TLCC 2022, Denver, Colorado – getting back in the saddle

August brought with it a chance to get back out into the world in more ways than one— after a two-year hiatus, we were more than ready to make our way from Glasgow and Manchester to Denver for the Tessitura Learning and Community Conference 2022 (TLCC).

The conference welcomed over 1,600 attendees, with a high percentage of new or first-time attendees, so perhaps akin to the first day of school, we were all tentatively stepping back into the shared space of travel and meeting en masse at the conference, with a certain amount of reflection on the past two years.

This definitely felt like it was the unwritten theme for the conference, with a lot of heartfelt reflection and storytelling on how the pandemic had affected individuals, organisations, their users and wider communities. It would have felt somewhat remiss not to acknowledge and reflect on this time and what it meant for those in the Arts, Culture and Event sectors— how they had been affected and struggled, but also how they made their way through the pandemic and got back on their feet and to flourish in the ‘new normal’.

As a sponsor and integrator to the Tessitura community, it was great to once again be able to attend events and sessions for networking and learning from the experts at Tessitura and our peers. We loved getting the chance to spend time with our existing clients and partners, as well as meet new people and organisations from around the world within the Tessitura community. It’s always fun to hear about their needs and challenges, as well as share what we do and what we’re passionate about. Most importantly, what we can deliver to Tessitura users with our Skyway product.

Highlights of the conference and key takeaways included:

An opening reception on Sunday to meet and greet and kick the conference off.

Monday’s Conference Welcome and Technology update which provided the latest news on Tessitura Merchant Services and V16, and what’s ahead on the technology roadmap.

The excellent, innovator series general session— hosted by Nancy Yao, President, Museum of Chinese in America; Board Member, Tessitura Network— where we heard from Rathi Kumar, Operation Director at the Young Vic speak about ‘Best Seat in Your House’, an immersive, multi-camera broadcast experience for their users.

Barbara Polk, Chief Administrative Officer, at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, speaking about ‘How organisations can reach their potential: Hint - It's your people’.

And Jamie O. Bosket, President & CEO, at Virginia Museum of History and Culture, with his talk ‘Reaching out begins with looking in: Reimagining Virginia’s History Museum’.

The three different takes on the last two years were equally warm, innovative and successful in their outcomes. V16 highlights for memberships— knowing that this was going to be one of the key areas of significant change in the industry, it was great to get a deep dive into what was changing or new and how that would better benefit users and admin alike.

Hearing Stephanie Ybarra’s keynote “It IS personal: Vulnerability in arts & culture leadership”. They dove deep into what it is to acknowledge each other’s humanity and why it’s important not to take focus away from us being humans at the centre of our work.

A ‘build your own networking’ night which saw us moving around the conference space for different locations, courses and of ‘course’, conversations. And finally, the closing session with Andrew Recinos was a chance to reflect on being back together, what we had learned from the conference, and more widely, on success stories from the Tessitura community, which were a reminder of why we do what we do.

Wednesday saw the end of the conference— and a chance to unwind with the other attendees. Dinner, drinks (and possibly some questionable dance moves) in the ballroom and lawns were a fitting end to the conference and were a great way to have a final catch-up. Denver provided a fitting (and epic) sunset to toast the evening and the end of the conference!

Denver itself was an obvious favourite. We always make an effort to spend some time sightseeing wherever we’re visiting and hopefully get a taste for the local culture and attractions. We’re always interested in new experiences and ticketing after all!

Arriving at the rather futuristic Denver airport, we were hit by a wall of heat and another of those aforementioned Colorado sunsets. Not having carried out the full tourist research before arriving, we were surprised to see the flat open plains stretching out to the Rocky mountains.

We were well accommodated at the conference venue for the week— the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, which was an experience in itself! A giant fireplace in the lobby, a 75-foot flat-panel TV in the Sport bar and a lazy river where we whiled away a couple of jet lagged hours —and may have picked up some sunburn.

We were lucky to be able to spend some time in Denver itself, the team kicked off with a trip to Meow Wolf Convergence Station, which I’m still struggling to know how to describe other than amazing, trippy, mind-bending art installations!?! Certainly an experience I’m not sure I’ll get to have again, but highly recommend for something out of the ordinary.

We followed up with a mooch around the RiNO (River North) district and explored, ate well and bought gifts at the Denver Central Market. A great part of the city, good atmosphere. The following day we started in Downtown Denver at Larimer Square, a venture over to Denver Union Station and then through the pedestrianised shopping streets all the way to the State Capitol buildings and the Civic Center Park.

It was heating up at that point, so the team made their way to Denver Art Museum, dumped our bags and spent a solid 5 hours trying to see as much of the massive space and many floors as possible. Highlights were the Georgia O'Keeffe and photography exhibitions, the indigenous art galleries and the Mexican Fashion Manifesto. The buildings and architecture alone were worth a visit and to be in a lot of the spaces alone, including some room top terraces felt like the icing on the visit.

We returned home, with a little jet lag, but also invigorated by the experience, and most importantly excited by what lies ahead for After Digital and Skyway. We’re excited to dive into our roadmap, expand our team and to build on our successes with our existing and new users.

Next up, we’re looking forward to TLCC Europe, in London – and TPC2022… and a half, at The Lowry.

If you are interested in our Services, learning more about Skyway, or working with After Digital, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would love to speak about what we could do for your organisation.