Tickets.com became the first technology company to bring the convenience of Near Field Communication (NFC) via Apple Wallet to the ticketing market with the debut of its innovative new platform, Alfred. The Oakland Athletics, in collaboration with Apple and Infinite Peripherals, were the first Tickets.com partner to publicly utilize the technology during a six-game pilot in September that provided fans the opportunity to enter the Oakland Coliseum by tapping their iPhone or Apple Watch to an Alfred-powered scanner. With the subsequent release of the iPhone X, Alfred will also be able to utilize the device’s revolutionary facial recognition to enable a fan’s ticket for entry into an Alfred-supported venue. The Athletics pilot was an important step forward for secure mobile ticketing as it marked the first time a professional sports event supported contactless tickets in Apple Wallet.

SPA Houston, the largest nonprofit Performing Arts organization of its kind in the entire southwest, has also gone live with Alfred. The organization chose Alfred because it is both cost-effective and easy to use.

Lee Strickland, General Manager of SPA Houston quotes, “We work in venues and parks in various locations throughout the city, and Alfred gave us the complete coverage we needed. The ease of use and the reliability of the system has been an amazing upgrade to what we had before.”

“Tickets.com remains focused on technological innovation for our partners’ customers,” says Joe Choti, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tickets.com. “Alfred has evolved digital ticketing and Access Control to new levels, making it frictionless, fun, engaging, and flawless.”

Teaming up with partners Infinite Peripherals and Apple, Alfred was built to be lightweight, user-friendly, and adaptable to future technologies. NFC is more secure than traditional Access Control systems, allowing patrons a smooth and stress-free entry into their favorite live events.

Tickets.com Chief Technology Officer, Derek Argobright states, “With Alfred, no barcodes are needed. We simply have the patron come to the venue entryway and authenticate from their personal device. Alfred instantly reads the NFC enabled pass and provides verified access for entry, making the process seamless and easy for both the patron and venue personnel.”

Argobright continued, “We have the ability to build out Alfred to be an entire end-to-end ticketing system. Whether it be reporting, ticket sales, or ticket services, all will be possible with the future of Alfred.”

Near Field Communication support for event entry is just the beginning for Alfred. This one-of-a-kind platform was built to both leverage present technologies and adapt and evolve to the future of live event technology with additional features and functionalities coming soon.

Tickets.com has partnered with Young Carers MK to give two special MK Dons fans the perfect fan day experience.

The project was part of the T.Cares program, a global initiative launched by Tickets.com to support local community efforts by arranging remarkable experiences for deserving individuals.

The subject of this latest campaign was Young Carers MK, a charity local to the Tickets.com UK offices in Milton Keynes which supports over 650 children and young people aged 8-19 years old. The initiative helps those who care for a family member with a physical or mental illness, disability or drug and alcohol dependency, and provides young carers with one-to-one support, specialist group work, targeted activities, information, advice and guidance, school support, and someone to talk to who understands.

After researching the charity, Tickets.com became aware of a story about Ben and Valmik, two young individuals who arranged a dog walk and school fancy dress day to raise money for Young Carers MK and Willen Hospice, a local charity that looks after patients with a terminal illness.

“We were inspired by Ben and Valmik’s generosity and passion for supporting the charities,” said Natalie Jones, internal sales manager at Tickets.com.

“Like so many other young carers, Ben and Valmik have a lot more to deal with than most people their age, and we felt that they were very deserving of a break from their day-to-day responsibilities. When we found out they were both big MK Dons fans, we couldn’t wait to speak to the club and arrange a day that we knew they wouldn’t forget!”

In partnership with longstanding client MK Dons Football Club, the Tickets.com team set about arranging a VIP experience for Ben and Valmik.

The two young fans were invited to attend last month’s match against Northampton Town and, before kick-off, were taken on a stadium tour by Izale McLeod, MK Dons’ all-time leading goal scorer.

As the stadium filled, the boys enjoyed a three-course meal in the Dons’ hospitality suite before visiting the home changing room to wish the team good luck. They then headed out pitch-side for photos with the team captains and referees.

Speaking after the event, Young Carers MK Team Coordinator Debbie Norton said, “We would like to say a huge thank you to Tickets.com for offering Ben and Valmik the opportunity to spend the afternoon as VIPs, and also a massive thank you to the MK Dons team.

“It means so much to young carers to be able to get out and enjoy themselves, as often they are reluctant to leave the person they care for. Young carers can become isolated and miss out on valuable childhood experiences, so this was a wonderful opportunity.”

Valmik said: “This was a fantastic experience that will stay with me forever. From seeing the club’s all-time scorer Izale Mcleod to sitting just a few seats away from chairman Pete Winkelman, it was a truly memorable day.”

