Tickets.com UK staff supports local community project launch

Tickets.com employees continue to embrace the mission and vision behind the T.Cares community outreach program. In September, staff from the Tickets.com UK office volunteered at Unity Park and the Mac Garden at Milton Keynes Hospital.

As part of the global T.Cares initiative, Tickets.com employees seek to support the communities where they work and live – from charity fundraising and community service to creating unforgettable experiences for individuals and families around the world.

Milton Keynes’ Winter Night Shelter at Unity Park Station is one of the latest opportunities to support the T.Cares mission. Milton Keynes Bus Station, Unity Park is a welcome center for local homeless people that provides hot drinks and snacks, before transporting them to supervised overnight accommodations.

In September, Tickets.com personnel visited the center and helped prepare Unity Park Station ahead of the opening of its new facility – which will offer daytime welfare, shower and washing facilities. The team supported the initiative by painting, cleaning and other hands-on tasks to get the space ready.

Donna Elliott, Project Coordinator at Unity Park, said: “We would like to say a huge thanks to the staff who came and helped us with the mammoth task of completing the paint work and getting the place ready for the venue users. We were blown away with the team’s willingness to work and I’d like to thank Tickets.com again on behalf of the many building users who will be carrying out important work with the homeless, vulnerable and those with mental health challenges.”

The Tickets.com team also recently took time out to volunteer at Milton Keynes Hospital’s Mac Garden, a site run by the Milton Keynes Cancer Patient Partnership (MKCPP).

MKCPP is a charitable organization that works together with cancer patients, health professionals and other cancer-related groups and charities to provide patients and care-givers with the best possible experience throughout the cancer journey.

The Mac Garden is just one of a number of spaces maintained by the charity and the team from Tickets.com worked with MKCPP’s Jaff Newton to provide some much-needed assistance to the garden.

“I’d like to say a really big thank you to everyone at Tickets.com for all their hard work in the garden,” said Newton. “It will certainly last for months to come and will be ideal for the hosting events where staff, patients and visitors can enjoy being in the garden. I can’t wait to see it all in full bloom!”

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/.

Boston Red Sox fans have experienced an unforgettable season in which the iconic franchise set a new record for wins en route to the American League East title. For one special fan on one September day, the Red Sox and Fenway Park experience became memorable in ways he never dreamed. As part of the T.Cares community outreach program, Tickets.com worked closely with the Red Sox to customize a once-in-a-lifetime game day experience for an inspirational 18-year-old, Evan Wallace.

This young man, who also serves as Shriners 2018 patient ambassador at the Shriners Hospital – Boston, was born with a severe cleft lip and palate and has undergone several major surgeries throughout his lifetime, including a successful bone graft to reconstruct his mouth. While recovering and on a “blender food only” diet, Evan created a cookbook with nutritional and enjoyable recipes that has since helped many patients going through similar treatment, underscoring his on-going commitment to helping others.

On that September day, Evan and his family sat in Fenway Park’s second row to see his favorite team Red Sox take on the divisional rival Toronto Blue Jays^®. Prior to the game, the entire family joined the Red Sox on the field for pre-game ceremonies, which were highlighted by Evan delivering the game ball and rosin bag to the pitcher’s mound in front of more than 30,000 fans.

Just like the game itself, Evan’s experience was only beginning. During the game, Evan and his family were welcomed with a special video message on the Fenway Park videoboard and JD Martinez, right fielder for the Red Sox, tossed Evan a game-used baseball during the fourth inning.

The game ended with another Red Sox victory, but this day’s experience, specially designed by the Red Sox and Tickets.com, had meaning beyond the final score. A program like T.Cares was established to provide a platform for this. On that one day in September, the partners honored Evan’s inspiring commitment to using the challenges he’s faced to build a community of positivity and support for those in similar circumstances.

Elizabeth Fisher, Manager of Marketing and Communications for the Boston Shriners Hospital explains what this experience means for young people like Evan: “We are so grateful to Tickets.com and the Red Sox for this opportunity. Initiatives like T.Cares help us provide our brave young patients with some brief respite from what they are facing day-to-day, and there is no better testament of our work than to see our patients out in the community, enjoying experiences that they will never forget. Evan is a wonderful ambassador of our hospital and we are thrilled he had this opportunity.”

For Bucky Heath, Head of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at Tickets.com, it’s occasions like this that demonstrate the importance of the initiative: “Our commitment to venue experiences goes so far beyond providing ticketing technology. We aspire to build a meaningful community experience with our partners. Creating an experience like this with the Red Sox and Shriners Boston to honor someone like Evan who has selflessly given back to others and his own community exemplifies the vision of T.Cares.”

