Ben and I are chuffed to bring Venue Online Services to venues and the amazing hospitality staff, event makers, musicians, creatives, and patrons who rely on Australian bars, pubs, clubs, hotels and live music spaces.
We believe that hospitality venues are vital for Australian communities and culture. Venues deserve software and support that will sustain them commercially and creatively.
That’s why VOS’s mission is to get people through your venue doors.
For over 17 years Ben and I have worked together full-time to invent and deploy software that improves creative businesses and community reach.
Prior to VOS we've secured and managed over $6 million in government grants and $700k in commercial revenue for software that we invented to boost the business and reach of the Australian music, community radio and hospitality sectors.
Our software has always been a tool to boost community connection and culture.
But VOS is different because Australian venues are on life-support - and we’re determined to provide the defibrillator with VOS before it's too late. Rising operating costs and cost of living are killing venues. The continued closure of great hospo venues will result in a decline in local community, culture and social connection.
Hospitality venues have never been far from our lives, work and passions. Ben and I are both performing musicians. I grew up across the road from a bowls club - which was my fathers social connection. My mum was a hospo worker. Her best mate was a musician who played in the bar. Her husband was a sound engineer who mentored me, and learning how to mix live bands paid my way through uni.
At 22 I was the founding manager of a community radio station and 50% of the income that kept us on air came from venues who supported our mission to promote local music, arts and culture.
As lovers of great venues, live music, a great night out with mates - Ben and I are determined to do our bit to turn the tide on the decline in Australian venue viability. VOS is our way to turn the tide.
We’ve bet the farm on VOS. Our company Onto It Media has divested from all other platforms and services, and since 2020 VOS became our full-time job.
To finance VOS we’ve lived off our savings, attracted modest but greatly appreciate startup grants from the City of Sydney and the NSW Government. Oh and I’ve performed over 300 gigs across dozens of venues to keep my feet firmly on hospo ground.
We conducted the first ever Australian census of venue digital reach - collecting data from 526 licensed venues to identify digital gaps, issues and needs.
It proved that Venue websites are the weakest link. They endlessly waste time, money and never fixed the core problem. But they could also be the solution - if we transformed them into a content management and marketing engine.
We've written every single line of code in VOS with no outsourcing to 3rd party developers or relying on sloppy AI ‘vibe coding’. It’s our the attention to detail and singular focus on venue needs that separates us from generic website builders like Wordpress, WIX and Squarespace - which continually allow venues websites to fall into disarray and disfunction.
We spent 5 years of R&D with a small cluster of diverse, incredible Aussie venues. They took the leap, paid the modest VOS subscription fee, then roadtested the hell out of VOS.
WHY THIS APPROACH?
We didn't want rushing VOS to market, taking venture capital, upfront commercial pressures or political argy-bargy to compromise VOS’s core mission.
Like many software entrepreneurs, we've seen platforms we've created generate real solutions, and then watched them get Enshitified through buy-outs, greedy restructures and bureaucracy. We refuse to let that happen to VOS.
VOS's goal is to get people through your venue doors to enhance their lives and the livelihoods of venue owners, hospitality staff, musicians and creatives that make our venues vital community and cultural spaces.
If that sounds a bit lofty… then good!
Our software and business model is built on lofty goals. Can the same be said about the generic website builder that you and your talented staff are currently wrangling to manage and market your amazing venue?
We hope you’ll contact us to explore making the switch to VOS. We’re determined to ensure you won't regret it.
Cheers to you and your venue,
Chris Johnson
Co-Director Onto It Media
Creators of Venue Online Services (VOS)
contact@venueonlineservices.app
Written with no AI assistance - because we put in the work… just like VOS!
CREDENTIALS
Founder of three successful and continually operating startups across the media, music and hospitality industries, attracting and managing over $6 million in government investment and $700k in commercial revenue for platforms he’s managed.
Chris also performs over 50 gigs a year across dozens of venues under various musical monikers (Christo Jones, Strict Land), keeping his feet firmly in the hospitality and live music industries while developing VOS to get people off the couch and into their local venue.
