It sounds like the general outcry for a fixed price is compelling. But if we up our base ticket price to $10 (even if we offer a $7 student ticket) I think that we must must must immediately work harder to elevate the quality of the shows.
Because right now the $7-10 fits with what we're doing (on Thursdays and Fridays at least). We're putting on slightly sloppy rotational shows with troupes that are getting better all the time, but many of which are not always worth a $10 ticket. You guys want to set a fixed ticket price because it gives a more professional impression, then we've got to get more professional with the shows.
Let's make the Friday Threefer more compelling for an audience by making the first third games, the second third scenework and the third set longform or musical or whatever. Let's put someone in charge of the Cagematch that will knock the hosting out of the park every week and grab the audience by the balls, and let's actually rehearse the teams that we throw into the Cagematch. Let's kill the Style show and come up with something with more character and appeal.
We can't just start charging more and hope that we'll come up to that level without any extra effort.
Fixed Rate for Ticket Prices?
Anything about the AIC itself.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle
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- nadine Offline
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If we're going to do senior/student discounts then I'm for the sliding scale. (Darnit. How do you get your vote back?) Because that covers folks who are not students, but can't afford to pay the high end of the ticket price. Why only give financial relief to students, and not to struggling artists/professionals who might not have parents to fall back on?
Another point of view: most people are cheap (including me a lot of times). And will pay the cheaper end of things of they can, independent of what they're getting. Consumers like sales and bargains. Given a choice between $7 and $10, the cheaper price might be chosen independent of quality of show or financial ability. It's how consumers are trained. If you can get the same product for a cheaper price, then go for the cheaper price.
Another point of view: most people are cheap (including me a lot of times). And will pay the cheaper end of things of they can, independent of what they're getting. Consumers like sales and bargains. Given a choice between $7 and $10, the cheaper price might be chosen independent of quality of show or financial ability. It's how consumers are trained. If you can get the same product for a cheaper price, then go for the cheaper price.
We can't just start charging more and hope that we'll come up to that level without any extra effort.
I fully agree.
But we should already be putting on shows to the height of our ability regardless of what we charge.
It's how consumers are trained. If you can get the same product for a cheaper price, then go for the cheaper price.
Which is precisely why you don't offer the choice. People choose cheaper only if they are allowed to choose at all.
Most of the time it is "do I want this?" If the answer is "yes," then you try to find the cheapest price. But if the answer is yes and there is only one price, you simply pay it.
Sliding scales are unconventional and confusing. When's the last time you went to see a band at a bar or a movie or bought an ice cream and had a sliding scale? Zach Scott, Esther's, etc don't have sliding scales. And even people with sliding scales usually base it on something, such as your income or the available seating options, as opposed to just "whatever you wish to pay or think we're worth." This is not proposing anything different than what the rest of the world is already using. Student and senior (and military for that matter) are common, conventional discounts and well-understood by the public. As are set prices for goods or services. It is sliding scales that are uncommon and not understood.
For what it's worth, philosophically speaking, I like the current system. Practically, I do not.
I fully agree.
But we should already be putting on shows to the height of our ability regardless of what we charge.
It's how consumers are trained. If you can get the same product for a cheaper price, then go for the cheaper price.
Which is precisely why you don't offer the choice. People choose cheaper only if they are allowed to choose at all.
Most of the time it is "do I want this?" If the answer is "yes," then you try to find the cheapest price. But if the answer is yes and there is only one price, you simply pay it.
Sliding scales are unconventional and confusing. When's the last time you went to see a band at a bar or a movie or bought an ice cream and had a sliding scale? Zach Scott, Esther's, etc don't have sliding scales. And even people with sliding scales usually base it on something, such as your income or the available seating options, as opposed to just "whatever you wish to pay or think we're worth." This is not proposing anything different than what the rest of the world is already using. Student and senior (and military for that matter) are common, conventional discounts and well-understood by the public. As are set prices for goods or services. It is sliding scales that are uncommon and not understood.
For what it's worth, philosophically speaking, I like the current system. Practically, I do not.
What exactly does a $10 show look like? What does a $7 show look like? Are there tangible steps that we can take to get to the point where we are all comfortable charging $10 or more for each and every ticket? I don't just mean "get better" but things like...
starting on time
dressing professionally (performers and house workers)
rehearsing more often
quality control/auditions for show spots
genuine critique of shows
consistent hosts
an immaculate theatre
These are just off of the top of my head but I think that it's important that we define some attainable goals to step up the level of quality, not just of the shows, but of our entire theatre-going experience. What do you guys think?
starting on time
dressing professionally (performers and house workers)
rehearsing more often
quality control/auditions for show spots
genuine critique of shows
consistent hosts
an immaculate theatre
These are just off of the top of my head but I think that it's important that we define some attainable goals to step up the level of quality, not just of the shows, but of our entire theatre-going experience. What do you guys think?
"Have you ever scrapped high?" Jon Bolden "Stabby" - After School Improv
http://www.improvforevil.com
http://www.improvforevil.com
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- phlounderphil Offline
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A couple of things.
1) Comedic Amoeba's shows at the Hideout were well worth at least $3! And I don't appreciate anyone (especially former troupe members!) bad-mouthing us so!
2) I psychically predicted (to Wes, he can back me up here) that Andy would mention "elevating the quality of our shows" if we raise the price to $10. I knew Andy would say that because Andy is right, our shows are not consistently $10 shows, but we can change that, and Jason had a nice list there. We could add a bit or take from that.
