“Access to a reliable system for managing event capacities has become a big priority for organizers. Ticketbud has been partnering with events across the US to provide these solutions, with great results. Many events are selling out, people want to attend events if they’re managed safely”.

Kayhan Ahmadi, Ticketbud CEO.

Attendee tracing and communication made easy

Scheduled access also gives organizers a mechanism for tracing exactly who was at their event and when. If organizers needed to contact attendees that attended during a certain time period, this is made easy with timed tickets  and Ticketbud’s inbuilt communication system.  

Community events partnering with Ticketbud 

Ticketbud has been working with local event organizers adapting their offerings to the new climate. Big holiday festival partners such as Austin’s Trail of Lights pivoted to a drive through event in 2020. While smaller community events and attractions have found working with a supportive ticketing partner, makes a huge difference right now.

Event organizers started making the switch to timed access in Fall. This included pumpkin patch visits, as well as haunted farms and Halloween drive through events. Ticketbud is excited to help event organizers get back on their feet by making the return to live events easier to manage. Right now it’s vital for people to have a system for managing capacities.

A safe return to family events

In New Jersey, state guidelines required family run Abam’s Farm Barnyard Petting Zoo to limit their barnyard capacity.

“The Ticketbud team have been nothing short of amazing in helping create and facilitate online ticket sales for our Barnyard Petting Zoo during the pandemic. The restrictions and guidelines given in the State of NJ forced us to limit the capacity of people in our Barnyard at one time, so we had to rethink how we could keep our barnyard open, while ensuring our patrons and employees safety. 

Our partnership with Ticketbud provided us with a ticketing system that allows customers to purchase online tickets that go on sale each morning, for same day purchase at a specific time slot. This allowed for less contact, no lines or groups of people waiting and a controlled environment that complied with restrictions.

I can’t say enough good things about the Ticketbud team with their superior customer service and efficiency. It’s been a pleasure to work with them and would highly recommend Ticketbud to anyone looking for ticketing solutions.”

Cailin Ptasznik, Abma’s Farm

Tickets for entry into Abma’s Barnyard Petting Zoo come on sale on the morning of the activity. They manage this with the Sales Schedule in Ticket Settings.

Below you can see an example event page for Abma’s Farm Hayride experiences.

Maximizing ticket sales for show house capacities

Home shows have been another popular user of the timed access option. The Junior League of Detroit Designers Show House have made great use of Ticketbud’s calendar feature and timed sessions throughout the day.  

“Selling timed entry with a limited quantity is an efficient way to manage social distancing at an event. Typically we would have crowds in the  mornings and then a big lull in the afternoon. Now we find that we have an even distribution of patrons all day. 

We can also add extra tickets for time periods that sell out quickly, search for lost tickets, access email addresses of ticket buyers, and send promo codes as perks to sponsors. We were pushed to use this platform because of the pandemic, but I cannot imagine going back to our old way of selling tickets next year”. 

Liana Dabir, Junior League of Detroit 2020 Designers Show House

To learn more about what you get with Ticketbud visit our How It Works page.

The post As Live Events Return, Event Organizers Embrace Timed Access Event Ticketing appeared first on Ticketbud.

Watch more Ticketbud Tutorials to get the most out of the platform.

WATCH NEXT – How to Create Tickets for Your Event

Transcript

In this Ticketbud Tutorial we will run through Event Settings. 

Once you’ve created your first event and gone through the Getting Started Checklist. That gave you the basics, but now let’s dive further into your event settings, to show you what you can do. 

From your account, you will click into your Event Dashboard by selecting the Manage Event button. 

From here click on Event Settings. 

As part of the initial getting started checklist, you would have come here to configure your payment processor. Which is the provider that secures and distributes your event funds.

The event settings page also includes your event Terms and Conditions. You can customize your terms and conditions for this event. Your attendees will have to agree to these conditions at checkout. These are separate from Ticketbuds terms and conditions. 

Remember to save after making edits. 

Next is your Thank you page. We have a standard message that automatically appears on the ticket confirmation thank you page that attendees see after they register or purchase a ticket. You can customize this thank you page message as you wish. 

Alternatively, you can add a custom redirect link – which is a specific URL that you want attendees to be taken to after they finish their ticket order. This would be instead of the thank you page template. 

Once you have made changes. Hit save. 

The next tab is for the Ticket Emails. When an attendee orders a ticket, they are identified as the Purchaser. 

The Purchaser email – is the confirmation email you send the person who completed the ticket order. Here you can thank them for ordering a ticket and highlight any special details that might improve their experience. 

Something like…. 

Thanks for ordering tickets to the X Foundation Charity Concert. Get ready for an awesome event!

Here are some helpful tips to ensure you have a great time. 

• Driving and parking tips
• Public transport options
• Things to bring
• Things NOT to bring

The Ticket holder email – can be mostly the same information. Just keep in mind that these are people that have had a ticket ordered by someone else. So your introduction might be slightly different. Something like…

It looks like you’re joining us for the X Foundation Charity Concert. Get ready for an awesome event!

