I’m joking, but only a little bit. When we started (15 years ago), many venues did want this information via fax. So we invented a virtual gateway to send a fax at the exact time the venue wanted it. Not only that, but if something went wrong (like the fax machine on the other side was out of paper), we got a shiny little red light on our admin dashboard here so we could do something about it.
2 comments:
I fully agree with integrating commercialized ticketing platforms. Websites such as Ticketmaster, Stubhub and LiveNation provide easy to access platforms that make event tickets safe and reliable. In addition to the ease of use, these websites serve as a marketing tactic for major events. This can apply to theatre as well as concerts and comedy. By logging on to LiveNation one may be able to see upcoming shows and events, thus creating a larger backing for performances and the theatre industry. I personally know I would be much more aware of what is happening in the theatre world locally and nearby, and that could lead to me going to many more theatre events and shows. However, I can see the argument that this may only be useful for larger theatre companies and traveling houses. Therefore, small mom and pop theatres would not benefit from the addition of major online ticketing platforms.
I am genuinely excited that digital ticketing is becoming more and more the norm. I’ve recently taken a real interest in how theatres can become more green and digital ticketing and (if possible) digital programs would be a big step in the right direction. This, of course, does hold the slight danger of making theatre even more elitist than it already is, as a lot of digital ticketing platforms make the assumption that its patrons own or have access to an iPhone. Although it is making to the point that you can almost argue that this is probably true, having the option to print tickets I think is still important so that someone who doesn’t can still make use of the platform and use a public printer if need be. However, at venues like Carnegie Mellon, where most of our audiences do have access to that technology and we have the resources to move our ticketing to a digital platform, I think it would be a project definitely worth undertaking.
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