Emmy B. Gengler, CEO Softjourn’s focus on media and entertainment grew from its expertise in designing and developing high-volume, high-concurrency transaction processing systems for banks and clearing-houses. From there, it was natural for the company to bring that experience to bear on the rapidly evolving world of media and entertainment. “When you think of the volume of data our solutions handle, think the 2016 Bruno Mars’ world tour, which sold a million-plus tickets in a matter of hours. Think video streaming and video on demand,” says Emmy B. Gengler, CEO, Softjourn.
Ticketing, of course, is integral to entertainment. It’s all about delivering unique customer experiences, which begin the instant a fan discovers an interesting event. Pushing the right entertainment options— based on purchase history or expressed interest, for example—is what personalization is all about. Further down the funnel, video continues to drive fan engagement through social interaction and builds enthusiasm for individual stages or even attendance at the following year’s event. For organizations, nurturing customer relationships end-to-end is a crucial aspect. Unsurprisingly, using blockchain to streamline and secure ticket sales is a big part of the picture, as evidenced by an increasing number of requests for blockchain pilots from ticketing companies.
Softjourn’s internal R&D group continually tests advanced technologies in media and entertainment, and the company has developed a rich menu of skills to support innovation.
Softjourn’s clients are challenged to grow market share and meet expectations for personalization. Our end-to-end solutions keep them moving forward at business velocity
This benefits its clients in several ways. During consulting engagements, it conducts functionality and code audits of existing platforms. This makes it possible to define, architect, and implement entirely new platforms that replace older technology and outmoded functionality.
Citing an example of a client’s challenge, Emmy speaks about the depth and diversity of Softjourn’s portfolio: A ticketing client began innovating a few decades ago, eventually introducing e-ticketing and an on online box office for consumers. Ultimately, its Microsoft-based system became bloated, unwieldy, and labor-intensive. Softjourn proposed a self-service solution that would make it easy to set up and edit events. As a result, 95 percent of all events can now be administered by non-technical people. This was immensely beneficial as registering an event started taking less than three minutes, freeing up internal staff time. And the database allowed its client’s customers to capture more attendee data. “At this point, I want to emphasize that Softjourn delivers highly customized offerings. Our media and entertainment clients tend to be unique; some focus on festivals or state fairs, some on mega concerts or sporting events. And the knowledge and experience base allows us to advise clients at a very deep level, which ultimately saves all stakeholders time, money, and frustration,” says Emmy.
Though the word “disruptive” is used a lot these days, Softjourn believes that a capacity for genuine market disruption is an important quality and brings the same to the table. The company has worked in media and entertainment for around 12 years and believes that it is hard to find a consulting and software development organization with the breadth of critical functionality that Softjourn has. “Our clients come to us because they know we understand the industry. They don’t need to spend precious time explaining it to us. They benefit from our focus and the insight-driven solutions we create,” ends Emmy.
CIO Speaks
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Yuri Aguiar, Chief Information Officer, Ogilvy & Mather
Samuel Chesterman, Worldwide CIO, IPG Mediabrands
Keith Morrow, EVP, Chief Information OfficerEpsilon
Les Ottolenghi, EVP & CIO, Caesars Entertainment
Douglas Duncan, CIO, Columbia Insurance Group
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Thomas Knapp, CIO, Waterstone Mortgage Corporation
David Kennedy, Group CIO, Transaction Services Group
Joelle Chen, Director, Global Partnerships & Marketing, Intelligent Air Solutions, Mann+Hummel
Peter Auhl
Subbu Murthy, CIO, Howard Building Corporation
Daniel M. Horton, CIO, Sallyport Global
