Why I Built EventCobby: Local Events Deserve Better Than a Global Marketplace

By Francis Antobre, founder of EventCobby

Here's a question: when was the last time you discovered a local event on a major ticketing platform?

Not searched for a specific concert. Discovered — stumbled across something happening near you this weekend that you didn't know existed. For most people, the answer is never. And that's strange, because discovering local events is supposedly what these platforms are for.

Built for scale, not for neighborhoods

The big platforms were built to process millions of transactions for arena tours and festivals. Discovery on those platforms means: the biggest acts, the most marketing spend, the events that were already going to sell out. A 60-person jazz night, a community food festival, a local theater production — they're technically listed, but they're buried under an algorithm that rewards size.

Meanwhile, the organizer of that jazz night is paying the same fee structure designed for stadium tours: percentage cuts, flat per-ticket fees, processing on top. The economics that barely dent a $150 concert ticket devour a $15 community ticket.

Local events got the worst of both worlds: invisible to attendees, expensive for organizers.

What local actually needs

Local event discovery is a different problem from global event ticketing. It needs:

Search that starts with place, not headliner. People want to answer "what's happening near me this weekend?" — by keyword, location, and date. Not "which mega-tour is coming within 200 miles."

Pricing that respects small margins. Free to list. No monthly fees. One small fee only when a ticket sells. If your event is free, your platform bill should be zero.

Tools for how local works. Printed tickets for door sales. Physical promotion. Simple setup that doesn't require a training course — your event live in under two minutes.

The bet

My bet is simple: there are far more local organizers than arena promoters, and they are dramatically underserved. The PTA mom running a fundraiser, the venue owner booking weekend acts, the student union planning campus events — they don't need enterprise ticketing. They need something free, simple, and built for their neighborhood.

EventCobby is that bet. Free to list, small fee only on sales, digital and printed tickets in one place, and discovery built around near me instead of biggest.

The next great night out in your city probably isn't a stadium tour. It's the event you haven't discovered yet — because until now, nothing was built to help you find it.

List your event free at eventcobby.com.