Wollongong’s Santa Claus Pub Crawl is in its 23rd year, and fittingly, took over 23 venues in the city for an epic Christmas-themed jaunt on Saturday the 10th of December. Funds raised from wristband sales, raffle draws and donations go toward the Salvation Army for projects in the Illawarra area, south of Sydney and the Disabled Surfers Association South Coast Branch. The event raised over $100,000 for these charities and was attended by around ten thousand people all dressed in costume, as Santa, Mrs. Claus and other holiday themed attire.

The event is recognized as “the longest continually run Santa Pub Crawl in the world”, and they proudly claim to have never had a major violent incident in the pub crawl’s history. Founder Neil Webster has a personal interest in this statistic – the event started 23 years ago, but it was in 1997 when Webster himself was the victim of a serious alcohol-related bashing on Christmas Eve in 1997. He said he then rejigged the Santa pub crawl to help promote a positive, safe culture around nightlife, and claimed there had never been a major violent incident in the pub crawl’s two-decade history.

Webster added that having everyone dressed in silly costumes probably helps this safety record. “It’s hard to get into a punch-up when you’ve got 5000 Santas standing behind you,” he laughed. “Everyone is like part of the same team, it shines through. It breaks down a lot of social norms. Normally you go to a pub, you usually don’t talk to people in other groups, but here, everyone is your friend because you’re all here for the same cause. You have little discussions about costumes.”

“Those barriers of talking to a stranger are out the window. Everyone is your friend. We’ve lost count of the number of people who met at the pub crawl and are now together or married. It’s those barriers breaking down.”

Tickets.com has supported the event since 2010 and provides event management advice and ticketing services.

The team at Tickets.com is excited to announce that the recent roll-out of ProVenue^® at Semperoper has been shortlisted for the Moving On Up Award at the Ticketing Technology Awards 2017. The category acknowledges the best in recent migration, upgrade or implementation projects and seeks to find a winning entry that demonstrates a boost in revenue and retention aligned with the introduction of the new platform.

In the case of Semperoper, a Tickets.com client for more than 25 years, the globally-renowned opera house migrated across to ProVenue^® in 2016, becoming the first venue in Germany to do so. Since introducing the new platform, Semperoper has benefitted from an increase in online sales across many of its events; at any one time, the venue can be selling tickets for up to 300 events at its main venue and 200 events at sister venues.

The advanced functionality of ProVenue^® has also facilitated a range of up-sells, including guided tours, event programs and food and beverage options; this, coupled with the growth in online ticket sales has seen the venue’s online revenue increase by approximately 30% in the first three months of utilizing ProVenue^® (August – October 2016) compared to the same period last year.

Commenting on the announcement, Derek Palmer, Managing Director and Executive VP, International “We are delighted to be shortlisted for the Moving On Up Award at this year’s Ticketing Technology Awards; Semperoper is a fantastic venue and very progressive as an organization; we are proud to continue our longstanding relationship with them.

“Over time, its ticketing requirements have developed and we’ve worked closely with the project team to ensure that ProVenue^® not only meets these requirements but offers advanced levels of functionality and flexibility to allow the system to evolve in line with the venue’s projected growth.”

Tickets.com will be up against entries from Regiondo Pro, Ingresso, TiXX Sports and Skiddle, who have also been shortlisted for projects from across Europe.

“As Europe’s leading gathering of entertainment ticketing professionals, each year Ticketing Technology Forum brings together the very best of the industry to showcase what’s new, explore the challenges we face and debate the future trends,” says Ian Nuttall, Founder, Ticketing Technology Forum.

“Alongside the conference and workshops, this year we will also celebrate and recognize those people and organizations which are changing the way we service the ticketing needs of our customers.

“The public nominated and after careful consideration, the judges have delivered a comprehensive shortlist of worthy finalists for Ticketing Technology Awards 2017 – which Tickets.com and Semperoper have been selected for.”

 The Ticketing Technology Awards recognize leadership, innovation, and achievement in the application of technology in ticketing across sports, performing arts, music, cinema, live entertainment and visitor attractions. The Awards aim to increase the standards and best practice of ticketing, drive awareness and adoption of future ticketing technology, and improve the customer experience for ticket-buyers across all sectors.

 Click here for more information about the Ticketing Technology Awards and follow @tickettechforum on Twitter for live updates.

University of Vermont students are now able to access athletic tickets online through the MyUVM portal for all Catamount men’s basketball and men’s hockey games. Students can log in to their MyUVM portal, click on the “Quick Links” tab in the upper right corner, and click the “Athletics” link for tickets.

Students can now print tickets at their convenience or download tickets to their phone to be scanned at the event. Student tickets sold out for both men’s hockey games against No. 5 Boston University this weekend in less than six hours, which set a new record at Vermont. Students can still use the stand-by line at Gutterson for a chance to see the action.

“UVM students bring an energy and excitement to our games that is unmatched,” said Director of Athletics Jeff Schulman ’89. “Anything that we can do to make it more convenient for them to access tickets is a high priority.  Students told us that mobile access was important, and thanks to the hard work of Director of Ticket Operations Jason Young and our ticket operations team, we were able to respond with this new online program.”

