Event Booking

John Platillero is the CEO of EventBooking.com. This business venture has the most unique start in comparison to the previous businesses seen this semester. John's passion and love for music sparked the interest behind this business concept. He began as a concert promoter where he booked church events locally in Knoxville then eventually started booking concerts for the Bijou Theater. While working as a small time promoter, he came up the the concept of having online booking to have musicians stop through Knoxville on the way to Atlanta or Washington D.C.

As a student in the MBA program he wrote his business model for an entrepreneur class. Even though he was debt free he needed capital to begin Eventbooking.com. So he talked to friends and family and was able to raise enough money to hire a programmer and two salesmen. He struggled initially because of the relative newness of the internet. He was attempting to sell a product to consumers that was internet based before people knew the internet. An early client was the Staples Center in L.A. where he was determined to pick a market and stay focused on it. In the year 2000 the idea was derailed because the users of his software didn't integrate the software to their business. Through his struggles he managed to have 200 of the 450 arenas across the country booked to use his software. His motto was to bring today value to the company, with application based software. Clients at this point were charged a usage fee of $10,000 or $2,000 a year.

Presently the software books conventions in addition to tours, John never thought the software would reach the level of growth it has over the years. The software currently has an application on the Iphone and Droid cellular phones. The company is now in a great position for growth and is fortunate to have a industry giant such as Disney as a user. This company has shown that anyone can have a great idea but a combination of timing i required.