The checkbox below the emails allows you to ‘Display the tickets directly in the confirmation email’. If you uncheck this, the tickets will only be viewable as an email attachment. We recommend keeping the tickets displayed directly in the email as it makes event day check-in much faster. It’s easier for guests to get their ticket ready for scanning.

Again save changes. 

So lets jump back into the main section of Event Settings. Further down this page you’ll see some more event settings. 

This includes Visibility – When you first created your event you would have chosen whether you wanted the event to be open to the public, private or invitation only. If you ever want to change this, you can do so here. 

Other event options include, the ability to have an event location map appear on your event page below your event description content. This is automatically selected when you create an event, but you can remove it here if you wish.  

The Show other upcoming events option – is great if you have created multiple events under your account. It gives you the option to show and promote your other events at the bottom of your event page. This is a great opportunity for cross promotion. 

If this is an event that has been created under an organization profile, then it will only show the active events for that organization. 

If you have a need to create organizations or event groups under your account, you can always reach out to us for additional help with this.   

Show Calendar above tickets – If you have multiple events or event sessions, a ticket calendar can be added above your tickets on your event page. When you have an event scheduled over multiple days, calendar functionality makes it quick and easy for ticket buyers to select the day (and potentially the time) they want to attend. This allows organizers to show events and activities clearly over a number of days.

Next we automatically include the event date and time on tickets and Apple Wallet passes. However you can remote this if you wish. 

You can also add custom questions for people to answer when they register or purchase tickets to your event. We will go through that in another video. However here is where you can choose whether to display those custom questions and answers on the order confirmation. If for example you asked people their dietary requirements, you might want to include that in their order confirmation, so they have a copy of it.

Next up we have the contact email you are using to communicate with attendees. When you send an email, this is the address you want them to be able to reach you at. 

Time Zone is something you probably selected when creating your event. However you can change it here if you need to. 

Notification settings allows you to opt into alerts that are sent to you about your event ticket sales and attendee check-ins. Here you can manage the frequency of these notifications. You can also share sales summaries with key stakeholders by subscribing them to receive notifications.

Now you know all about your event settings options. 

The post Get to Know Your Event Settings (Video) appeared first on Ticketbud.

1. The Account Dashboard
2. The Event Dashboard
3. The Organization Dashboard

Watch this short video and you’ll know your way around in minutes.

Watch more Ticketbud Tutorials to get the most out of the platform.

WATCH NEXT – How to Manage Event Settings

Transcript

There are 3 dashboards you will come across on the Ticketbud platform. 

• The Account Dashboard – which holds all your information at an account level and all the events that sit under your account. 
• The Event Dashboard – where you manage your individual events 
• An optional third dashboard called Organizations – a bit like creating sub-accounts. This would be beneficial for someone running events for multiple organizations for example. 

An account can have multiple events that sit under it. An account can also have multiple organizations (or sub accounts) that sit under it.  

When you first sign up to Ticketbud and create an event you will be in your Event Dashboard. However if you sign back into Ticketbud another time, you will enter into your Account Dashboard.

Account Dashboard

Your Account Dashboard houses all the information about your Ticketbud Account. Here you can see all the events created under your account.

Your Account Dashboard menu includes an Account Profile Page. This is essentially the account that hosts all your events, so you can create a profile here for your brand or business if you wish. Similar to the event pages you can add a large banner image at the top. You can also add an Avatar or logo here to represent your business account. 

Complete your basic information and relevant social profiles here. And then save at the bottom. 

That Event calendar with all your events can be added to your own website using this calendar widget. 

Your Account Dashboard menu also includes an option to search ticket orders across all your events

Under Reports you can review year on year reports across your events. 

Payment configuration includes your payment processor settings

Invoices are here, and notification settings across all events

My Tickets is where you find any tickets you’ve purchased as an event attendee with Ticketbud

Integrations includes our platform integrations with partners such as Salesforce. 

Account Settings allows you to change your profile name (which is automatically set as your email address). You can also change your Ticketbud account password here. 

You can edit your event Terms and conditions here if you want them applied to all the events you create under this account. Or you can manage terms and conditions at the individual event level if  you prefer. 

You can Create a new Event from your Account Dashboard. 

Creating Organizations

You can also create Organizations under your account.

Similar to the Account Profile Page, where you can have a business or brand that all your events sit under. The Organization function allows you to create additional versions of this. 

This might be helpful if you organize events for multiple businesses or brands. Ideal for multi day festivals or if you wanted to organize your business units under different organizations. There’s a lot of flexibility with this feature and we can help you work that out. 

If you create an organization a new dashboard will appear under your account to manage that organization and the events created within it. 

If you click the arrow next to your account name you will see a list of any organizations you have access to under your account. 

Event Dashboard

The first part of the Event dashboard is this overview page showing you ticket sales data, gross sales, payout, total tickets sold, ticket sales by day, with a breakdown by revenue and by ticket count

The Edit Event Page is your even page template that we went through in a previous video

Event Settings is where you can manage details about your event such as the payment provider you’re using to collect your funds. As well as a range of other settings and notification preferences specific to your event. This includes terms and conditions, information for the ticket confirmation thank you page, and the content for the ticket emails.

We go into Event Settings in more detail in another video. 

