anthony galvin

In most companies today more and more information is available in near real time. But as retired submarine captain David Marquet famously said, people on the front line have all the information and no authority, whereas the people with all the authority have none of the information. Leaders are often a long way from the day-to-day operational reality, especially those who work in product and technology.

So sometimes it pays to put yourself on the shop floor – or in my case at the theatre door.

As part of our Powered by TodayTix platform we’ve been working on a new ticket-scanning app that helps Powered by TodayTix events manage access and scan tickets. As a team we have a rigorous approach to quality, but there’s no substitute for testing with real customers at a real event. Which is why a few weeks ago I was welcoming the audience at a TodayTix Live event in Hackney.

It was a great experience to work with Tom and the front of house team at Gospels by Candlelight. There were a few minor learnings, not that you’d know at the time; for the audience the latest version of our scanning app worked seamlessly.

It’s a small piece of the puzzle, but this app will be used to scan and welcome people to multiple shows and events in 2026, providing the front of house team with real-time information about attendees and their booking. Luckily for those future customers the person using the scanner will probably be more experienced and a little less focused on the performance of the technology involved!

Shout out to Vic for the photos (and a lot of the development work on the scanning app).