Mike Yakouba

As the Senior Talent Buyer at the venue, I was tasked with filling the venue's calendar with live music events, both local and national. I worked with bands directly as well as agents that represented some of the more well known bands with higher levels of draw. I was also tasked with finding locals for National Touring acts, managing the budget and expenses for events, creating graphics and AdMats as needed, and identifying the proper talent that will draw well in the City of Salem.

Achievements:

-All but 6 shows made expenses, most of which also sold well enough to generate good payouts for bands and the venue. When expenses were not met, the loss was always under $100

-Overall sales were increased at the venue after I took over buyer role. This included Bar sales, kitchen sales as well as profit from ticket sales.

-Started a non profit Music Program to give High School Students a venue to play at to learn the ins and outs of the live music industry.

-Used my contacts as a Promoter to bring national touring acts to the venue when before, there were little to none.

I currently work closely with Jeff Urquhart of King Banana Presents as his Promoter Rep. Here I am responsible for booking shows, finding locals for national acts, advancing/settling shows and being the main point of contact for bands and staff day of show.

Through my work with King Banana, I assist the Production Manager with various day of show tasks such as managing bands, settlement, managing Run of Show, venue setup and other tasks as needed. Recently, I have been tasked with full Production Management tasks to help fill in shifts at the venue as needed.

I am currently an Independent Promoter for Last Light Presents which is my Company that I own. I am responsible for identifying the proper talent for an event and booking them as well as booking shows at the proper venue that will best result in a successful show. I also frequently create graphics for events, work with agents, manage and distribute offers on national and international acts, manage finances and settle shows, and make sure that events are running as planned day of show.

At Mano Oculta, I took over the Buyer Role for a venue that had a very negative reputation in the local community that was struggling to stay afloat. My goal was to restore the reputation at the venue. I was tasked with booking local and national acts, creating ticket links on the Afton Ticketing platform, creating graphics for shows as needed, and managing the budget and expenses for events that I booked. I also advanced all events and created and distributed offers to agents and bands.

Achievements

-Ticket sales were down -180% when I took over, within two months that figure increased to 15% and put the venue back into a profitable state, which from there, increased over time.

-Was able to restore the venues reputation with many local bands that refused to play there previously and invited them back for a positive experience which many bands agreed that operations and overall experience was better than before

-Utilized my connections as a Promoter to bring more national touring acts to the venue

As the Production Manager, the owner of the venue moved out of the country so I took on many more roles than a normal Production Manager would have. I was responsible for managing Run of Show for countless events, I performed tasks such as running doors, settling shows, quickly solving issues day of show between venue staff and artists, managing current employees payroll and scheduling, ordering Bar merchandise and Security tasks as well. Outside of that, when the venue needed anything from fixing Restroom facilities to mopping the floor, I was the one that was performing those tasks, many times, unpaid.