Re: RAT In-House Ticketing (not an aesthetic thread)

[Sarah Richardson <sarah@rudemechs.com>]

Hey Mark,

I work for two theatres in Austin - Rude Mechs and Frontera -- and we 
both do our own box.  We've always done it at Rude Mechs and we just 
started doing our own at Frontera after many years with a ticketing 
service.  At both companies, we prefer it, even though it's a little 
bit of a pain, because we control the information going out about our 
shows.  No one can be as enthusiastic about our work as we are. 
Also, it really keeps us in touch with our patrons.

>
>Do you just use a voicemail line which instructs patrons to leave their name,
>number, and date and number of tickets?

yes, just that.  We have a separate phone line or separate voice mail 
box for it.


>Do you automatically call back to
>confirm or just tell them to assume it's confirmed unless they hear otherwise?

we always call and confirm every reservation.  we have found that it 
increases the number of people that actually show up.  also, patrons 
are remarkably confused most of the time about directions, the date, 
the time, etc.  the confirmation call really helps make sure they 
have the info they need to actually make it here. and people really 
appreciate it.

>
>Do you accept credit cards?  Do you have patrons leave the number and then
>run it through or do you do that at the door?  Do you accept credit cards at
>the door or just cash/checks?

we've never done credit cards and have never suffered for it.  in 3 
years i've only had one patron want to use a credit card that didn't 
have cash or check.  we just let him in on the honor system and he 
mailed us a check, with a donation as a thanks.  as part of the 
confirmation call, we always remind them that we accept checks and 
cash only at the door. (of course, this is is laid back austin. 
maybe you have to do credit cards in the big city.....)

>
>What credit card service do you use? How's it working?

check out the deals on the web -- you'll probably get a better deal 
than through your bank.  I know that the ticketing service in Austin 
(called Austix) pays about 3 - 4% in credit card fees.

>
>Please add how many seats you have.

Rude Mechs' theatre (The Off Center) is a flexible space.  Seating 
can be 40 to 125 or so.  Frontera's theatre (Hyde Park Theatre) is 
fixed seating at 75.

Good Luck with it all. I know that doing our own box offices has been 
really successful and we have no plans to go to a ticketing service 
any time in the foreseeable future.  Austix charges 7% off the gross 
for their services, plus they charge the patron $1.25 a ticket.  For 
some companies, that's no sweat, but especially for Rude Mechs, we 
just can't take that kind of financial bite off the top of our ticket 
sales. Also, we don't feel that paying $1.25 on a ticket that is 
sometimes as low as $8 is very nice to patrons without a lot of 
dough.  We're just as happy doing it ourselves, staying in close 
contact with our audiences, and keeping the money in the bank.

Take care,

Sarah