Before founding Studio AM:PM, Ed Loveday had a long history of work in the hospitality industry. From owning bars, to publishing cocktail guides, Ed has made his mark in Sydney’s hospitality scene by developing a cross-functional skill set that is perfect for hospo. This led him to his role as Special Projects Manager at Solotel – a Sydney-based venue group that is well known for their entertainment experiences. It was at Solotel where Ed first discovered Surreal (then called Muso). Solotel came on to be one of the first adopters of Surreal in Australia; they haven’t looked back since.

Prior to Surreal, Solotel managed entertainment bookings through a series of reputable agencies and internal bookers. The only problem however, was that the bookings were managed on a series of unlinked spreadsheets across the group. The system worked, but it was far from perfect. It left Solotel unable to scale entertainment operations across their group of venues, and more importantly, couldn’t automate critical processes off the back of them.

While Solotel’s entertainment offering was solid, the organisation behind it meant that team members were spending unnecessary amounts of time on admin that could and should have been automated.

Ed was tasked with rolling out Surreal through Solotel in 2020. By working with Solotel’s agents, Surreal developed a repeatable process across the group. Ed later went on to embed Surreal into The Point and now considers it a must-have when engaging with venue groups as part of his newly-founded creative consultancy. With Studio AM:PM, Ed engages hospitality operators to leverage creativity to drive results. Here, Surreal is an essential part of Ed’s toolbelt: allowing groups to drive down the administrative burden of entertainment, to maximise creative opportunities.

”I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Surreal team for three years now,“ says Ed. ”Embedding it into two large hospitality groups (and counting). It’s more than a platform; it's a strategic partner that empowers us to deliver exceptional entertainment experiences.“