The UK’s official ticketing body, the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), is hosting a half-day open meeting American Revolution: UK Evolution – Reshaping the Entertainment Ticket Industry on 19 June 2008.

The meeting will explore the first steps in delivering a new code of principles for the ticketing market that meets consumers’ needs. We will hear more about the Government’s ambitions for these new principles and advances in self-regulation from Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe MP. STAR members and other entertainment and sports ticket agents, producers, promoters and representatives of venues, as well as marketing and PR companies and the media, will be attending to debate the issues facing the industry following the House of Common’s Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report on ticket touting.

Tom Wright CBE, Chief Executive of VisitBritain and Chairman of STAR says: “Britain is renowned for its calendar of sporting and entertainment events – including popular theatre and opera performances – so it is vital that residents and visitors are assured of the quality and value of the ticket they buy. Changes in the US are already influencing the UK landscape and the edges between the primary and secondary markets are increasingly blurred. This meeting is an important step in further improving industry standards and strengthening voluntary regulation that will help improve consumer confidence and direct them to legitimate operators.”

STAR has organized this meeting to help the industry to understand better the impact and implications of the secondary ticket market and price comparison sites and discuss how to continue to protect consumers and ensure consumer confidence in the light of Government decisions not to increase regulation for the secondary ticket market.

The meeting will explore some of the changes in the market that are already affecting customers. Why do online ticket marketplaces think they can clean up the dirty face of reselling? How can consumers find the best deals online? What are the challenges to be faced in this brave new world of ticketing? Speakers include secondary reselling marketing places Getmein and Seatwave and price comparison websites Seatchoice and Tixdaq among others.