Tickets is another element of your Event Dashboard. This is where you find your Ticket Editor – where you add your ticket types and information

Custom Questions – which is anything you might want to ask people when they register or purchase tickets for your event. 

Ticket Layouts – allows you to customize your ticket design. 

Event Protect is an optional event cancellation protection for event organizers.

Orders will allow you to search through the tickets purchased for this event. You can also create complementary tickets here, as well as record any offline sales. 

Ad Engine is an additional advertising feature we offer that makes creating social ads easy for event organizers.

We also have a range of included promotional tools, from promo codes, sponsorships, and social tracking tools, referral links, ticket widgets, invitations and attendee email communication. 

Collaborators is where you can add team members to help you manage different elements of the event. 

Check-in is for event day management. You can check-in guests here or on our free app. You can also create printed guest lists or search for guests here. 

Finally you have event reporting, which allows you to review sales broken up into a variety of different helpful reports. 

Last but not least, If you’re looking for help, you have access to our Help Center via quick links. 

You can also click the intercom chat icon to find helpful resources or to reach out to us if you need assistance. 

The post Ticketbud Dashboard Orientation (Video) appeared first on Ticketbud.

Once you have completed the Getting Started Checklist (which we cover in another video), you’re able to activate your event.

Next you will want to customize your Event Link URL for promotion. Watch this short video to see how to find and customize the link.

Watch more Ticketbud Tutorials to get the most out of the platform.

WATCH NEXT – Ticketbud Dashboard Orientation Video

Transcript

After you have activated your event you will land in your Event Dashboard. Because this is a new event, there’s no active data available yet. But once ticket sales begin you’ll see an overview of your event data here. 

In the Event Dashboard is where you find your Event Link. This is the web link to the event page you created to promote your event. When you first create your event, there’s an auto generated link. However you can customize this by clicking on Edit Link. 

If this is your first event you’ll be asked to select a SUBDOMAIN. The subdomain sits at the start of the link and will be added to all your subsequent events. We recommend using an organization or business name here, something that will be relevant to other events you may create. This part can’t be changed again without our help. So make sure you are happy with it before saving. 

Next you can change the URL event title. This will automatically be your event name, however you can create a shorter version of this if you wish. This part of the link only applies to this particular event 

Then when you’re happy with this – Save Changes

Your Event Link will have changed to your customized version. If you click ‘View Live’ you can preview your event page that the Link is directing to. 

If you want to promote your event page online, you just need to go into your Event Dashboard and copy your custom link.

The post How to Create a Custom Web Link (Video) appeared first on Ticketbud.

This 6 minute video walks you through our Getting Started Checklist:

Step 1: Sign-up to Ticketbud (we just need your name and email). It’s free! No need for credit card details

Step 2: Create an event page using our simple template

Step 3: Add ticket types (unlimited)

Step 4: Select a secure payment processor (for paid events and donations)

That’s it, you’re ready to make your event live.

Let’s get started.

Watch more Ticketbud Tutorials to get the most out of the platform.

WATCH NEXT – Create a custom web link to your event page

Watch our Dashboard Orientation to learn your way around the platform.

The post How to Get Started on Ticketbud and Create Your First Event (Video) appeared first on Ticketbud.

Ticketbud is excited to introduce our powerful new advertising feature, designed to make highly targeted social advertising easy and intuitive for event organizers. Ticketbud Ad Engine seamlessly integrates social media advertising with Ticketbud events. 

While the audience targeting capabilities of social advertising is powerful for reaching specific audiences, they are rarely easy to navigate. Busy event organizers who have a long list of elements to coordinate, often miss valuable advertising opportunities and don’t get optimal return on investment. 

“Knowing the power of social advertising for events, we wanted to offer the best resources to help event organizers sell more tickets. The Ticketbud Ad Engine powered by ToneDen gives event organizers access to one of the most powerful ad tech networks, in a simple and intuitive way.”

Ticketbud CEO Kayhan Ahmadi.

Access advanced social advertising tools for events

Everything you need to run successful ad campaigns that sell more tickets. Use sophisticated tools to easily identify and target the right audience, with the optimal ad content to drive sales.  

What you get with Ticketbud Ad Engine:

Powerful Audience Targeting and Retargeting – easily set up and test multiple audiences to identify those that lead to more sales. Ad Engine curates the best tools to target the right audience for your event. 

• Audience targeting by demographic and behavioral information, including Spotify listening preferences.
• Create lookalike audiences from previous attendee and email lists. This targets your ads toward similar audiences.
• Retarget customers that viewed your event but didn’t purchase tickets. Your ad will follow them as a reminder to buy a ticket.

Build Ads that Drive Sales – automatically test various ad content combinations to find the perfect ads that sell more tickets.

Stronger Call to Action buttons – drive action on ads encouraging people to “Buy Tickets”.

Automatic Budget Optimization – smart budgeting ensures advertising spend is shifted toward ads that sell more tickets, maximizing return on investment.

Conversion Tracking with clear ROI – know exactly how much in ticket sales your ads generate. No more advertising in the dark.

Ticketbud customers see amazing results with Ad Engine

Ticketbud event organizers love what they can do with Ticketbud Ad Engine and have been blown away by the results. From the simplified set-up, to great functionality and trackable return on investment, customers are thrilled to have an easy solution to their event marketing challenges.

