[El Ken]

Greetings ACenites!

Sorry I haven't been very talkative on the forums lately, but I've been watching.

So, I brought this concept up last year here. If we brought over a musical act that required an outside venue like the Akoo Theatre (formerly Rosemont Theatre), how would we make up for the additional venue fees? The feedback on that topic was good, but I didn't see quite the number of responses I had hoped for on the poll.

In general, my take-away from that at the time was that ACen attendees would pay extra for a big name concert, but many still wanted to see some seating available at no additional charge (perhaps in the balcony or something along those lines). Also, the general consensus was to keep the event open only to ACen badge holders.

The reason I'm posting about this again is that I want to know if this still holds true. There is a possibility that we will hold a concert at the Akoo in 2013, and I need to determine how we can recoup the additional venue fees. Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!

[magishine]

I personally think a concert at the Akoo would be fine. I also think it should be open to all. I know that there a quite a few people that don't want to go to ACen (the ones I know are because of ACen's party con rep) would love to go to a big name concert and it'll help the cost of the concert down for ACen attendees to let people go that aren't attending the con. Please let it be Mami Kawada....but I'm happy with whoever you guys are getting

[linlindesu]

I concur with magishine. Have it be open to the public as well but maybe have the fee for attendees much lower ( 10-30) while those that don't buy badges could also buy tickets at a higher price ( 30-60).
If the name was big enough heck ACen may bring back attendees who have left because of other issues.

[El Ken]

To that point, a concert would outwardly need to be a private event to avoid the Akoo's Ticketmaster agreement, but I think there's a way to manage a ticketed event through the ACen reg system, varying the price according to whether the user is a badge holder or not. I think it might be a good idea to allow ACen badge holders to purchase tickets prior to opening to the public as well. The major issue I see here is that the concert would essentially be off limits to someone who does not pre-register for ACen. I'm not sure how many people would be affected by that, but it worries me. Any thoughts on that?

[magishine]

I think selling the tickets through ACen Reg would be fine. I think you'll have to step up the advertising this year to make sure people know not to contact the Akoo to get tickets. It'll also maybe get people thinking."hmmm maybe I should go to the con too

[Agatha]

I think if you make sure to advertise it quite heavily, there oughtn't to be a problem - wasn't the lolita tea party last year done in a similar fashion? (As in, you need to register online through the ACen site and link that registration to a badge?) Would it be possible for you to sell a certain number of tickets at-con on a first-come, first-serve basis for people who couldn't/didn't pre-reg?

[El Ken]

Agatha, on 31 October 2012 - 08:01 PM, said:

Would it be possible for you to sell a certain number of tickets at-con on a first-come, first-serve basis for people who couldn't/didn't pre-reg?

Though possible, we then run the risk of not selling out the tickets since we would have to hold some for sale at con. Additionally, this concert would most likely be Friday evening to avoid competing against Masquerade on Saturday. That would not leave very much time for promotion, ticket sales, and distribution, especially for attendees arriving Friday to purchase badges.

[Roark]

El Ken, on 31 October 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

The major issue I see here is that the concert would essentially be off limits to someone who does not pre-register for ACen. I'm not sure how many people would be affected by that, but it worries me. Any thoughts on that?

Use the concert to drive pre-reg sales, which reduces at-con reg lines. Make the sale dates well announced and clear, probably 60-90 days pre-con. That should give plenty time for people to pre-reg if they want to.

El Ken, on 01 November 2012 - 10:33 AM, said:

Agatha, on 31 October 2012 - 08:01 PM, said:

Would it be possible for you to sell a certain number of tickets at-con on a first-come, first-serve basis for people who couldn't/didn't pre-reg?

Though possible, we then run the risk of not selling out the tickets since we would have to hold some for sale at con. Additionally, this concert would most likely be Friday evening to avoid competing against Masquerade on Saturday. That would not leave very much time for promotion, ticket sales, and distribution, especially for attendees arriving Friday to purchase badges.

Holding back tickets doesn't make sense. What does make sense is releasing any remaining tickets for at-con purchase. Have them as an option up on the boards with the other prices, then cover up the option when tickets sell out. Done.

This post has been edited by Roark: 01 November 2012 - 12:21 PM

[El Ken]

Thanks, Marcques. Your thoughts are always appreciated.

On the first point, my worry is about those attendees who may not have a credit card or online payment method to pre-reg. I know I liked to go to Broadway shows in the city before I had a credit card, and thankfully I was able to physically go to a Ticketmaster location and pay cash for the tickets. That being said, I have also used Money Orders for similar such things when mail order was my only option. Money Orders are a viable option for pre-reg, so I may have just talked myself out of that worry. I just need to make sure that potential attendees are aware of the concert and the ticketing requirements (i.e., it needs to be well promoted).

I agree on the second point. If for some reason the tickets do not sell out ahead of time, we will have to have at-con sales available. Just need to figure out the logistics of that process.

[magicalgamer]

Access to a credit card is not really a big deal anymore. Go into any pharmacy, bigbox store, or convienience store and you can get "buy" a prepaid credit card for no fee or minimal fee.

