To Paraphrase Jay-Z: "Allow Me..."
Happy New Year!
A real G, Peter Shankman, sent out an email to his list this morning to re-introduce himself to his readers.
That inspired me to do the same.
So, let me take a second to re-introduce myself to you this morning.
I’m Dave Wakeman.
I’m an entrepreneur, writer, teacher, speaker, US Soccer certified coach, dad, partner, and more.
I’m based in Washington, DC, but I identify as a New Yorker.
You probably found yourself to this email because of a few things:
You saw me speak at a conference about sports, tickets, or entertainment like INTIX, Ticketing Professionals Conference, the ALSD, Ticketing Australia, WTC, or another one.
You’ve heard my ideas on my podcast: “The Business of Fun” with new episodes in the queue. Or, on TV or print in places like Sportico, Sports Business Journal, ESPN.com, the BBC, the CBC, The Wall Street Journal, or somewhere else.
You know of me from my work in tickets in the past when I worked with partners like American Express, Yellow Tail Wines, Yahoo!, and Madison Square Garden. (Folks still love to hear about and talk about the Black Card. A halo effect I will gladly accept.)
What do I do?
Primarily, you’ll find me be a consultant and the face of WCG.
WCG focuses on growth and profits by combining strategy and branding to enter new markets and position businesses correctly in their current markets.
This work enables me to bring ideas and experience from my time in sports, theatre, non-profits, politics, B2B marketing, and nightclubs to use in a number of areas.
As one of my clients said, “You know your s^&*!”
I give talks and keynotes on topics like marketing effectiveness, branding, and corporate strategy.
I still get emails about the talk I gave at the Australian Football League’s League Day in 2019 because people are still putting the ideas to work, even after the disruptions of COVID!
Over the last few years, I’ve done a lot more teaching through classes at business schools like the Kelley School of Business and their Kelley on Location program and some sports business programs around the world including Australia, England, and New Zealand.
My trainings and workshops are big hits with the theme of all of them being impact and action.
As an advisor, I’ve been fortunate enough to offer my thinking and ideas to executives on 6 of the 7 continents.
I haven’t made it to Antartica…yet!
I am also the Vice Chair of the Board of the DC Soccer Club where we are turning the club into the premier youth soccer organization in the United States.
The big idea:
I put out this email and the podcast because I want to see folks be more successful.
We see a lot of stuff about the decline of the RSN model, the troubles in the arts and theatre, and how people are getting squeezed in all directions.
My gig is not to ignore these things, but to confront them head-on.
Why?
Because if you aren’t honest about what you are dealing with, nothing will change.
So, I want you to reply to these emails, catch up with me over coffee, hang out in the Slack Channel, and put these ideas to use.
I give away a lot of this stuff because so that everyone can access these ideas…they are important.
Tickets and nightclubs have given me so much.
If you are interested in working with me directly, don’t hesitate to reach out.
We can do a quick intro call and discuss:
Workshops
Trainings
Research
Brand strategy
Or, whatever.
And, never hesitate to just say “hello”.
I appreciate all of you being here.
Thank you!
Dave
BTW, you’ve made it this far! Maybe you know someone that should be getting my notes…Share this with them.