As part of our strategic vision to provide venues with access to innovative technology, solutions, and distribution channels, we are proud to expand our relationship with Groupon through the Tickets.com Registered Developer Program.

The Registered Developer Program allows verified third-party solutions to seamlessly integrate with our ProVenue ticketing platform – providing partner venues with limitless access to the most advanced ticketing technology and patron experiences in the industry.

As a member of the Registered Developer Program, Groupon will offer its vast mobile and online marketplace to any venue utilizing ProVenue technology. By featuring single or multiple events on Groupon, venues will have the power to expand the digital footprints for reaching local consumers as well as travelers looking to explore the best entertainment facilities a city offers.

“Live events and activities play a big role in bringing their communities together, and we’re thrilled to partner with Tickets.com’s extensive client roster to help people conveniently discover and experience amazing things to do near them,” said Brian Fields, Groupon’s vice president and general manager of things to do. “With more than 32 million Groupon customers in North America and a huge presence on mobile, we’re helping some of the biggest names in live entertainment attract the next generation of fans.”

Groupon is among the more than 50 innovative integrators currently approved as active participants in the Registered Developer Program. With Tickets.com’s technology infrastructure as the foundation, the program unites venue personnel, third-party developers, and ProVenue experts in a collaboration to build reimagined experiences and unsurpassed values to patrons, including ticket sales and functionality, access control, loyalty, and distribution channels.

At Tickets.com, we are in the business of creating unforgettable experiences, and there is no better experience than helping others. We are dedicated to making our world a better place through acts of kindness in the communities where we work and live, and we do this through the T.Cares community outreach program.

Through the initiative, Tickets.com employees are encouraged to volunteer and give back to causes and organizations that they are passionate about in their local areas.

From raising money for The Alzheimer’s Society in the United Kingdom to participating in the Walk For Love with Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia, the Tickets.com family takes pride in working together to help those facing obstacles in their lives.

Veteran Tickets Foundation (Vet Tix) is one of our trusted T.Cares partners, and by working with Vet Tix, Tickets.com donates tickets to various live event experiences all over the United States. The tickets are given to veterans in need, veterans who may need support to reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and be encouraged to stay engaged with local communities and American life.

This summer, United States veteran Holly (last name concealed) was just one of many that we were able to help through the Vet Tix partnership, when she was invited to attend Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts with her family.

Regarding the experience, Holly stated, “To the generous donations, thank you so much! I was able to attend with my family and we had a great time. It was my first time visiting Wolf Trap and I am pleasantly surprised. Our seats were FANTASTIC! I use these opportunities to help with my PTSD and anxiety so this was a great resource. Thank You again!”

We are dedicated to keeping the T.Cares program at the core of our organization, and expanding it to make a global impact. No matter how busy our lives get, why not make it a priority to reinvest in the welfare of our neighbors?

If you are interested in learning more about T.Cares, please contact marketing@tickets.com.

Tickets.com hosted its annual ProVenue Exchange conference this year in Charleston, South Carolina from June 11 – 13, 2018.

PVEX18 invited technologists, ticketing professionals, thought leaders, and marketing experts to explore the patron experience comprehensively, beyond the logistics of ad campaigns, venue operations, sales numbers, and CRM.

“Experiences Bring Stories to Life,” the conference’s theme, is an irresistible perspective. It emerges naturally when you blend cutting edge technology, the Tickets.com vision, and open dialogue—a powerful message for the Tickets.com community and for the ‘experience’ industry at large.

Honored PVEX18 attendees included the World Racing Group, Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Buffalo Sabres, colleges and universities, major attractions such as Medieval Times, numerous Performing Arts clients such as Wolf Trap, The Bushnell and more.

PVEX18 guests checked into the Charleston Marriott for three days of immersion in the Tickets.com vision, a family-like environment of collaboration and open dialogue about industry successes and challenges.

Joe Choti, President and CEO of Tickets.com, stated during his Keynote address:

“It is this vision, Experiences Bring Stories to Life, that drives our brand, our technological solutions, and our services. If we achieve our goal, we will help you build stories and create remarkable experiences.”

Elaborating on this year’s theme, Joe Choti inspired the audience with examples of how storytelling is impactful in the experience industry, followed by a challenge:

“It is our responsibility together to be the catalyst that generates life-changing stories through a journey of unforgettable experiences and unprecedented value.”

