensure that our ticketing infrastructure performs,” said Brendan Bruss, Chief Administrative Officer of PMI, owners of Ticket Star. “Paciolan repeatedly handles our event on-sales without fault helping us to get our fans and promoters to return to Ticket Star again and again.”

“Our pledge to this generation of winners and all of our customers is to provide them with the technical infrastructure that enables them to build solid relationships with their fans,” said Jane Kleinberger, Chairman of Paciolan. “Our ultimate goal is to make every Paciolan client a ”Paciolan Hero"

About Paciolan

Founded in 1980, Paciolan is a leading ticketing enabler, providing ticketing, fundraising and marketing technology solutions for top venues across North America. Paciolan provides a wholly integrated infrastructure that puts venues in direct control of their customer relationships, brands and revenue potential. Primary markets include college athletics, professional sports, performing arts, arenas and museums. Collectively, Paciolan clients sell over 100 million tickets annually representing approximately 25% of all live event tickets sold in the US. Paciolan is a privately held corporation based in Irvine, California.