I think a concert at the Akoo is a good thing. I would price tickets in two levels. Floor and balcony. With two price levels badge holder and non-badge holder.

If you are allowed to send an email out to the entire registration system that would be a good way to advertise a concert.

I do not think you need to worry about selling out a concert. The convention has grown so much that a concert would sell out quick.

[Roark]

El Ken, on 01 November 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

Thanks, Marcques. Your thoughts are always appreciated.

On the first point, my worry is about those attendees who may not have a credit card or online payment method to pre-reg. I know I liked to go to Broadway shows in the city before I had a credit card, and thankfully I was able to physically go to a Ticketmaster location and pay cash for the tickets. That being said, I have also used Money Orders for similar such things when mail order was my only option. Money Orders are a viable option for pre-reg, so I may have just talked myself out of that worry. I just need to make sure that potential attendees are aware of the concert and the ticketing requirements (i.e., it needs to be well promoted).

I agree on the second point. If for some reason the tickets do not sell out ahead of time, we will have to have at-con sales available. Just need to figure out the logistics of that process.

You're welcome, Ken.

I see your point about people who don't have access to credit cards. However, I think money orders and pre-paid cards should address that concern.

Communication is key, as always. Well crafted, timely messaging (including answers for questions like, "What if I don't have a credit card?") can go a long way towards avoiding many pitfalls.

[obakasan]

Question(s):

You mentioned Ticketmaster. Would concert tickets need to go through someone like that (by contract)? If so, would that mean someone who wanted to go tho this concert, ACen attendee/badge holder or otherwise, be able to purchase a ticket through any Ticketmaster outlet? How would this affect any discount (if offered) to ACen members?

[rondo]

obakasan, on 02 November 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Question(s):

You mentioned Ticketmaster. Would concert tickets need to go through someone like that (by contract)? If so, would that mean someone who wanted to go tho this concert, ACen attendee/badge holder or otherwise, be able to purchase a ticket through any Ticketmaster outlet? How would this affect any discount (if offered) to ACen members?

If said tickets were offered through Ticketmaster, then perhaps a sales code provided by Ticketmaster could offer discounted tickets to people this offer code is given to. The only issue is that code would need to be limited to the amount of possible redemptions and such codes are difficult to keep out of the hands of the interweb (perhaps tie it into the login for online badge purchases to keep it generally hidden/not searchable). Or Ticketmaster can also offer a pre-sale window available only to those given a code.

[Roark]

obakasan, on 02 November 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Question(s):You mentioned Ticketmaster. Would concert tickets need to go through someone like that (by contract)? If so, would that mean someone who wanted to go tho this concert, ACen attendee/badge holder or otherwise, be able to purchase a ticket through any Ticketmaster outlet? How would this affect any discount (if offered) to ACen members?

El Ken, on 31 October 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

To that point, a concert would outwardly need to be a private event to avoid the Akoo's Ticketmaster agreement...

[El Ken]

Roark, on 02 November 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

obakasan, on 02 November 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Question(s):You mentioned Ticketmaster. Would concert tickets need to go through someone like that (by contract)? If so, would that mean someone who wanted to go tho this concert, ACen attendee/badge holder or otherwise, be able to purchase a ticket through any Ticketmaster outlet? How would this affect any discount (if offered) to ACen members?

El Ken, on 31 October 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

To that point, a concert would outwardly need to be a private event to avoid the Akoo's Ticketmaster agreement...

That.

We would not be selling tickets through Ticketmaster.

[♥♥takeru♥♥]

I know I am a tad late here....
But my opinion is that, if the name is big enough anything is possible. Last year with the LM.C show, the show itself was great but the size of the venue was a little bit of a problem. This year for year 16, if there was a huge person coming such as Kyary or another jrock group as last year there is a good chance that it would be a good idea to go to another larger venue.
In order for more tickets to be sold I think it would be almost mandatory for non-badge holders to be able to go to the event as well. I do believe that badge holders would need to have priority over seating in the venue or at least a much cheaper ticket. Or maybe there could be a section of the venue that is reserved for badge-holders, almost like a VIP section in some ways.

[Dark Spellmaster]

An odd idea regarding this. One preformance could be given at the smaller venue at the hyatt such as on a friday night, while the larger public preformance for non badge holders could be given on the saturday at the Akoo? Could this work for those that feel that having to pay extra for a badge and ticket is a bad thing? This way you can say, well if you want to go to the free concert on friday you can, and the larger show you can go on saturday. Also I wonder what the band, whomever we get, would prefer?

[El Ken]

Not a bad idea, but in this instance, the band is requesting an acoustically correct performance environment. Performing in the Hyatt Grand Ballroom is not an option.

That being said, I'm working on bringing another group to perform in Main Programming, obviously included in the normal badge price. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out this year...

[GazeGirl]

When will the bands be announced? I was curious of how you choose what bands to invite. Do you go on what is talked/requested the most or just get who ever is free and willing to perform?