“The new Ticketbud Ad Engine was piloted with large and small events and delivered impressive results for both. Across the board, customers were able to increase ticket sales, and create over 10x ROI from ad spend to ticket revenue.” Ticketbud CEO, Kayhan Ahmadi.

Now available for all Ticketbud customers 

Create the most effective event advertising on Facebook and Instagram and sell more tickets. Ask us about Ticketbud Ad Engine, or get started today.

Ticketbud Ad Engine Powered By ToneDen

The post Get the cheat code to one of the most powerful social advertising networks – with Ticketbud Ad Engine appeared first on Ticketbud.

Ticketbud’s completely customized ticketing platform has helped us create a better event experience overall, especially thanks to the fully integrated point of sale experience. We look forward to better data tracking and analysis to help us throughout our event planning and marketing.”

Dawn Robinette, Marketing Director, Old West Christmas Light Fest.

Why Holiday Festivals are Choosing Ticketbud

Ticketbud is designed to manage the needs of high-volume multi-day festivals. Our clients include festivals running over two weeks with over 500,000 attendees. We are built to handle high traffic on-sales and heavy scanning needs at check-in. Organizers are switching to Ticketbud to take advantage of service, features and tools that maximize sales and year on year growth. 

“Ticketbud’s multi-day event calendars enhance the ticket buyer experience and convert more sales. Event tags make multi-day reporting clearer with customizable data segmentation. Our unlimited ticket programming gives organizers greater flexibility, while our ongoing customer support really sets us apart.”

Kayhan Ahmadi, Ticketbud CEO.

Multi-day Event Calendar – When you have an event scheduled over multiple days, calendar functionality that makes it quick an easy for ticket buyers to select the day (and potentially time) they want to attend. Ticketbud’s multi-day calendar functionality allows organizers to show events and activities clearly over a number of days. 

Event Tags – This feature allows organizers to tag events with custom labels that enables them to group their events for reporting or promotional purposes. Events can have multiple tags so they appear in different reports. Organizers can also promote specific tagged events on a promotional landing page. 

Unlimited Ticket Types – Good ticket programming helps you sell more tickets, so you don’t want to have limited ticketing options. Some competitors only allow you 1 ticket type before charging more. Ticketbud automatically includes this flexibility for everyone. You can create early bird sales and special promotions, scheduling when tickets go on sale and off. Offer adult, child and family tickets, weekend passes, whatever you need to maximize sales opportunities without having to pay more. We also have functionality for ticket access codes and discount codes.

Customizable Ticket Layouts – Customize what appears on the ticket for each ticket type, including relevant maps and directional information. You can also add your sponsor logos. 

High Volume Capacity – A reliable system that can handle high volume on-sales without your site crashing. We work with large festivals that have huge sales the day of their event. One of our holiday festivals sells 40,000 tickets a day leading up to Christmas.     

Fast Ticket Scanning – Our enhanced scanning and processing capacity ensures a quick and reliable check-in process, particularly valuable for high volume festivals and events. While you can download our app and scan from any mobile device, our new rentable scanning guns are ideal for fast point and shoot scanning on busy festival gates. 

Sell tickets at the door with an integrated POS – Our rentable mobile point-of sale devices make it quick and easy to sell tickets at the door. You can also log cash sales into our system to ensure full picture reporting. 

Event Protect – An optional cost effective coverage for ticket revenue, built into the ticket price.  Important for outdoor holiday events subject to adverse weather. 

Mobile Optimized Event Pages – Sell more tickets with our mobile optimized event pages and checkout, including Apple Pay and Google Pay integrations.

Comprehensive Reporting – Quickly and easily access to all your event data and attendee information with no additional charges. 

Rentable Wifi Hardware – Boost your wi-fi with our powerful mobile routers running off multiple networks to ensure a reliable connection at your event. 

Ongoing Customer Support – When you have invested in a large event, you want to know you can get a hold of your ticketing provider when you need them. At Ticketbud you will always be able to speak to real people who can help via phone, email or online chat. This is part of our service, we don’t charge more for it. 

Inbuilt Communication tools – Send out invitations as well as communicate with attendees before and after the event, all from within our ticketing system. You can also create custom communications based on ticket type, to ensure attendees get the most relevant information to them. 

Some Key Advantages of Ticketing your Festival with Ticketbud

• Early payouts (daily, weekly or monthly), enabling access to funds before the event.
• All-inclusive pricing with access to all features and tools, unlimited ticket types and customer support.
• Customizable event pages that are mobile optimized.
• A user-friendly platform that makes it easy to set up and manage events.
• Own your data. Ticketbud doesn’t charge extra for it or sell it to anyone else.
• No account needed for ticket buyers. We don’t create extra steps for your ticket buyers, they don’t need a Ticketbud account to buy tickets.

Related Links:

Ticketbud Tidbits Podcast Ep 32 – Holiday Festival Marketing and Customer Experience, with Dawn Robinette from Old West Light Fest.

