Join us to talk emerging venue technology with Bryan Bedford, Global Head of Sport & Entertainment Channel Sales at Cisco and Zack Klima, Founder & CEO of WaitTime. We discuss how they are helping organizations safely bring fans back into the stands as well as innovate data around the in person experience. Both Bryan and Zack share personal career experiences and talk about the importance of building authentic relationships.
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Bryan Bedford
I've been a sports & media lover as long as I can remember. I saw my first Final Four event at age 10 and later attended college on a track and field athletic scholarship. I then spent my early professional career in sales in professional baseball and as a recruiter for a Division I football program.
I added an affinity for technology to my love of sports & media when I led sales for a digital media firm that completely transformed the way teams, leagues and venues consume and leverage technology. Now, as a senior executive leading a global technology sales team for one of the world's largest IT companies — and as the owner of my own sports recruiting consulting firm — I get to experience the best of both sports and technology.
While my roots are firmly grounded in my love of sports & media, those roots run just as deep in the digital media and technology worlds where I've spent the majority of my professional career. I've seen technology transform the retail and hospitality industries, I've seen it transform how we consume sports & media content, and I've seen it transform the fan experience. So whether my teams and I are working to help a sports team in Madrid improve its fan experience or enabling a television network to broadcast from the road, I'm excited by technology's power to transform organizations.
Zack Klima
As founder, CEO and creator of WaitTime, Zachary Klima leads the company’s global implementation strategy, overseeing partnerships with leading national and multinational organizations. From strategy to integration, he ensures the sophistication and seamless design of WaitTime is realized by each and every organization leveraging the technology. Klima concepted WaitTime in 2013 and was selected out of more than 100 applicants for participation in the rigorous Bizdom startup accelerator founded by Quicken Loan’s renowned executive Dan Gilbert. Previous to WaitTime, Klima was in the field of architecture, design and sales engineering." Under his leadership, WaitTime has forged partnerships with some of the most major sports, entertainment & hospitality organizations in the world that are currently using the artificial intelligence technology to reduce wait times and create better customer experiences, resulting in increased efficiency for the venues. Klima has a Master of Architecture from the University of Detroit Mercy. As an entrepreneur, Klima have taken an idea, carefully constructed a globally connected top of industry team, and has made it into a market force technology. He is an avid advocate of the gentrification of Detroit, and feels lucky to be part of the movement.
Don is a Business strategist who has demonstrated a unique ability to connect complex technology solutions with client needs, resulting in a material improvement of business results. Sales leader and manager who has proven the ability to attract, motivate and retain extraordinary sales professionals who work as a team to exceed revenue targets. Product development leader who has proven success in creating new product concepts to meet customer needs and drive revenue growth.