Ben also said: “Valmik and I were over the moon when we found out about the hospitality experience at MK Dons, and wow, what an experience! I would like to thank everyone at Tickets.com and MK Dons for providing us with this opportunity.”

Speaking for all Tickets.com employees and the T.Cares program, Natalie Jones concluded: “The work that Young Carers MK does for young people like Ben and Valmik is fantastic and we were honored to work with them on this project. The boys had a great day, and we’d like to extend our gratitude to MK Dons for their hospitality and support in making the experience so special.”

For more information about Young Carers MK, visit www.youngcarersmk.org.

For more information about T.Cares and to find out how your charity or project could get involved, visit https://provenue.tickets.com/t-cares/.

Tickets.com is proud to announce its extended partnership with the University of Delaware’s Resident Ensemble Players (REP). The theater has signed a multi-year renewal which will see Tickets.com continue as the official ticketing provider, which will be migrating from ProVenueMax to the ProVenue platform.

Resident Ensemble Players is located at the University of Delaware’s Roselle Center for the Arts, an outstanding educational facility which serves as a focal point of the University’s performing arts community. Two theaters, the Wilhelmina Press Thompson Theatre & the Studio Theatre, provide opportunities to attend exhilarating theatre for the local community, which, over the years, has included productions of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird and William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

The migration to ProVenue will see Resident Ensemble Players utilizing a number of advanced features including Access Control, which will allow the theatre to digitally scan patrons’ tickets for faster entry, and MyProVenue, Tickets.com’s next-generation web application which optimizes customers’ mobile ticketing experience.

Commenting on the contract renewal with Tickets.com, REP’s Nadine Howatt,

Director of Marketing and Communications said: “ProVenue allows us not only to sell tickets in a simple and quick way but also helps us to monitor sales and attendances of our performances more accurately than we ever have done before.”

For more information on Resident Ensemble Players, please visit http://www.rep.udel.edu/Pages/default.aspx

To learn more about the Tickets.com ProVenue platform, please contact us!

The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival / Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Inc. has renewed its partnership with Tickets.com which will see the venue migrate across to the ProVenue ticketing platform.

Headquartered in Auburn, NY, the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival is a dynamic arts organization committed to creating theatrical experiences at the highest levels of artistic integrity. It leverages the power of the arts as a tool for entertainment, education, social awareness and cultural development in its community and the region. The Festival is situated in the picturesque Finger Lakes wine region of Central New York. The Festival will celebrate its 60th Anniversary with a knockout 2018 Season that includes Mamma Mia!, Anne of Green Gables, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, Murder For Two, Beehive and The PiTCH.

As a part of its renewal, the Festival will migrate across from ProVenueMax to the ProVenue ticketing platform. This allows the venue to utilize Tickets.com’s most advanced technology, including subscription and package flexibility, mobile tools, and MyTickets, the account management platform where visitors can manage all aspects of their bookings within the user-friendly ProVenue interface.

Lynnette Lee, Managing Director of the Festival, said of the transition, “We’re excited to extend our partnership with Tickets.com, and we’re looking forward to implementing some of the more advanced features offered by ProVenue, which will provide a more seamless ticketing process for our patrons.  Next year we will see a number of fantastic productions grace our stage, so having this new system in place will support us in managing the anticipated demand for tickets and deliver an improved overall experience for our patrons.” 

For more information about the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival’s 60^th Anniversary Season, please visit https://fingerlakesmtf.com/home/.

To learn more about the Tickets.com ProVenue platform, please contact us!

At Tickets.com we are always striving to deliver lifelong memories and experiences for patrons, and our latest T.Cares event with the Special Olympics and MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies did just that.

The Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities, with more than 4.9 million athletes in 172 countries, and over one million volunteers. It aims to help people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success, through the power of sport.

Working with Special Olympics New Jersey’s Head Baseball Coach Tony Vlahovic and Volunteer Director Amy Simmons, Tickets.com teamed up with the Philadelphia Phillies to host a day that four chosen athletes wouldn’t forget.

The Special Olympics representatives were invited to the Phillies’ home game against Miami Marlins in September and were greeted with a personalized welcome on the big screens as they arrived at Citizen Bank Park.

After being presented with a Phillies welcome bag, the athletes headed down onto the field to watch batting practice, where they were met by Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph and first base coach Mickey Morandini, who were more than thrilled to take photos with the Special Olympic athletes and sign autographs.

The athletes also presented Tommy and Mickey with gifts of their own; specially designed Special Olympics t-shirts, which both Mickey and Tommy wore throughout the rest of batting practice.

The athletes even got the chance to meet a member of the opposing team, Miami Marlins’ third baseman Derek Dietrich, before heading into the Media Room to meet local broadcaster Tom McCarthy and field questions for themselves from Phillies staff members.

