Lyte’s Caroline Nicholson on ticketing, gardening – and doing what’s right for fans
Caroline Nicholson knows ticketing. Like, really, really knows it.
She also knows Southern California, how to grow fruits and vegetables, and what it’s like to be so close to her favorite artists she could reach out and touch them if she dared.
Caroline is Lyte’s new Senior Client Service Manager. She works with our partners to set up ticket exchanges for in-demand live events, making sure things are running smoothly and providing guidance and support as needed.
Here, Caroline talks ticketing, Death Cab for Cutie, and doing the right thing. Take a look.
Maggie: You have had a really great career path. Tell us about it.
Caroline: I’ve been in ticketing for over nine years now. I started at See Tickets, which was actually Flavorus then. I was the Director of Client Service, and I helped grow the customer, client, and field operations teams. I learned a lot about ticketing but also just what it’s like to help grow a business. Flavorus was purchased by SFX and then Vivendi, and around that time, one of my clients — Insomniac Events — asked me to join their team as Director of Ticketing. They were one of my favorite clients, so it was an awesome opportunity to work with them full-time and see the other side of live events from the producer perspective. I definitely learned a lot from them about thinking big and doing the right thing for fans — even if it happens to be the hard thing.
Now, I’m joining Lyte’s client service team. I really feel like it’s coming full circle in a lot of ways for me in working to help fans in the secondary market. Lyte is about doing the right thing.
Maggie: What brought you to Lyte?
Caroline: Well, two people actually referred me to Lyte: Brooke Contreras (Lyte’s Field Operations Manager), who I worked with on Insomniac; and Gene Lee, a contractor with Lyte and someone I’ve worked with for a long time both at See Tickets and Insomniac. They both thought I should check it out and I’m so glad I did!
Maggie: What is your role at Lyte? How is it going so far?
Caroline: It’s been going great! I’m a Senior Client Service Manager. I will be working with accounts like Goldenvoice to set up and optimize their exchanges for sold-out shows. It’s a lot to take in! Everyone has been super nice and helpful while I start to dig in and get myself familiar with all of our clients and different integration paths.
Maggie: Lyte has seen huge, amazing growth in the last year — especially in 2019, with more than 50 North American festivals partnering with us to date. As someone with a new perspective — who also has had a close-up view of the ticketing industry — what do you anticipate for Lyte, both short-term and long-term?
Caroline: I’m excited to see more and more fans recognize the platform. I think once that happens they will be our biggest advocates. Fans are really tired of being abused by the secondary market, and I know festivals want a better experience for their fans. I can imagine fans really pushing their favorite festivals to use the Lyte platform, since it really is a win-win situation for everyone.
Maggie: Where are you from? What are some cool things we should know about you?
Caroline: I was born in New Jersey and grew up in Southern California. I met my husband while I attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and now we live in a smallish town called Altadena, which is outside of Los Angeles near Pasadena. I love to bake and cook, and we have a pretty sweet garden in our backyard with lots of fruit trees. I try to grow a vegetable patch each season. I’m kind of a homebody, but I’m super excited to explore the Bay area over the next few months while I get to know everything Lyte.
Maggie: What do you love about live events? Favorite concert or event and why?
Caroline: I love the shared energy. It’s such a cool feeling to feel the same thing as hundreds or even thousands of people around you. Live music especially can be simultaneously very personal and also very shared. I think my favorite kind of event is maybe one at a small venue.
I had a client — BAMP Project — and they opened a small venue in Hawaii. I was there to help set up for the opening week. Seeing Death Cab for Cutie up close and personal was pretty surreal. I was like, ‘Woah…Ben Gibbard’s face is like a few feet away!’
About Lyte
Lyte makes it easier for fans to go to more live events. Founded in New York City and San Francisco by CEO Ant Taylor, our killer fan feature is returnability. In an industry where a “no refunds and no cancellations” policy is the standard, Lyte enables fans to return their event tickets, no questions asked, to the official point of purchase.
Lyte also provides a safe and official reservation booking system, offering fans who sign up a fair price for in-demand tickets. One hundred percent of the tickets bought and sold through Lyte are issued through our ticketing partners and delivered directly to fans. Lyte has delivered millions in fan savings — $1.8 million in 2018 alone. It’s only getting better from here, thanks to our growing partnerships with bands, venues, promoters, ticketers and festivals.
For the industry, we function as a full inventory management solution, including a private-label secondary market to optimize event yield for event producers. Visit lyte.com.