CO-FOUNDER VENUE ONLINE SERVICES (VOS)
Inspired by our digital census of all 526 licensed venues across Greater Sydney, and direct R&D with a dozen venues - we've developed VOS as the world’s first all-in-one website and digital marketing manager made for venues, with over $100k grant funding support from the City of Sydney Council and Jobs for NSW Program. VOS has been quietly but extensively R&D’ed across a selection of diverse NSW venues over five years, and is now ready for wider release.
The Family Hotel Maitland Co-Owner, Dan O'Leary:
"The VOS team are delightful to work with, are taking on our ideas and continually improving VOS. They are tenacious in their mission to make marketing easier for us so we can improve our business. It’s inspiring!"
The City of Sydney Council Strategist, Lex Davidson:
"Onto It Media has a proven track record of delivering digital innovations for the benefit of the hospitality and music sectors. A financial sponsorship was unanimously endorsed and funded by Councillors to help get their new VOS platform to Sydney venues.”
FOUNDER OF THE REVITALISED AMRAP (2008–2018)
Appointed by then Arts Minister, Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil), Chris managed more than $5 million in government funding to lead the transformation of Amrap into a national digital music distribution and radio promotion platform for new Australian music.
Chris hired Ben Briedis as Chief Software Engineer, and together they designed and delivered innovative digital platforms that within five years had been used by more than 200 record labels, 300 radio stations, 3,000 broadcasters and 6,000 signed and independent artists, contributing to a 7% increase in Australian music airplay across the community radio sector.
Extract from Australian Government commissioned review of Amrap:
“Chris Johnson is an astute and forward-looking manager, and has operated a culture of continuous innovation with highly motivated and capable staff. Amrap has been exemplary in nearly all areas in terms of policy focus, outcomes and value for money. Amrap’s profile and reputation across all stakeholders is very high – they get things done and deliver results.”
TASMANIAN YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR
Career Achievement award winner, Presented by the Tasmanian Government.
Premier of Tasmania, The Hon, Lara Giddings:
“I have always been impressed with Chris' enthusiasm, vision and ability to see a project through. Perhaps most of all, I have been impressed with the professional approach and high standards he has applied to his work…My only hope is that one day he will return to Tasmania and once again share his vision with our community."
FOUNDING MANAGER OF EDGE RADIO HOBART
Appointed by the committee of management as the sole employee, was required to develop station strategy, operational processes, and a revenue base to sustain the station.
His pioneering work supported hundreds of volunteer radio program makers, grew a strong brand, loyal local audience, secured a solid financial base over $400k pa from over 70 business sponsors, grew a paid staff team of five, and attracted numerous awards including Australian community radio station of the year and the Hobart City Council's Volunteer Recognition Award for Best Practice.
Lord Mayor of Hobart Rob Valentine:
“Chris displays a high level of enthusiasm and a "can-do" attitude. He pays good attention to detail and is obviously keen to achieve a good outcome. Over the years Chris has been able to form many business partnerships with small to large enterprises.”
CREDENTIALS
Ben has a rare talent for developing incredibly complex software that is surprisingly intuitive and user-friendly.
Over two decades, Ben has worked for large corporates, government organisations, and small start ups. Ben worked extensively as a Product Developer including creating software for DNA sequence analysis at Nucleics (C, C++, Octave, R, Linux, Mac), and software to assist IT managers in monitoring service level agreements (SLAs) and products at Compuware and Proxima Technology.
For 9 years, Ben worked for Chris as Amrap's Chief Software Developer, creating a range of core services for community radio. These included the AirIt music catalogue, Amrap Pages plugin for radio station websites, Radio Website Services and Amrap's Radio Replay, an on-demand radio system. Chris and Ben then became Co-Directors of Onto It Media to develop Venue Online Services.
Ben brings an innovative and common-sense approach to software and technical solutions, with a passion for live music and great hospitality venues.