Ticketing

Ticketing is a large part of any event as this is where most of the income and profit comes from. Van Der Wagen (2008) describes that the ticketing department co-ordinates all relevant processes related to tickets, including seating plans, ordering and issuing tickets and venue admission procedures. There are even companies designed just for the use of ticketing as it such a large, important part of any event.

Ticket master is one of the companies dedicated to ticketing such as concerts and sporting  events. To purchase tickets there are a number of procedures this can be completed for example Ticket Master offers you the option to buy your tickets either via the website or by the use of your phone. Online you can search for a specific date which you would like to attend, then search and a number of events will appear. Click on the specific event and read the given information. If successful you enter the billing information then confirm. Your tickets will then be purchased, which is a quick and efficient way of doing so. Option two is to call the booking service.  This option is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But personally I believe this option would take longer as you normally have to wait to speak to a real person as you are left listening to the automated message for at least half an hour. It can be very stressful and end up costing you a lot of money.

Ticket Line is another event ticket purchasing service used by the public. Barlow, T. (2012: presentation) stated that Ticket Line offer a number of ways to purchase tickets such as:Online, Box Office, Call Centre, Mobile Commerce(mobile friendly website) and the Ticket Line App. By offering a variety of ways to be able to purchase event tickets makes it more easily accessible for the customer. The company also offers the ‘Online seat picker’.  This is a service allowing you to see the layout of the venue whilst gaining knowledge of which seats are available and where they are located.  I like this option to view the available seats so you can gain a rough idea of how far you are from the stage. In the past I have always used Ticket Master but once learning that Ticket Line has more ways of purchasing I could change my custom to the more easily accessible site.

Once the tickets have been purchased it is time to receive the tickets. Over the years when receiving the them they are tangible where as recently they are becoming intangible which means that the ticket is not physical. For example mobile ticketing with QR Codes are becoming more popular. ventipix (No Date) explains that this is a professional web based PHP application that gives you the ability to offer 2D mobile barcode tickets. These tickets are sent to the customers using SMS. When entering the venue, instead of showing a tangible ticket your phone is scanned for a QR Code which looks like the image bellow. Once the code has been accepted your then allowed to enter the event. Personally I do not like this form of ticketing as I like having the physical ticket as a souvenir to allow me to save my memories of that event.  But I do like that fact that this form is eco-friendly, as it is saving the use of paper for a one off use.