Stage Directions: Apps aren’t just for Angry Birds anymore. (Though they might help with the zeppelins in Heartbreak House.) But the Shaw Fest is hoping you’ll use their brand-new app for purchasing tickets (although it sounds as if the app will call to make the purchase) and organizing your trip to the Fest. Their Shaw Fest app is available in the iTunes store now, with plans to release a Droid and Blackberry version by early October. Early adopters will also receive a discount for tix to next season’s The Admirable Crichton, by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie and Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Shaw Festival Releases Smartphone App
Stage Directions: Apps aren’t just for Angry Birds anymore. (Though they might help with the zeppelins in Heartbreak House.) But the Shaw Fest is hoping you’ll use their brand-new app for purchasing tickets (although it sounds as if the app will call to make the purchase) and organizing your trip to the Fest. Their Shaw Fest app is available in the iTunes store now, with plans to release a Droid and Blackberry version by early October. Early adopters will also receive a discount for tix to next season’s The Admirable Crichton, by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie and Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House.
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6 comments:
I like that theaters are (slowly) adapting to the modern world. There is so much to be taken advantage of, but so many theaters (like my community one) have a website you can't even order tickets from. This is a great step.
This is a great idea. One problem during festivals is a lack of communication. There are so many productions in so many locations occurring at once, that is difficult to communicate with audience members, as well as with the diaspora of a managerial staff. Using an app to help communicate could provide up to the second information to festival goers.
I am a huge fan of apps, and love the idea that this company has embraced the convenience that an app provides. I hope that this type of thing catches on and more theatre companies begin to use this type of technology. As it stands now, the app that Shaw has created is a great idea, but I feel that it won't be utilized to its full potential until ticket-purchasing apps become the norm in the theatrical world. I'm hoping that the Shaw Festival advertises its app enough that it will be as useful as it has the potential to be.
I don't even have a smart phone and I think that everything should have an app. They are just so convenient. Especially for festivals, where no one knows were anything is, or how to purchase anything and where everything is spread out. The power of the app makes it the epicenter of the festival. I know that I would use this (via someone else's phone), I hope that other theaters and festivals adopt this it is a great use of technology!
Festivals are a perfect place for show info and ticketing apps. Often the Info Desks and Box Offices for major theatre festivals become inundated with people to the point that you'd find the answer easier on the festival's website on a phone than ask a real person (or get a schedule). I've thought about developing an app for Playground here, since the large program is often unwieldy to carry from theatre to theatre through the course of the weekend (especially for some of the more avant-garde and interactive pieces). The only problem I've discovered with mobile ticketing is that if the show is not general admit (i.e. you're choosing your own seats), the mobile interfaces have been clunky or resolution too small to efficiently check seats and position in the house (sometimes, they just direct you to the non-mobile version of the site!). I'm going to look further into the Shaw Festival's app and see how it stacks up.
This is a great thing for The Shaw Festival. Their festival is such great quality and Niagara-on-the-Lake is so relaxing, this is a very fitting way to get yourself there. I hope there is a helper on this app for parking. When I was there this summer we saw a lot people paying more than $20 a day to park when they could have parked a block over for free. Also with the restaurant feature, it's probably really handy for people to be able to get information about which places are more or less expensive. I wonder if they will supply information about the surrounding area too. Or if they'll provide advertising for the bike rentals and wineries in the area.
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