Engage, Excite, Repeat: The Fan Experience Playbook
Panelists:
Amy Troendly Buck, AEG Presents
Jeff Cuellar, Sixthman
Chris Kappy, Make Wake Artists
Mark Oglesby, Tour Manager
Chris Semrau, Legends Global / Paycom Center, Oklahoma City
Moderated by:
Ally Venable, Flytevu
Defining the Fan Experience
The panel agreed that “fan experience” is the entire journey, not just what happens during the set.
Arena operator Chris Semrau described it as door to door. It begins when a guest hears about the show and only ends when they are home talking about their night. Every touchpoint matters: parking, entry, staff interactions, food, merch, and exit. With more than 300 different facilities in the Legends Global portfolio, he stressed there is no single template. The experience has to be tailored to the event and audience.
On cruise ships, Jeff Cuellar and his team live with fans for several days. For him, fan experience is about a relationship built across dozens of small moments, from the first announcement all the way through late night hallway conversations on board.
Tour manager Mark Oglesby sees it as a responsibility to both fans and crew. After 2020, being labeled “non essential” sharpened his sense that this work is a privilege. Fans come to forget real life for a few hours. His starting point with staff is simple: treat everyone in the building as a guest in your home and remember you are also a guest in the venue’s home.
Moments That Shape How They Work
Each panelist shared fan moments that still drive their decisions.
Mark told a story about seeing Pearl Jam in Toronto, where U2 joined them on encore. As fans left, they were handed USB drives with that specific night’s live recording and tour photos. It felt futuristic at the time and still matters to him almost twenty years later. That one surprise made him see the power of letting fans take “their” show home.
Amy Troendly Buck highlighted a major Carolina benefit concert with Luke Combs, Eric Church, and others that raised money for Hurricane Helene victims. It was a great night for fans but also a powerful purpose driven event for artists and crews. For her, tying shows to something larger than entertainment can create especially strong fan memories.
Jeff talked about watching Bonnaroo gates open and seeing fans sprint full speed to the rail, willing to stand for hours in the heat just to be close. On ship events, he now walks around asking people why they came. He hears stories of anniversaries, relationships that started at certain songs, and trips planned for over a year. Knowing cabin numbers, his team can send surprise notes or champagne that deepen those emotional ties.
Designing the Journey: Before, During, After
Mark approaches each tour day with the mindset that fans are guests crossing a threshold. His main tools are hiring and attitude. He looks for staff who mirror the artist’s heart, and he expects his team to greet every venue worker with respect and gratitude. For fans, he borrows ideas from sports and other shows: premium swag nights, light up moments, or anything he notices makes his own kids excited, then adapts those ideas to the artist’s brand.
Working across many tours and genres, Amy focuses on the on site experience by audience type. For Disney family tours, her team asked what kids would do while parents waited in merch lines, then built step and repeat photo areas and simple pre show activations near concessions. To encourage early arrival, they have created tailgate zones and continue to scale ideas that work. In her view, fans are spending serious money, so the environment around the performance must feel playful and thoughtful, not just functional.
In Oklahoma City, Chris distills his playbook into two goals. First, make everything easy. That means clear information before the show, simple entry, intuitive wayfinding, and fast food and beverage. Second, make something memorable. That can be tour specific cocktails, photo spots, or even a small backstage thank you gift for touring crews that gets talked about years later. He encourages his staff to attend outside events as regular customers to see what truly works from the seat, not the control room.
On cruises, Jeff treats the ship as a blank canvas. His team customizes everything from elevator clings and table felt designs to buffet recipes based on artist stories, favorite colors, and family recipes. Guests are greeted on board in ways that fit the artist’s world, down to what music plays and how staff welcome them. Two very different brands can flip the same ship from one immersive world to another in a matter of hours.
Technology, Data, and the Digital Fan
The group sees live events as largely human experiences, even as technology shapes expectations.
Social media has erased much of the distance between artists and fans. Mark routinely sees artists arrive at the venue and ask him to help a family they only know from a direct message, whether that means parking help, early entry, or a quick meet and greet. That same channel can also amplify a rough vocal night to the world in minutes.
Amy described a digital wallet pass that AEG launched for tours like Luke Combs. Early on, fans were skeptical. Staff walked merch lines in person promising discounts if they downloaded it. Over time, as people realized the perks were real, the pass became a powerful tool. It now supports surprise seat upgrades, push notifications, dedicated merch lines, and other benefits for select fans.
Venues still rely on basics like email “know before you go” and post show thank you notes, but Chris sees opportunity to pack more actual experience into those messages, not just FAQs.
On Jeff’s ships, one “innovation” that failed was trying to force guests to use only digital schedules. Some communities insist on a paper schedule, even if it changes, so his team now offers both. The lesson was to listen to the fan rather than push technology that serves operations more than guests.
Live streaming sparked mixed opinions. Amy worries that mid tour streams can complicate ticket sales or lock in a single imperfect night forever. Jeff compared it to older taping culture in jam bands, where shared recordings actually drove more people to shows. All agreed that any streaming strategy should come with better data sharing between artists, promoters, and venues so everyone can understand and serve audiences more effectively.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Pricing, Inclusivity, and When Things Go Wrong
As costs and ticket prices rise, the panel expects fan expectations to keep rising. Live events now compete with streaming platforms, gaming, and simple nights out.
On all in ticket pricing, Amy believes transparency is a net positive. Showing the true out the door cost up front builds trust. She has not seen clear evidence that it significantly suppresses demand.
Inclusivity is harder to solve. Jeff questioned how often the industry truly needs to escalate production and spectacle. Many fans have never seen a given effect in person, even if production crews have seen it many times. Reusing strong ideas and focusing on emotional connection might be more
inclusive than chasing ever larger visual moments that raise costs. Mark added that most fans primarily want to see and hear the artist. When a show design buries the performer under too many people or effects, it can dilute the core experience fans paid for.
On weather, shutdowns, and crises, everyone came back to two principles: safety and transparency. Chris’s sharpest memory is the March 2020 Thunder game that triggered a global shutdown. He is proud that his building calmly evacuated 18,000 anxious people. Jeff has made difficult weather calls at festivals and at sea and keeps his own test simple. Can he say with confidence that he prioritized safety, even if fans second guess the decision in real time. Owning mistakes when they happen and explaining how the team will make it right is part of protecting trust.
What They Hope Fans Take Home
Asked what they want fans to feel after engaging with their show, venue, or event, the answers were remarkably aligned.
Mark wants joy and inspiration, and hopes there is always at least one kid who leaves wanting to go home and learn an instrument. Amy wants fans to feel closer to the artist and to each other, with the performance still at the center. Chris wants the next day “high” where a fan goes to work still buzzing, turning one night into a lifelong memory. Jeff wants fans to walk away feeling like they were wrapped in a warm hug, able to say, “I got to do this,” not “I had to.”
Key Takeaways
Fan experience is a complete journey, from announcement to the ride home, not just the time between lights down and lights up.
Small, personal surprise and delight moments often create more loyalty than expensive new production ideas.
Talent and performance are the core. Production and activations should support, not overshadow, the artist.
Technology and data are useful tools, but the value of live events is human connection in a shared space.
Be transparent about pricing and disruptions. Clear, honest communication builds trust even when fans are frustrated.
Listen carefully to fans and front line staff. Surveys, social comments, and hallway conversations reveal what truly matters.
Measure more than dollars. Repeat attendance, sentiment, and stories fans tell about your show are the real markers of success.