Auckland Live Staff Spotlight

Ko wai au?   
Kia ora, ko Lara Davis ahau. He uri ahau nō Te Tai Tokerau me Tonga. Ko Ngā Puhi me Te Rarawa ngā iwi. Born and raised in West Auckland, as someone that fell in love with live performance from a young age, I am proud to work in the industry that I love. Auckland Live is where my passion for live events, people, whānau and connection can come to life. 

For the past 23 years I’ve been in some form of ticketing operations. My very first ticketing job was actually here at the Aotea Centre box office working while I was studying for my BA! I came back to where it all started at Auckland Live in 2008 for five years and then returned again in 2018 to my current role as Ticketing Operations Manager where I oversee an amazing team. 

What does your job entail? 
Alongside my team, I manage all ticketed events in our venues and manage the relationship between our hirers and exclusive ticketing partner, Ticketmaster. We provide guidance on maps and ticket prices, check budgets to maintain average ticket prices and provide guidance on how to best sell tickets for our venues and – of course – issue the tickets too.  

We need to keep track of market trends, what is selling and what competition is in market to best guide our hirers. This includes working well with our internal teams to make sure that any ticketing decisions we make aren’t going to create issues at event delivery stage. 

Now, in just one word explain what your job entails 
Collaboration. 

Paint a picture of a ‘day in the life’ in your role 
No two days are the same, and that’s what keeps it interesting.  We can go from printing tickets, to big budget meetings to brainstorming on how to sell more tickets all in the same day. 

Likewise, on any day we can have dance parties, classical concerts and comedy shows happening across our stages and managing the different nuances involved. For some of our audience this might be their one special night out this year and we need to make the process as seamless as possible. Ticketing is the first touchpoint and we need it be memorable for all the right reasons. 

What do you love most about your job at Auckland Live? 
The people. Not only those I work alongside but the artists, producers and practitioners that I have been lucky enough to meet through the years – some of who I now consider whānau.  These events require hours of hard work, so it is vital to work alongside a team that you respect. 

What has been the most meaningful moment during your time here? 
There have been a few that have a special place in my heart. These include the renaming of the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre and our talented team producing the Gala Concert and the Auckland Live Cabaret Season. I really think there is nothing like working on the large-scale musicals though. Sitting in that opening night crowd for Aladdin the Musical and watching that carpet take flight to gasps from the audience is a pretty magical experience. 

How would your colleagues describe you? 
Organising chaos with a great sense of humour.