Press Release – Event Ticketing Platform Ticketbud Has Holiday Festivals All Lit Up Over Their Online Ticketing

It’s free to sign up and get started on Ticketbud

Free events are always free. Paid events only require payment set-up when you’re ready to start selling tickets. Until then, get started building great events on Ticketbud, with access to all features and customer support. Learn more about the Ticketbud experience or request a personalized demo today.

The post Ticketbud has Holiday Festivals All Lit Up Over Their Online Ticketing appeared first on Ticketbud.

The American Basketball Association was relaunched in 1999 and now includes over 150 teams across the United States. Traditionally ABA game tickets have been sold locally offline or as cash sales at the gate, limiting the ability of teams to grow their fan base and ticket sales. 

Each year the share of sporting and event tickets purchased online and on mobile devices steadily increases, while offline sales decline. With more people searching for events on their phones, it becomes vital for event promotion and ticket sales to be mobile accessible to maximize market share.

The ABA and Ticketbud partnership is a great match for both organizations. Ticketbud sets ABA teams up for success, providing ongoing customer support and comprehensive reporting. Pre-sold game tickets give the ABA early access to funds and the ability to reach new audiences through digital channels.

Both companies acknowledge there will be a transition period as ABA teams and attendees adopt this new purchase channel and the opportunities it presents. Ticketbud supports ABA team owners with the tools for growth. Fans benefit from convenient ticket purchase and smooth gate entry, with fast scanning of mobile or print at home tickets.

“I want to grow the relationship between Ticketbud and the ABA, with more and more teams taking advantage of this partnership as they see the tremendous advantage Ticketbud provides”.

Joe Newman, American Basketball Association, CEO and Co-founder.

It’s All About Data

Online ticketing collects valuable data and insights that can be used in a variety of ways. Getting unrestricted access to this data is vital, as is your ownership of it. 

“We look forward to a strong partnership with the ABA. It’s all about the value of customer data and buyer behavior insights. Building customer profiles from data allows the ABA to have more impact with their ongoing customer engagement, targeted communication and promotions”.  

Kayhan Ahmadi, Ticketbud CEO.

Setting the ABA up on Ticketbud

The ABA has an overarching landing page that highlights all the teams currently offering online tickets. Each team then has their own team page with customized images and content, showcasing their games as individual events. This setup also gives teams the freedom to operate independently financially, with seperate accounts. Online ticketing also gives the ABA an easy way to collect fees from teams by building it into the ticket price.  

The American Basketball Association (ABA)

The original American Basketball Association was a men’s professional basketball league that operated from 1967 to 76. The current ABA was relaunched in 1999 and now includes over 150 teams across the country, making it the largest professional sports league in the US. It is also the most diversified with 75% of its owners being African-American, Hispanic, Asian or women – with over 30 of the teams being owned by women.  

The ABA season runs from November to March with playoffs that follow. Learn more about the ABA and it’s teams, or visit the ABA on Ticketbud for tickets (new teams are signing up to Ticketbud every week)

Ticketbud features and tools that ABA teams are able to take advantage of:

• Event pages for each game with customizable content, sponsor information, post purchase ‘thank you page’ and ticket email confirmation. 
• Ticket programming helps sell more tickets. Ticketbud gives teams the ability to offer various ticket types, from family passes, early bird sales or other special promotions. They also have the option to sell merchandise and collect donations for fundraising. Unlike other providers, Ticketbud does not charge extra for access to unlimited ticket types.
• Custom questions to ask ticket buyers when they purchase tickets (these can be customized by ticket type).
• Customized ticket layouts.
• Promotion and event management tools such as discount or special access codes. Tools for tracking promotional efforts and widgets to sell tickets directly on a team website. 
• Invitations – send and track special VIP and sponsor invites.
• Inbuilt communication tools to email attendees, including custom communication by ticket type. 
• The ability to add collaborator access so owners can have assistance from their staff in managing events and ticket sales.
• Detailed reporting options, with valuable breakdowns of event data. ABA teams own and control their customer data, which will never be sold by Ticketbud. 

A few benefits of working with Ticketbud:

• Ongoing customer support for teams in setting up their event ticketing to maximize sales. 
• User-friendly system ideal for those moving to online ticketing for the first time. 
• No Ticketbud account needed for ticket buyers. Keeping the purchase process quick and simple.  
• Mobile optimized event pages to help teams sell more tickets.
• Flexible payouts with early access to funds before the event. 
• Apple Wallet integration makes it easy for attendees to store and find event tickets fast.
• Free mobile check-in app for quick event day ticket scanning (available on iOS and Android devices). 

Podcast interview with Joe Newman

Hear from Joe Newman, CEO and Co-Founder of the ABA in his guest interview on the Ticketbud Tidbits Podcast.

Get Started on Ticketbud

Are you still running an event with only offline sales? Not moving to online ticketing is costing more than you think.

Visit Ticketbud today and request a demo. It’s free to sign up and start planning.

The post Ticketbud Partners with the American Basketball Association (ABA) appeared first on Ticketbud.

Our commitment to working closely with Event Organizers includes hands on experience at events, to identify pain points and opportunities first hand, as well as field testing new updates. This feedback leads to continued product and service improvements such as this latest enhancement. 