In what was a closely fought game, the Phillies came out on top claiming a thrilling victory and coming from behind to win 8-9, capping off a memorable day for all involved.

For Bucky Heath, Head of Marketing at Tickets.com, it was also a day to remember: “The goal of any T.Cares project is to provide great memories for all those involved, and the athletes didn’t stop smiling the whole time! The Special Olympics has been doing outstanding work for many years, and it was a pleasure to work with Tony & Amy to provide these young athletes with a memorable experience. I also want to thank the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins and everyone at Citizen Bank Park who helped make the day so special.”

“These types of events create a once-in-a-lifetime experience and exposure for all Special Olympic athletes and the overall experience with the Phillies was amazing,” said Special Olympics New Jersey’s Head Baseball Coach, Tony Vlahovic.

“I had tears in my eyes a few times watching the four athletes’ reactions to meeting the players on the field and listening to them talk about how much fun it was to be in the ballpark.

“The passion that these athletes demonstrate for baseball is incredible, and I would like to thank Bucky and all the wonderful people at Tickets.com for their time, patience and dedication to making the event a success!”

To find out more information about the Special Olympics, visit www.specialolympics.org.

To read more about the T.Cares program and to find out how Tickets.com could get involved with your community or charity, please click here.

Our Tickets.com UK team took some time away from the office last week to support the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation’s Growing People project as part of the UK T.Cares program.

A worldwide initiative, the T.Cares program sees Tickets.com employees better the communities where we work and live, by supporting local community efforts with raising funds for various charities and providing community service.

The latest organization supported by the UK team is the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation. Their Growing People project is a horticultural social enterprise, which works with disengaged young people to grow organic seasonal fresh fruit, vegetables, salad and flowers for the local community at their Urb Farm based in Wolverton.

Natalie Jones, the internal sales manager at Tickets.com, was part of the committee that organized the day. She said: “Initiatives like Urb Farm really do make a difference to our local community and we were only too happy to dedicate our time to support the project.

“A few members of our team have previously attended open days at the farm and experienced the fantastic work that the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation does to support those in need, so it was a great fit for our T.Cares program.”
The Tickets.com team spent the afternoon of Friday, September 22nd helping out on the farm, gardening, tidying, and providing general maintenance work to support the staff who run the project.

Lisa Hodgson the Learning Tree Coordinator/ Special Educational Needs Coordinator at Urb Farm said: “I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the work that the lovely team at Tickets.com carried out at the farm. Those were all jobs that have been on our ‘to do list’ all season, but we just haven’t had the time, so everyone involved has made a big difference! We hope the team enjoyed it and that no one was too stiff and achy the next day!”

For more information about the Milton Keynes Christian Foundation and their work, visit www.mkchristianfoundation.co.uk.

To learn more about T.Cares and to make suggestions for communities and projects to be considered as part of the program, visit www.provenue.tickets.com/uk/t-cares.

At Tickets.com, we believe that experience is everything, and through our latest T.Cares initiative we partnered with military charitable organization, Vet Tix to provide one very deserving US Marine Corps veteran with a day to remember.

Ryan Taylor served in the US Marine Corps from 2002 – 2006. As a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, Ryan’s dedication to his military career meant opportunities to watch live games had been few and far between, so we got together with Vet Tix to treat Ryan to a VIP experience at Comerica Park this Summer as the Tigers took on the New York Yankees.

Vet Tix supports troops by honoring their service and providing positive family and life experiences. They work with currently-serving military, veterans and immediate family of troops killed in action to build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life. Since launching in 2008, Vet Tix has given out almost 4 million tickets to individuals across the U.S.

For Ryan and his three friends, securing great tickets to cheer on their #1 team was only the start of it; they received a scoreboard message and swag bags, and even went on the field for Batting Practice, only to be invited back to play catch with the players, accompanied by Tickets.com President & CEO Joe Choti and Tigers’ Senior Director of Ticket Services Grant Anderson.

Despite the Yankees winning the game 10-2, the result was clearly outshone by the once-in-a-lifetime experience Ryan and his friends enjoyed that day: “The experience was truly one of a kind, shows that there are people out there who still care. That was something that I won’t soon forget, makes me want to do more to give back to other veterans. Thank you VetTix for an incredible night! We were able to go on the field at Comerica Park, meet some of the players, and even play catch on the field! Thank you!!” ” -Ryan Taylor, MSHROD

Tickets.com President & CEO Joe Choti said: “It was a fantastic day at Comerica Park and we are proud to be able to work with such an amazing organization as Vet Tix to give something back to individuals like Ryan, who have spent so much of their lives putting others first. The T.Cares program is a huge part of who we are and what we do at Tickets.com, and we can’t wait to deliver our next awesome experiences to deserving individuals and communities.”

To find out more information about Vet Tix, visit www.vettix.org.