Step onto the INTIX show floor with us in Las Vegas as we sit down with Amy Graca, Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Caesars Entertainment, to unpack how an ordinary ticket becomes an extraordinary night. Amy takes us inside a 50-venue footprint (over 20 on the Strip alone) where the “all-in-one” experience blends world-class shows, signature dining, and artist access into something fans can’t get anywhere else.

We dig into the playbook behind those moments: co-creating with artists to design packages that feel personal and scalable. Hear how Old Dominion’s multi-market synergy drove a Strip takeover, and how Blake Shelton’s Colosseum run links to his Ole Red bar with a gamified, show-specific T-shirt drop chosen by Blake himself. Amy frames it all through the lens of unreasonable hospitality; an operating system where flawless execution, clear communication, and frontline care turn VIP from a label into a promise. That’s how trust is built with artists and why it endures, from opening-night parties to Garth Brooks saluting his ushers mid-show.

We also explore how to offer personalized value across different life stages, whether through lawn bundles with friends or curated lounge access, and spotlight the reinvention of meet-and-greets: Donny Osmond’s intimate story-and-song gatherings, Sting’s interactive Q&A sessions, and Usher’s backstage world transformed into a multi-room experience.

If you care about the craft behind a great show—artist collaboration, operational excellence, and hospitality that dares to overdeliver—this conversation will spark ideas for your team and your next night out. Follow the series, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more fans and pros can find us.

Recorded Wednesday, January 28th, 2026
Hosts: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation & Maureen Andersen, President & CEO, INTIX
Guest: Amy Graca, SVP of Entertainment, Caesars Entertainment
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work

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What makes a show truly “worth it” when wallets feel tight and the pace of change won’t slow down? We sat down on the floor at INTIX to unpack new survey data from leaders across live entertainment and paired it with insights from 100,000+ patron responses. The result is a clear map of where price perception meets real value, how C‑suite and frontline teams see the same problem from different seats, and what it takes to turn AI from a buzzword into a daily workflow advantage.

We start by reframing “too expensive” into a conversation about meaning, memory, and friction. Our Ticketmaster study shows “expensive” ranks differently across concerts, sports, and theater, hinting at how narrative and ritual shape perceived value. Then we pressure‑test that idea with the Deal or No Deal memory exercise, revealing why fans often prize the experience far beyond the ticket price after the fact (and how marketers can seed that feeling before purchase). Along the way, we explore the split between patron‑first and business‑first instincts: non‑C‑suite voices cite affordability and loyalty, while executives eye production costs, aging facilities, and upskilling.

AI threads through every function (analytics, marketing, service, operations), yet many still rate its impact as “moderate.” We explain why visibility lags behind reality and share a practical path to adoption: identify team “yak‑shaving,” pilot targeted AI workflows, capture wins, and codify them into prompts and playbooks. Finally, we land on the leadership trait the room chose for 2026: adaptability. Not as a buzzword, but as the operating system for transparent decisions, faster test‑and‑learn cycles, and trust that survives volatility.

If you work in live events, this conversation offers actionable strategies: align on value, reduce full‑journey friction, design for memory, and build AI‑enabled super teams. Subscribe, share with a colleague who lives in the box office or the boardroom, and tell us: what would make your next show undeniably worth it?

See additional results from the Future of Live survey here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/perspective-challenge-what-our-intix-leadership-survey-bazadona-qbs5e

Recorded Wednesday, January 28th, 2026
Hosts: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation & Lisa Cecchini, Managing Partner, Situation, & Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work Consulting
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work Consulting

If you care about how fandom really grows, this year-end review is your field guide. We pulled threads from dozens of candid conversations across sports, Broadway, music, family entertainment, and venue operations to reveal seven clear themes that separate fleeting hype from durable community.

We start with growing audiences: the U.S. Open’s free Fan Week proves sampling converts, while the Formula 1 Exhibition shows how taking the show to the city unlocks new audiences. That same logic challenges Broadway to think bigger than fixed seat counts, with live capture and streaming as discovery engines that feed the box office rather than compete with it. And we dismantle lazy assumptions about women’s sports with The Gist’s blueprint for reaching underserved fans by widening the lane, not narrowing it.

Legacy, when handled with care, becomes a growth asset. PBS and Feld Entertainment explain how to honor nostalgia while delivering something new enough to belong to today’s audience. Opera lovers remind us what lifelong loyalty sounds like when a performance clicks and imprints for decades. On the artist side, the economics of touring and social access make fan relationships the main stage; from the GRAMMYs’ vantage point to music cruises built for connection, the artists who treat fans as partners build careers that last.

Technology runs through it all, with AI emerging as the new discovery layer. The job now is to make your content machine-readable so it surfaces where people ask for it, while keeping tech focused on enabling human care. Hospitality over scripts is the mandate: Southwest’s trust-in-people approach, BroadwayCon’s simple meetups that turn strangers into friends, and D23’s daily listening across superfans show how authenticity scales. Finally, we go inside the venue: “street-to-seat” design raises expectations on speed, choice, and sensory experience, and local identity, like New Orleans pride at Pelicans games, turns moments into memories.

Walk the lot. Time the lines. Watch the fans. That’s the habit we’re taking into next season, along with a commitment to keep the conversation practical, human, and loud. If this resonates, subscribe, share the show with a colleague who builds audiences, and leave a review to help more fan-first leaders find us.

A big thank you to all of our guests, including Nicole Kankam, Jonathan Linden, Jacie deHoop, Robert Diamond, Alex Birsh, Ruthie Fierberg, Amy Wigler, Jim Moseley, Melanie Broussalion, Eric Bornemann, John Loken, Jeff Cuellar, Janette Roush, Andrew Recinos, Andrew Harvell, Melissa Anelli, Michael Vargo, Tina Heney, Elisa Padilla, and Mel Barry.

Recorded December 2025
Hosts: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation & Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work Consulting