Delivering stellar ticketing services

A bunch of forward-thinking folks from the UK arts sector used to travel each year to INTIX, to learn from our American cousins and colleagues. But we always asked the same question: “Why don't we have something like this in the UK?”

And one of our group pointed at me and said: ”You haven't got a proper job, you organise it!” So back in the UK, we created a business plan, along with some key objectives which still hold true today: be education-focused, financially accessible and tailored to meet the needs of the industry. 

Even though the name of the conference is very prescriptive, from day one we have encouraged attendance from other departments within arts organisations, in particular marketing, front of house and fundraising.

The fifth iteration of TPC took place in Birmingham last month at our new home in the Vox Centre on the National Exhibition Centre campus. For many of the nearly 500 delegates, it was their first business trip or in-person meeting in over two years. With Covid still a concern we designed procedures and policies to mitigate the risk while making the conference as ‘normal' as possible.

What should CEOs be focusing on?

Despite the claim of one of my co-founders, I do in fact have a proper job. Alongside work with TPC I am a consultant for some of the world’s largest entertainment brands, advising on ticketing, technology, policy and staffing.

CEOs, executive directors and board members of arts organisations all ask what they should be looking at? I often reverse the question and ask where they see excellence in customer service and commerce outside the arts sector.

Typical responses include Amazon, John Lewis and British Airways. Of course, it’s easy to pick brands with multimillion budgets, but often a local bookshop, Etsy seller or other independent business gets mentioned too. How do they manage to deliver such stellar service? 

It’s what we in the business call great ‘customer journeys’, but designing businesses from the ground up, with efficiency at the core, is vital. All CEOs want efficiency, not necessarily to reduce headcount but to achieve more: more with what they have, more with their artists and more with their audiences or communities. 

From a ticketing perspective, it means how we use and connect systems to leverage the data within them, or saving time on tasks that a machine can do faster, leaving staff to work on more complex projects or creative tasks. 

With arts leaders, the discussions invariably then turn to costs. "Can we afford to do this?" they ask. “Can you afford NOT to do this?” I answer. It may sound like a LinkedIn meme, but it’s true now more than ever. 

Conference highlights 

Being together is special. We all appreciate that now, whether it's with our relatives, with our colleagues in the office or with other audience members as the curtain rises or the orchestra sounds the first note. So I want to call out how good it was to see so many people, not in a box, bubble or a video wall.

I got to stand on stage and look out at almost 500 entertainment professionals. With the strain of delivering the event having taken its toll, I admit to having to hold back a tear or two. But it was an amazing sight.

From feedback so far, the star of the show was Sietse Bakker, the executive director of the (postponed) 65th Eurovision Song Contest.  He nailed his keynote speech ‘The show must go on’. He spoke of highs and lows, and of the monumental efforts of his team to deliver for the world, at a time when the world was in a very dark place.

Notable also was this year’s education programme, curated by the industry and covering a range of themes. We also worked extensively with Caspian Turner on the accessibility and inclusion. Other sessions included: Hello Baby welcoming new parents at events from Jane Dodson of Unicorn Theatre; a panel on EDI in recruitment; neurodiversity; breaking barriers to engagement; and tips for making emails more accessible. 

Standout moments

Extra special was a case study delivered by Het National Theatre of the Netherlands on working with blind audience members. The impact of technology was never far away. I particularly enjoyed the panel discussion on trends and digital ticketing with great contributions from the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon) and the England and Wales Cricket Board. 

To those of you thinking “my audience members will never move to digital ticketing”, those two organisations also had challenges, but overcame them. This is a perfect example of why we must stop thinking of arts ticketing as just ticketing.

Many conferences invite the ‘usual suspects’ as speakers. At TPC, we only allow speakers to appear two out of every three years and actively encourage first time speakers. It was greatly encouraging to see the next generation of ticketing and marketing professionals take to the stage to share their experiences.

We all have a duty not only to grow the sector but to ensure we promote and train that next generation. For me it was the standout moment.

Lessons for the sector

Undoubtedly there were some great takeaways: on how to effectively price for families, eliminate friction in your web flow or reduce your carbon footprint. Everybody loves takeaways - things they can actually implement back at the office.

And hearing from smaller organisations that had achieved so much, with so little, the big lesson we should learn is that we can do this! Projects take time and money, but ones I have seen fail in 25 years in this industry have usually done so because of a lack of team effort, effective coordination or buy-in. Time and money are not everything.

The last word goes to Sietse Bakker with his rallying cry for change:  “A big idea, communicated well, executed with determination by a great team will ALWAYS succeed.” 

Andrew Thomas is Director of Ticketing Professionals Conference and Principal at Ynys Consulting Ltd.

 www.ticketingprofessionals.co.uk
 @ticketingprofs | @TicketTattle