Ticket scanning and access control is a major challenge for events with high volume ticket sales after gates open. Mobile checkout optimization has made it easier for attendees to buy tickets as they approach the gate. Ticketbud’s newly updated iOS and Android mobile apps are specifically optimized to handle those last minute ticket purchases, without disrupting check-in scanning at high volume events. 

“While working on-site with partners we identified the need to quickly and reliably scan tickets purchased as recently as 30 seconds ago, while the attendee was in line. Wi-fi and connectivity is often limited, so we set out to engineer our app to optimize around these last minute, high volume situations”.

Kayhan Ahmadi, Ticketbud CEO. 

The latest app update includes:

• A significant performance and user experience enhancement
• Faster ticket scanning with a processing capacity now ideal for large scale events
• Less data downloading with each update request, ensures efficient scanning even with low internet bandwidth
• A new offline mode lets you know when the device has lost internet. It will also allow you to scan any tickets that the device has loaded before internet connection was lost
• Audible sounds added to help identify successful and unsuccessful scans

Additional updates to the check-in experience:

In addition to our latest app updates, we also recently integrated our tickets with Apple Wallet. This integration makes it easier for attendees to store and find their event ticket quickly. We added this feature to keep check-in lines moving faster for attendees and event organizers.

You may also notice we have redesigned our ticket confirmation emails, with QR codes more easily accessible in the main body of the email. This simple solution was identified after witnessing check-in delays due to attendees searching for tickets in attachments and having to enlarge QR codes for scanning.

These latest updates to the Ticketbud check-in experience are all part of our continued commitment to improving the customer experience, by evaluating every step in the customer journey. We aim to ensure both event organizers and ticket buyers continue to enjoy a great product and service. 

Ticketbud’s free mobile check-in app is available on both iOS and Android devices. 

It’s free to sign up and get started on Ticketbud

Free events are always free. Paid events only require payment set-up when you’re ready to start selling tickets. Until then, get started building great events on Ticketbud, with access to all features and customer support. Learn more about the Ticketbud experience.

The post Ticketbud Enhances Ticket Scanning, Ensuring Faster Event Check-in appeared first on Ticketbud.

Recently on the Joe Rogan Experience, popular comedian Andrew Schulz expressed frustration over ticketing companies with unnecessarily high fees, who are also holding on to valuable event data and attendee contact information. 

The value of owning the data and audience contact information from your events cannot be overstated. Your data insights and direct access to your audience is key to being able to grow your following as an artist. You need to know who your audience is to be able to connect with them. Don’t pay extra for your own data.

With more comedians and live shows making the move to Ticketbud, we recently invited NYC comedian and producer Joe Hill onto our Ticketbud Tidbits podcast. A key factor in Joe’s switch to Ticketbud was the early access to funds before the event. Early payouts are a game changer, due to the upfront costs of organizing and promoting shows. With Ticketbud you don’t pay more for this. 

Ticketbud’s all-inclusive flat rate pricing means that there’s one rate for everyone. As soon as you sign up for Ticketbud you instantly gain access to all features and ongoing customer support, with no additional charges. There are no monthly or yearly subscription fees, if you don’t make money, we don’t make money. It’s in our interest to give you the best platform, with the features, tools and support to sell more tickets. 

Ticketbud is also mobile optimized, which is important for converting ticket sales on mobile devices. Most consumers are researching shows and events on mobile, a smooth ticketing experience from event page through to purchase helps maximize sales. 

Ticketbud offers price transparency: 

2% ticketing fee +0.99c service charge per ticket sold

+2.9% payment processor fee

With discounts available for non-profits, educational institutions and students.

Be aware of ticketing providers who use fee structures that leave you paying much more than expected for the basic services you need. Enticed by entry level packages, you will soon find there are additional fees for customer service, being able to offer more than one ticket type (a must for effective ticket programming), the ability to sell tickets on your own website, customizable forms, access to detailed analytics and early payouts before your event.

Why pay more for this when it all comes as standard with Ticketbud?

It’s free to sign up and get started on Ticketbud. You don’t pay anything until you start selling tickets, and even then you have the option to build ticketing fees into your ticket prices.

Ticketbud Empowers Live Shows to Maximize Revenue through Direct Ticketing

The event ticketing landscape is coming under increased scrutiny. Last week there was a call for a federal investigation of the online ticketing industry, citing the Ticketmaster-Live Nation stronghold. “Americans…have grown sick and tired of the sky-high fees.” A Government Accountability Office report found that on average, fees are more than 25 percent of ticket prices and are often not visible until late in the buying process. This is bad for ticket buyers, event producers and artists, everyone except the ticketing company. 

While big named artists often have their ticketing tied up with a venue, coordinated by Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Artists that are free to choose ticketing have the opportunity to maximize their revenue, data and contact lists. 

This has lead more performing artists and event producers to ticket their events directly, with Ticketbud emerging as a popular choice for live shows.

“With our commitment to transparent pricing, low all-inclusive fees and early access to funds, Ticketbud empowers performing artists to maximize revenue through direct ticketing. Our user-friendly platform makes it easy to sell tickets online”.

