The acquisition joins the premiere experiential e-commerce platform in the fandom space with the event industry’s only true start-to-finish technology solution.

Leap Event Technology (formerly Patron Technology) announced its acquisition of Epic Photo Ops, the premiere software for scheduling, execution, and management of high-quality face-to-face experiences for celebrities and fans. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in Calgary, AB in 2013 by Eric Sit, Brant LeClercq, and Kandrix Foong, Epic’s experiential e-commerce platform enables event organizers to create, manage, and facilitate once-in-a-lifetime experiences within their events from one centralized vendor. Their expert team specializes in scheduling celebrity talent, processing fan reservations by time slot, and moving hundreds of attendees through a photo station in minutes, eliminating the need for fans to queue hours in advance to meet their favorite creators and celebrities. By combining their industry-leading services in managing high-volume fandom experiences with the reservation software for bookings, exchanges, and fulfillment, Epic Photo Ops gives organizers a centralized provider for their entire photo and video op process and allows them to more easily capture valuable attendee data in the process.

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“Our team of engineers and event operators have developed the highest standard and reputation for our unparalleled ability to service celebrities, agents, event creators, and attendees to create unforgettable fan experiences,” said Brant LeClercq, President of Epic Photo Ops. “Having partnered with Leap for many years already, our entire team is thrilled to now be a part of Leap’s transformational vision for live event experiences. Leap is the only technology provider we would have trusted to continue fostering and expanding our client relationships.”

By combining Epic’s unrivaled track record in the fandom event and conventions space with Leap’s ticketing, engagement, and data management tools, the acquisition is poised to improve the entire experience for event organizers, agents, talent, and attendees alike. “In working so closely with a lengthy roster of fandom-centric events, our team saw an opportunity to enhance the overall experience of these personal fan/celebrity experiences by bringing Epic Photo Ops into the Leap family,” said Marc Jenkins, CEO of Leap Event Technology. “Our goal is to have our start-to-finish suite of solutions (which many of Epic’s existing clients are already using) streamline their already impressive process. We plan to enhance the collection of fan insights, in part by bringing together ticketing for event admission with sales of individual celebrity experiences.”

The aim of this holistic approach is to give organizers a full picture of a given attendee’s buying habits, interests, and preferences, providing a better understanding of fan trends. “We see a desire to bring this fundamental aspect of fandom events to our broader client base, well beyond just the convention space,” said Jenkins. “From sports fan experiences to timed-attractions, we feel Epic’s track record of managing talent engagement is about to become a major piece of our offering. Clients will gain an unprecedented understanding of their attendees through our ability to aggregate the experiential ecommerce data from the Epic side, with the ticket purchase and attendance data from our other existing solutions.”

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