Tour Management for Speaking Tours, Live Podcasts and Personalities

Experienced tour and production management for ticketed speaking tours, live podcast tours, author appearances, cast conversations and personality-driven theatre productions

A sold out audience for a live up close and personal show.

A successful speaking tour involves considerably more than placing a microphone and chair on a stage.

Once a speaker, author, podcaster, television personality or public figure begins traveling from city to city for ticketed live events, the production requires the same level of planning, communication and financial oversight as any other professional tour.

Platinum Road provides experienced tour management and production support for notable speakers, live podcast shows, authors and spoken-word productions. We work as an extension of the talent, management, agency, promoter and touring teams, overseeing the details necessary to create a consistent and professionally operated tour from one market to the next.

From initial planning and venue advancing through travel, production, VIP experiences, show operation and settlement, we make certain the talent can concentrate on the audience while the tour is properly managed around them.

Built for Ticketed Speaking Tours and Live Experiences

Platinum Road is particularly well suited for personalities who have built an audience large enough to support routed large theatre dates, performing arts centers and other major venues.

These productions may appear straightforward from the audience, but every show can involve presentation content, video playback, moderators, special guests, audience participation, book or merchandise sales, VIP programs, media obligations and a highly detailed personal schedule.

We provide tour management for:

World-renowned speakers and thought leaders
Authors and public intellectuals
Scientists, educators and cultural personalities
Live podcast tours
Television cast conversations and reunion events
Interview and audience Q&A formats
“An Evening With” presentations
Multimedia speaking productions
Personality-driven theatre tours and special appearances

Whether the show features one individual or an ensemble of recognizable personalities, every detail must support the talent and the experience being presented to the audience.

Complete Tour and Production Support

Every production is different. Some speakers travel with a small team and locally provided production, while others carry video, presentation equipment, merchandise, touring personnel and a highly structured show format.

Platinum Road can oversee the complete tour or provide additional support to an established management and production team.

Services may include:

Tour planning, budgeting and operational preparation
Venue and promoter advancing
Daily schedules and detailed tour itineraries
Air, ground transportation and hotel coordination
Technical and production management
Audio, lighting, video and presentation requirements
Show flow, stage management and cue calling
Moderator, interviewer and special guest coordination
Audience Q&A planning and microphone logistics
VIP experiences, receptions and meet-and-greets
Book signings, merchandise and local seller coordination
Press, media and promotional scheduling
Guest lists, ticketing and house-seat coordination
Security, privacy and backstage access planning
Staffing, vendor procurement and local labor
Expense review and show settlement
Remote advancing and remote settlement
Temporary or partial-tour management coverage

Platinum Road can serve as Tour Manager, Tour Director, Production Manager, Promoter Representative or as an experienced extension of an existing team.

Relevant Speaking-Tour Experience

Schitt's Creek: Up Close & Personal

Platinum Road founder Dave Ockun served as Tour Director for Schitt’s Creek: Up Close & Personal, working with the cast of the nine-time Emmy Award-winning television series.

The live show incorporated cast conversation, behind-the-scenes stories, video content, audience questions, interactive fan participation and a live musical conclusion. On the road, Dave’s responsibilities included tour managing the talent, advancing each show, overseeing full production, settling all performances, stage managing the production and calling video cues.

The first Los Angeles show sold out in two minutes. The production subsequently expanded into dozens of major markets and played venues seating between approximately 3,000 and 5,000 people, including multiple-show engagements.

The Toast Presents Girly Swirlies Night Out!

Platinum Road provided tour management, remote advancing and remote settlement services for The Toast Presents Girly Swirlies Night Out!, the live production starring sisters Claudia and Jackie Oshry, hosts of the popular weekday pop-culture podcast The Toast.

Platinum Road provided an experienced tour manager to oversee the production on the road, while Dave Ockun handled all venue advancing and show settlements remotely throughout the tour.

The 2024 live run included four shows at New York's Beacon Theatre, with additional dates added following strong demand, multiple dates at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, The Borgata in Atlantic City and a performance at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. Three of the Westhampton shows were reported as the fastest ticket sellouts in the venue's 25 year history.

Esther Perel

Platinum Road was engaged by Live Nation to provide Promoter Representative services for Esther Perel's ticketed theatre tour, An Evening with Esther Perel: The Future of Relationships, Love & Desire.