Ticketbud CEO Kayhan Ahmadi

4 Reasons Live Shows are Choosing Ticketbud 

1. Data ownership – complete access to event data and attendee contact information 
2. Early payouts – access to funds before the event to cover upfront costs
3. Transparent all-inclusive low rates – including all features and ongoing customer support
4. Mobile optimization – convert more sales on mobile, where people are searching for live shows 

Recently on the Joe Rogan Experience, popular comedian Andrew Schulz expressed frustration over ticketing companies with unnecessarily high fees, who are also holding on to valuable event data and attendee contact information. 

The value of owning the data and audience contact information from your events cannot be overstated. Your data insights and direct access to your audience is key to being able to grow your following as an artist. You need to know who your audience is to be able to connect with them. Don’t pay extra for your own data.

With more comedians and live shows making the move to Ticketbud, we recently invited NYC comedian and producer Joe Hill onto our Ticketbud Tidbits podcast. A key factor in Joe’s switch to Ticketbud was the early access to funds before the event. Early payouts are a game changer, due to the upfront costs of organizing and promoting shows. With Ticketbud you don’t pay more for this. 

Ticketbud’s all-inclusive flat rate pricing means that there’s one rate for everyone. As soon as you sign up for Ticketbud you instantly gain access to all features and ongoing customer support, with no additional charges. There are no monthly or yearly subscription fees, if you don’t make money, we don’t make money. It’s in our interest to give you the best platform, with the features, tools and support to sell more tickets. 

Ticketbud is also mobile optimized, which is important for converting ticket sales on mobile devices. Most consumers are researching shows and events on mobile, a smooth ticketing experience from event page through to purchase helps maximize sales. 

Ticketbud offers price transparency: 

2% ticketing fee +0.99c service charge per ticket sold

+2.9% payment processor fee

With discounts available for non-profits, educational institutions and students.

Be aware of ticketing providers who use fee structures that leave you paying much more than expected for the basic services you need. Enticed by entry level packages, you will soon find there are additional fees for customer service, being able to offer more than one ticket type (a must for effective ticket programming), the ability to sell tickets on your own website, customizable forms, access to detailed analytics and early payouts before your event.

Why pay more for this when it all comes as standard with Ticketbud?

It’s free to sign up and get started on Ticketbud. You don’t pay anything until you start selling tickets, and even then you have the option to build ticketing fees into your ticket prices.

The post Why Live Shows are Choosing Ticketbud appeared first on Ticketbud.

“It’s a great time to use Ticketbud for event ticketing. This thing sings”.

Kayhan Ahmadi, CEO of Ticketbud

In the first half of 2019 Ticketbud announced a series of platform advancements to improve the ticket buyer experience.  

Ticketbud is now excited to announce the launch of our redesigned interface for event organizers. This update takes the user experience to the next level, making the event setup and management process more intuitive and user-friendly with enhanced design and functionality. 

The Redesign Includes:

• Unified Modern Interface and Intuitive Menu Structure – designed for a consistent experience, making it easy for organizers to navigate the platform and manage events.    
• Enhanced Account Dashboard – the event organizers control room gives complete oversight of all information, activity and reporting across all events.
• Improved Event Dashboard – manage details and access live reporting for individual events. Mobile optimized to improve the experience for event organizers on the go.   
• Improved Search Functionality – find orders fast across all your events. Particularly valuable to organizers with multi-day events.

2019 Platform Updates:

These advancements are a result of close consultation with customers and Ticketbud’s continued commitment to improving the customer experience.

Modern New Event Pages

• Mobile optimized to maximize sales on mobile devices. 
• Easy edit functionality allows you to create an event page in minutes with real time preview of how the event page looks to ticket buyers. 
• Showcase your brand with a large display banner, customizable event details and media.
• Feature other upcoming events and maximize cross promotion

Mobile Optimized Checkout 

Reduce friction at checkout and sell more tickets with a purchase process designed for mobile.

Organization Pages

Showcase all your events in one place. Ideal for organizations with multiple events or multi-day events. 

“This newly updated and mobile optimized ticketing platform has been our largest and most important project under my tenure as CEO. We’ve taken the Ticketbud ticketing platform to the next level with an intuitive and enhanced user experience for event organizers. It’s dynamic, flexible, and  will support all the powerful integrations we are going to be launching. Combined with previous updates focused on the ticket purchase experience, such as our mobile optimized event pages and checkout experience, it’s a great time to use Ticketbud for event ticketing. This thing sings”. 

Kayhan Ahmadi, CEO of Ticketbud.

It’s free to sign up and get started on Ticketbud today. You can also request a personal walkthrough demo with a Ticketbud Team Member.

The post Event Ticketing Just Got Easier appeared first on Ticketbud.

Overview

In this podcast we talk to Mandi Thomas, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Downtown Austin Alliance.  Mandi manages the events, programming and operations of Republic Square, a community park in downtown Austin frequently used for events.

In the episode Mandi talks about what goes into managing a public park and event space. She gives an overview of the key elements of her role which include business development, sales, fundraising, event planning and venue management. Mandi shares specific insights on event programming, key challenges and maximizing year round usage of a space.

