Live music legends (photo by Bruce Northam)
When people reflect on their lives, they never look back at their time spent traveling, listening to live music, or attending great games as time wasted. Enter Fantrotter: empowering fans to literally follow their passions -- music, sports, festivals, comedy, theater -- and do more of what makes them happy.
Fantrotter is a free site that lets fans search the schedule of virtually any performer, and simultaneously shop the best prices for tickets, flights, hotels, and car rentals. Enter your favorite into www.fantrotter.com and see where it takes you.
Q&A with Fantrotter founder Mike Coletta...
Q. Why Fantrotter?
A. It's incredibly hard to keep up on global events that may interest you, let alone do the research to see what's affordable or syncs with your schedule. Fantrotter was created out of my own frustration while attempting to plan travel to see my favorite bands and sports teams. I found myself spending hours looking up ticket prices for events while separately searching flights, hotels and car rentals.
I knew there must be a better way to get estimated total prices for every potential trip and find the best ticket and travel deals from trustworthy suppliers. That's how Fantrotter was born. To help me build it, I signed on fellow globetrotter Lawrence Whiteside, an amazing developer, creator of www.cinemasetfree.com, and the architect behind www.spins.fm.
Q. What makes Fantrotter special?
A. Fans of a band, a sports team, a comedian, or anything from festivals to vegetables can never get enough. One of the most important priorities in a fan's life is getting tickets for a local show or game, but for people like me, it's also a high priority to see my favorites on the road. I want to see them in new cities and venues... and connect with new fans and friends along the way. The same can be said for fans who love to visit baseball stadiums, pig out at specialty food festivals, or attend autograph signings.
Fantrotter enlightens fans of almost anyone or anything about the possibilities to expand their horizons -- they will be surprised at the number of events taking place around the world that will connect them to their bliss.
Q. How is Fantrotter benefiting the arts?
A. I recently launched the Fantrotter "Travel Revenue Share Program," which enables bands, festivals and sports teams to earn money from the travel industry risk-free. Our website widget and Facebook App, which anyone with a fan base can quickly install on their website or Facebook page, lets them earn money from every airline ticket, hotel booking, and car rental their fans click. These tools also help event promoters sell more tickets and merchandise, increase social buzz, and have happier fans.