The online ticket initiative was executed in collaboration with the Registrar’s Office and Student Life. UVM worked with Tickets.com, the department’s integrated ticketing solution, to launch this new online initiative. The launch comes as the UVM Athletic Department and Tickets.com have extended their partnership for another five years. Vermont has been working with Tickets.com since 2004.

Wolf Trap features high-quality entertainment, presenting artists across all genres at three distinct venues: the architecturally stunning Filene Center and the charmingly intimate Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods, both outdoor amphitheaters located in Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and the historic The Barns at Wolf Trap, which features music on a year round schedule.

Over the past three years, Wolf Trap has grown its membership base by an impressive 37% and its paid attendance by 23%. In the 2016 Summer Filene Center season alone, 22 shows were completely sold out!

To consistently increase the number of new buyers every year, Wolf Trap embraces the community aspect of their audience. They have found great success with community and grassroots campaigns by participating in cultural and community events, working with area businesses, and networking with embassies, chamber and civic organizations.

Director of Marketing at Wolf Trap, Heidi Kibirsky, quotes “Wolf Trap has found success bringing in new ticket buyers by increasing its community, grassroots, and cultural outreach and promotional activities, as well as through executing robust digital and social campaigns. To retain new patrons we have been successful implementing a new campaign sending first-time ticket buyers a ‘Thank You’ email that includes a three question survey, recommendations for upcoming shows, and an opportunity to opt-in to future Wolf Trap emails.”

Wolf Trap has had an increase in attendance across all three of its venues and has grown its opt-in email database to over 160,000 unique email addresses.

For more information about Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, please visit wolftrap.org

Do you want to learn about how Tickets.com technologies can improve your fans’ experience? Connect with us!

To attract new buyers, the Oakland Athletics utilize fan-friendly ticket offers, such as value days and family packs. They have also added themed fireworks nights to their home game schedule to attract patrons who may not be die-hard baseball fans.

The A’s organization has taken full advantage of Tickets.com technology, ensuring a positive patron experience from ticket purchase to gate entry at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. To cater to their on-the-go fan base, the Athletics were early adopters of mobile ticketing, allowing fans to buy tickets anytime and anywhere. The A’s have equipped fans with a variety of convenient ways to obtain the seats they want, including the ability to select seats directly from an interactive seat map and the ability to redeem vouchers online. The organization also continues to focus on digital delivery, which allows fans to use a mobile device to enter the ballpark.

After a ticket has been purchased, the Athletics utilize event reminder and alert emails to communicate pertinent information to fans, such as traffic advisories or event changes, to ensure ticket buyers have a smooth experience getting to the ballpark. The moment a patron enters the gates, the fans’s experience is taken to the next level by having mobile access to offers, such as seat upgrades, photos on the field, press box tours, and the opportunity to purchase game-used merchandise all through the MLB.com Ballpark App.

The Oakland Athletics also utilize Tickets.com reporting tools to better understand their audience. David Adame, Director of Ticket Operations for the Athletics, stands behind the scenes but is at the forefront of enhancing fan experiences. David quotes, “As an organization, we strive to always create a memorable experience for the fans both digitally as well as in the ballpark. With the use of data analytics we have a better understanding of the driving force behind our ticket buyers making purchases. This information gives us the ability to create ticket offers that first time fans are more likely to take advantage of by specifically targeting buyers based on day of the week, price, opponent, special event or giveaway item.”

For more information on the Oakland Athletics, please visit oakland.athletics.mlb.com

Do you want to learn about how Tickets.com technologies can improve your fans’ experience? Connect with us!

Marketing automation is one of the many “buzz words” these days. There are so many articles written on why marketing automation is important for companies to better communicate to their customers. I hear it all the time, “do you want to improve higher engagement and create more personalized email messages while increasing ticket sales?” The obvious answer is, ummm YES PLEASE! However, what does marketing automation really mean and more importantly how can I use it to forge relationships with my patrons?

Thankfully, we hear you loud and clear. Our CrowdConnect Marketing Automation tool is a great way to plan out a series of personalized communications or recurring tasks that keep you connected with your subscribers. This tool makes your patrons feel like they are valued by your organization. Patrons that feel good about their experience with your brand will continue doing business with you. It’s as simple as that!

CrowdConnect automations, combined with segments, give you the tools to create the following useful campaigns and more:

• Welcome Trigger
• Birthday trigger
• Emails with Reminders
• Reactivation Campaign

There are 4 main tools to make these campaigns happen:

1. Templates (the email build itself)
2. Segments (determine the starting audience for the automation)
3. Marketing Automation (mapping out the journey)
4. Calendar (to schedule the automation and map it to the appropriate segment)

Seeing is believing right? Below are the steps to create a Birthday Trigger with a reminder email in CrowdConnect.

1) Build the email as a template in the system

2) Build a segment to isolate everyone with a birthday today

3) Create a Marketing Automation to send the birthday email

4) Create a reminder after 4 days to everyone who didn’t open the first email

5) Launch the campaign by scheduling the Marketing Automation to run every day

You are now an expert at creating a simple but effective Marketing Automation campaign with CrowdConnect – a few easy steps to cultivate better relationships with your customers!. Connect with us to learn how you can start using CrowdConnect today!