An Opendate Experience
The Future Looks Bright - there’s plenty of noise about how tough the live music business is, but we see a different story. We’re focusing on what’s possible. The savviest independent venues are innovating, adapting, and leading the way forward, and First Hold: Miami is where the conversation deepens.

You’re invited to be a part of a curated group of venue owners, promoters, and agents for two days of connecting and collaborating with a focus on the future, in the elegant Mayfair House Hotel in lush Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami.
RSVP for First Hold

Itinerary

Tuesday, Jan 28

3:00PM
The Virgin Hotel
Arrivals and check-in at The Virgin Hotel
6:00PM
Welcome Happy Hour in the Virgin Hotel lobby.
8:00PM
Monell's
Dinner at Monell's.
Meet in hotel lobby at 7:30 to Uber together.
10:00PM
Dee's Lounge
Night out at Dee's Country Cocktail Lounge.

Wednesday, Jan 29

9:00AM
Harken Hall
Buses leave for Harken Hall
9:30AM - 10:30AM
Breakfast, Opening remarks and introductions
10:30AM
Fireside Chat
High-Touch Hospitality: What music venues can learn from other hospitality businesses
Featuring James Moody founder and owner of The Mohawk, etc
11:30AM
Break
11:45AM
Panel
Backstage Done Right: Creating Experiences Artists Want To Return To
Featuring David McKay, CEO of Seated, Timm Donohue, Artist manager at Adult Decisions Mgmt, Tour Manager for Angel Olsen, and Musicians’ Rights Advocate, Jenny Boyts, CEO of Forty5 and Kurt Klaus, Head of Business and Legal Affairs for Harken Hall
12:45PM
Provided by Mitchell Delicatessen
Lunch and tours of Harken Hall
1:45PM
Fireside Chat
Making Sense of a Ticketing Landscape in Flux
Featuring Stephen Parker, Executive Director of NIVA
2:30PM
Panel
Turning Guests Into Regulars: The Cost of Customer Acquisition and the Art of Retention
Featuring Andrew Jensen from Opendate, Rami Haykal-Manning from Elsewhere in Brooklyn, NY, Chris Copen from Bottlerocket in Pittsburgh, PA, and Jordan Gechtman, Assistant General Manager and former Marketing Manager at Higher Ground in Burlington, VT
3:30PM
Break
4:00PM
Keynote
Getting Personal: Your Venue, Your Vision
Featuring Eric Tobias, Founder and CEO of Opendate, Owner of Forty5
5:00PM
Buses back to hotel
7:30PM
Adele's
Cocktails and Dinner at Adele's
10:00PM
Night out on Broadway!

Speakers

Jenny Boyts
CEO of Forty5
Chris Copen
Owner - Bottlerocket Social Hall
Timm Donohue
Artist Manager at Adult Decisions Mgmt, Tour Manager for Angel Olsen, and Musicians’ Rights Advocate
Jordan Gechtman
Assistant General Manager & former Marketing Manager at Higher Ground
Rami Haykal-Manning
Co-Founder and President of Elsewhere in Brooklyn and previously ran PopGun Presents and Glasslands Gallery
Kurt Klaus
Head of Business & Legal Affairs, VP Media & Entertainment, at Harken Hall
David McKay
Co-founder / CEO at Seated
James Moody
Founder and owner of The Mohawk, etc
Stephen Parker
Executive Director, NIVA
Eric Tobias
CEO & Co-Founder of Opendate
Matt Yasecko
Chief Operating Officer at Arrival Artists