The three-day conference presented insightful industry discussions, hands-on technology training, presentations on the most cutting-edge technology in live events, delicious southern-style cuisine, and evening social events where the genuine southern hospitality shined through.

For more details  about this year’s ProVenue Exchange, please visit our PVEX18 Recap Site or contact marketing@tickets.com.

Tickets.com continues to welcome new and renewing clients in 2018. World Racing Group, several Minor League Baseball clubs and other unique live event venues, such as rodeos and virtual experiences, have recently upgraded to the Tickets.com ProVenue^® platform.

By partnering with Tickets.com, venues gain access to box office solutions, patron-facing technology, insightful reports and analytics, and outstanding support from the team.

MyTickets™ is one of many features that venues identify as a reason for choosing to work with Tickets.com. A patron-facing tool for managing ticket inventory and account details, MyTickets puts the power directly in the patron’s hands, reducing the demand on box office staff to fulfill a variety of ticket requests. Patrons can independently renew ticket packages as well as forward, resell, purchase, and donate tickets all within their MyTickets account.

For venues, MyTickets is also a powerful tool for communicating discounts and promotions to targeted audiences, advertised to patrons directly in a “My Offers” area of their account details.

Also proving popular throughout the industry is Alfred, the new mobile ‘concierge’ technology from Tickets.com. Launched in 2017, Alfred was the first solution in the market to provide Apple^® Wallet users with the ‘touchless’ convenience of Near Field Communication (NFC) —for venue entry, for example.

Jackson Hole Rodeo, Augusta GreenJackets and the Vancouver Canadians are just some of the new Tickets.com venues using Alfred to enhance their patron experience and streamline their operations.

Midway through 2018, Tickets.com has renewed or upgraded over 15 existing clients, including theaters, universities and fairgrounds; and through the remainder of the year and beyond, the allure of world-class technology and support promises to keep pace.

Tickets.com also remains committed to developing solutions that challenge industry norms and gives venues the tools they need to take their patron experiences to the next level. Tickets.com is in the business of creating unforgettable experiences and we strive to help each and every one of our clients to do the same.

Want to learn more about Tickets.com technology and services? Please contact sales@tickets.com.

As part of the T.Cares program, Tickets.com worked with trusted partners to create a series of experiences at Major and Minor League Baseball games. Tickets.com was able to provide over 30 experiences for families and individuals from the nonprofit organizations, Vet Tix and Art Feeds, throughout Spring Training and the regular season.

The T.Cares program seeks to support local community efforts by partnering with various nonprofit organizations to provide remarkable experiences for those facing hardships or obstacles in their lives. To date in 2018, we have already provided over 100 live event experiences for families and individuals.

Vet Tix provides tickets to events which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life. Vet Tix and Tickets.com have worked together since the launch of T.Cares. Vet Tix will be featured as one of the 2018 Keynote Speakers at the Tickets.com annual conference, ProVenue Exchange.

Art Feeds provides therapeutic art and creative education programs that feed children’s creativity for an inspired future. Art Feeds began in one classroom with one child—a little boy who wasn’t being fed at home and who was not only lethargic and struggling with academics but also had incredibly low self-esteem. As he began doing art lessons, he showed tremendous progress through expression; art was feeding him in a way that was just as essential as food.

Meg Bourne, Founder & CEO of Art Feeds, quotes “Art Feeds is so grateful for a free night of baseball to share with our volunteers and partners. As an organization that operates with hundreds of volunteer hours per year, we wouldn’t exist without the time and energy our volunteers dedicate to our programs. Having the ability to give our volunteers a fun night out with each other is such a gift. Thank you, Tickets.com, for this generous donation to allow us to honor the volunteers that help us accomplish our mission every day.”

From baseball games and rock concerts to Disney® On Ice and Medieval Times®, T.Cares is dedicated to providing broad variety experiences to all of those who need a break from their daily lives and enjoy the excitement of live event experiences.

If your venue or organization is interested in becoming part of T.Cares, please contact marketing@tickets.com

The San Francisco Giants introduced support for Near Field Communication (NFC) access to AT&T Park, through a first-of-its-kind integration with Alfred – Tickets.com’s latest advancement in access control. This innovative technology allows fans that have their tickets delivered to Apple^® Wallet simply and securely tap on their iPhone or Apple Watch to use mobile ticketing entry at the ballpark.

The multi-purpose system also continues to support scanning traditional bar-coded tickets.  While the deployment specifically represented a step forward in the fan experience for mobile accessibility this season, future developments with Tickets.com will focus on the complete Digital Ticketing process, including fan service and ticket purchase right at the point of entry for a frictionless customer experience.