Dave Ockun served as the on-site representative for all shows, coordinating with the tour, vendors, venues and labor while overseeing settlement.

Esther Perel is a renowned psychotherapist, bestselling author and host of the podcast Where Should We Begin? Her live theatre format demonstrates how a major speaking engagement can be developed into a compelling ticketed experience rather than a conventional lecture. Her work brings together storytelling, audience interaction and conversations surrounding relationships, intimacy and human connection. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and her TED Talks have accumulated more than 40 million views.

The Live Nation-produced U.S. tour of An Evening with Esther Perel: The Future of Relationships, Love & Desire included stops at: The Met in Philadelphia, Boston’s Wang Theatre, DAR Constitution Hall in DC, and two nights at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Live Podcast and Spoken-Word Experience

Platinum Road’s experience in this area extends beyond the productions we directly tour manage.

Dave Ockun has provided promoter-representative coverage for numerous live podcasts, speaking engagements and personality-driven events throughout the country, including:

How Did This Get Made? • Girls Gotta Eat • Neil deGrasse Tyson • My Dad Wrote a Porno • An Evening with Paul Reubens • Dax Shepard • The Try Guys • The Guilty Feminist • Game Grumps and more

This experience provides Platinum Road with an understanding of these productions from multiple sides of the business, including the responsibilities of the talent team, promoter, venue and touring operation.

Why Specialized Tour Management Matters

The personality on stage is often the entire reason the audience purchased a ticket.

That makes protection of the talent’s time, energy, privacy and daily schedule especially important. Travel delays, press obligations, VIP events, presentation revisions or production questions can quickly consume the attention of the speaker and their management team.

Platinum Road takes ownership of the road operation so that managers and agents are not spending every show day tracking transportation, reviewing venue schedules, locating presentation files, answering production questions or auditing settlement.

We keep the appropriate people informed without burdening them with details that have already been handled.

Our role is not to interfere with the talent’s message or creative direction. It is to create the structure that allows that message to be delivered consistently in every city.

From a Speaking Engagement to a Touring Production

A one-night speaking appearance and a properly routed theatre tour are very different operations.

A tour requires consistency. The audience in each city should receive the same quality of presentation, regardless of differences in venue staffing, technical capabilities, backstage space, local regulations or market conditions.

Platinum Road establishes the operating systems necessary to make that happen, including:

A repeatable show format
Clearly defined technical requirements
Consistent presentation and video playback
Advance documents and venue information
Creation or revisions of technical rider
Talent and guest schedules
VIP and audience-interaction procedures
Security and backstage protocols
Financial reporting and settlement expectations
Communication between management, production, promoter, agent and venue

The objective is not simply to complete each show. It is to build a tour that remains organized, financially accountable and sustainable throughout the entire routing.

Experienced Support for Management Companies

Platinum Road can become a positive extension of a management company, agency or producing organization.

We can oversee the complete touring operation for one client, support several artists on a management roster, or step in when an existing team needs additional experience and capacity.

That support may include:

Developing the touring structure for a new live concept
Taking over a tour that has already been routed
Supplementing an existing tour manager or production manager
Remotely advancing upcoming shows
Providing temporary coverage during a leave or scheduling conflict
Managing select dates, promotional events or special engagements
Reviewing budgets, venue expenses and settlements
Identifying and hiring qualified touring personnel

This allows management to remain involved at the appropriate level while knowing the day-to-day operation is in experienced hands.

Domestic and International Touring

Platinum Road provides tour and production management throughout the United States and internationally.

Our background includes theatre and arena touring, comedy, music, live podcasts, tours also promoting a new book, speaking engagements and major special events. That varied experience allows us to understand both the personal requirements surrounding notable talent and the operational demands placed on a professional touring production.

Whether the itinerary includes a series of theatre dates or an international tour spanning multiple countries, the same standards of preparation, communication and financial accountability apply.

Planning a Speaking Tour?

Whether you are developing a new ticketed live concept, preparing an established personality for a theatre tour or seeking experienced support for dates that are already on sale, Platinum Road can help manage the operation from planning through final settlement.

We work with talent, managers, agents, producers and promoters to create tours that are organized, consistent and properly supported in every market.

Contact Platinum Road to discuss your upcoming speaking tour, live podcast, author event or personality-driven production.