The Downtown Austin Alliance is a local organization made up of property owners in the downtown community. Their purpose is to protect and promote Austin’s downtown through advocacy, strategic initiatives and planning.

Listen now or read the show notes below.

About Mandi

Mandi’s background includes roles in sales and corporate partnerships for venues operated by AEG Presents one of the world’s largest live music companies. Mandi has been working as Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Downtown Austin Alliance for the past three years managing sponsorships, partnerships and business development. 

Mandi’s Advice for Sponsorships

• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – Understand the community you’re working with and the types of sponsorships that will work best for that community and your event. 
• INTEGRATE SPONSORSHIPS – Find ways to bring the sponsoring brand to life so it can be experienced. Integrate sponsorships into event programming where possible. Creating authentic meaningful integrations that are valued by the sponsoring businesses and event attendees. 
• ITS OK TO SAY NO! – If a sponsorship doesn’t make sense for the event and doesn’t add value to your goals or the experience of the participants, seek a better match.  

Managing a Public Park Venue

Republic Square is the first public park in Austin to be managed through a public/private partnership with the city, allowing a revenue model where the Downtown Austin Alliance can rent out the space. This provides more flexibility than other city parks, in both the design and how events are coordinated.

The Downtown Austin Alliance met with community stakeholders and outlined guiding principles for the park that would be written into an agreement with the city. The aim was for the park to be family friendly and open to everyone. A collaborative space with a balance of programming, inclusive and welcoming to a diverse audience.

Because Republic Square is designated as a public park, there are restrictions on the number of closed/private events that can be held each year. Weddings are not permitted in the park, but other events and organizations can apply to use the space. Part of the venue management role includes working with event producers on event permits, requirements and advising on the best use of the space. 

Event and Activity Programming

As a venue manager the Downtown Austin Alliance can curate the experiences offered at the park. They’re always looking for authentic and unique ways to use the park, weaving in the local culture. They aim to combine established events with new events that reflect the changing nature of the downtown area.

Partnering with downtown businesses to run activities in the park is an important element. The Downtown Austin Alliance partnered with Austin Community College, who run free foreign language classes in the park on Saturday mornings. Another partnership is with Wanderlust who offer yoga in the park.

The goal is to offer a balanced program of events throughout the year, with event request applications evaluated on what makes sense for the community. Looking for opportunities to create authentic and unique event programming, working with event producers to bring interesting events into the park. Considering wider community needs is also a good idea, such as becoming a meeting place for bus shuttles to other major events in the city.  

Competitive Applications for a Popular Public Event Space

Mandi recommends being as comprehensive as you can in the application. Think about the space you’re applying for and consider their objectives. If you were applying to Republic Square for example, you would consider that they are looking for events and activities that benefit the community. You know they are interested in programming that is inclusive, multicultural, family friendly, unique or new. If your event fits this criteria, be sure to mention that in the application.  

What to include in your application:

• What is the event/experience you want to bring to the park?
• Who is the target audience? 
• What is the community benefit?
• Why is this location the park of choice?
• If you have run this event before, provide an overview of its success and attendance numbers.
• If you haven’t run the event before, you would emphasize how this is an exciting new event or experience for the community. Highlighting any unique elements.  

Request to book Republic Square for an upcoming event.

Maximizing Year Round Use of an Outdoor Event Space

• Knowing your local community and their behaviors is really important. For example the Austin community is very heat tolerant when it comes to events, but numbers will drop quickly for outdoor events when its cold (unless it’s a holiday related activity). 
• Awareness of other events held in the city is important. Particularly big events. Scheduling events in some of the less event heavy months is always a good idea. 
• Events can be broken up with other activities held in the park, such as fitness and yoga classes.
• When scheduling events in a park, rest periods have to be planned between events to give the lawn a chance to recover. 

Key Challenges

Weather is the big one. You have to be flexible in planning, site design, the option to tent and potentially having a rain date on standby. Helping event organizers manage this is part of running an outdoor event space. 

As a ticketing provider, Ticketbud offers Event Protect to our customers that protects ticket revenue in the case of qualifying unforeseen cancelations. This can minimize some of the financial risk for event organizers.

Another consideration for a public park is that community members want to use the park for civic movements or rallies. Republic Square is located right next to a federal courthouse, which requires staying connected with the community when these types of events come up. Mandi explains that they keep an eye on facebook events that mention Republic Square and reach out to organizers to work with them.  

Park Operations 

A public park is a living space that requires care and maintenance. This includes maintaining the lawn, irrigation systems and landscaping, as well as learning about rest periods for grass between events so you don’t destroy it. This was all completely new territory for Mandi, who is experienced with events, but not in maintaining a park. Through trial and error she worked out the balance required to keep the park maintained in good condition.

Mandi’s Tips for Event Organizers

When it comes to events, things are never going to go perfectly. Be flexible enough to ride with that and embrace it. 

Don’t be afraid to try new things and step outside of your comfort zone. Don’t shy away from taking on a role that has a new challenge (like managing a public park). Have confidence in your ability to work it out.    

Find out more about Republic Square and upcoming events.

The post Ticketbud Tidbits Ep 23 – SHOW NOTES…Managing an Outdoor Community Event Space appeared first on Ticketbud.