3) We're not Esther's Follies, Esther's Follies has an awesome magician, dance numbers, multiple costumes, large props, etc. They can get away with a massive ticket price because they seem to pack the show with so much shit it justifies it.
4) I've worked box office more than almost ANYONE on this board. Wes is right, the sliding scale can be very confusing to people, it's also hard to advertise, and honestly...this might surprise some of you...MOST PEOPLE PAY $10 EVERYTIME (students included!). Almost everyone who buys two tickets just drops a twenty and asks for no change back, and if I had to estimate, I would say that around 70% of the people are perfectly happy with paying $10. Especially if we set a keg upstairs and have free beer available (although you technically cannot charge for the beer, people might see it as more of a deal if they get the beer after buying a ticket!) There are some nights that most people want to pay $7, but believe it or not, those people are almost all college students, in fact...we could have an ELEVATED ticket prize for seniors, because they're so old and confused they'd see it as getting a deal! I say, from a great deal of experience, we should definitely raise the price to $10...AS SOON AS WE ARE PUTTING ON $10-QUALITY SHOWS AT LEAST 70% OF THE TIME.
5) Maestro has been getting very good lately (and I'm not really sure why the ticket sales have dropped a bit). Maestro is almost always a $10-quality show.
6) HERE'S AN IDEA: Why don't we start selling tickets to ALL shows online at a $10 price. How many people choose to buy online, or just choose to wait. I think selling tickets online (to ALL shows) would add a sense of importance to the shows and urgency as well (buy your tickets online or they'll sell out!) and this also means LESS WORK for the box office person. AND, as it is now, we are projecting the idea that Maestro is the best show we have because it's the only one that gets online sales. We should change that.
7) Lastly, the idea of having $10 Fridays and $5 Thursdays works EXCELLENTLY! Thursday should be a student-oriented show (as many students do not have class on Friday and their weekend has already begun!) so a low price for admission on thursdays will make it seem like the place to be on Thursday nights, come see a great show for the price of a gallon of gas (or maybe even less than that by the time July rolls around!) Of course, Chris Trew is in charge of Thursday nights now (with Thursday Night Awesome), so the ultimate decision on ticket prices should heavily depend on him and how he feels the audience turnout is, and what he feels his show is worth. Hell, it may be better to be putting out a $10-quality show for half the price, especially since it's on a technical "weeknight".
that's all for now.
-phil
1) Comedic Amoeba's shows at the Hideout were well worth at least $3! And I don't appreciate anyone (especially former troupe members!) bad-mouthing us so!
2) I psychically predicted (to Wes, he can back me up here) that Andy would mention "elevating the quality of our shows" if we raise the price to $10. I knew Andy would say that because Andy is right, our shows are not consistently $10 shows, but we can change that, and Jason had a nice list there. We could add a bit or take from that.
3) We're not Esther's Follies, Esther's Follies has an awesome magician, dance numbers, multiple costumes, large props, etc. They can get away with a massive ticket price because they seem to pack the show with so much shit it justifies it.
4) I've worked box office more than almost ANYONE on this board. Wes is right, the sliding scale can be very confusing to people, it's also hard to advertise, and honestly...this might surprise some of you...MOST PEOPLE PAY $10 EVERYTIME (students included!). Almost everyone who buys two tickets just drops a twenty and asks for no change back, and if I had to estimate, I would say that around 70% of the people are perfectly happy with paying $10. Especially if we set a keg upstairs and have free beer available (although you technically cannot charge for the beer, people might see it as more of a deal if they get the beer after buying a ticket!) There are some nights that most people want to pay $7, but believe it or not, those people are almost all college students, in fact...we could have an ELEVATED ticket prize for seniors, because they're so old and confused they'd see it as getting a deal! I say, from a great deal of experience, we should definitely raise the price to $10...AS SOON AS WE ARE PUTTING ON $10-QUALITY SHOWS AT LEAST 70% OF THE TIME.
5) Maestro has been getting very good lately (and I'm not really sure why the ticket sales have dropped a bit). Maestro is almost always a $10-quality show.
6) HERE'S AN IDEA: Why don't we start selling tickets to ALL shows online at a $10 price. How many people choose to buy online, or just choose to wait. I think selling tickets online (to ALL shows) would add a sense of importance to the shows and urgency as well (buy your tickets online or they'll sell out!) and this also means LESS WORK for the box office person. AND, as it is now, we are projecting the idea that Maestro is the best show we have because it's the only one that gets online sales. We should change that.
7) Lastly, the idea of having $10 Fridays and $5 Thursdays works EXCELLENTLY! Thursday should be a student-oriented show (as many students do not have class on Friday and their weekend has already begun!) so a low price for admission on thursdays will make it seem like the place to be on Thursday nights, come see a great show for the price of a gallon of gas (or maybe even less than that by the time July rolls around!) Of course, Chris Trew is in charge of Thursday nights now (with Thursday Night Awesome), so the ultimate decision on ticket prices should heavily depend on him and how he feels the audience turnout is, and what he feels his show is worth. Hell, it may be better to be putting out a $10-quality show for half the price, especially since it's on a technical "weeknight".
that's all for now.
-phil
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- Evilpandabear Offline
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opening the flood gates...
Before we blow our load on tickets, I must iterate yet again that the most important job you have as a performer is filling those seats. If you have no audience than you have no show. Advertising needs to have a strong focus for the summer. We need to reach MORE people. We need to TALK to them. We need them to talk to others. And we need this to happen more regularly. We have about 100+ improvisers who perform at the Hideout on a fairly regular basis. If each of us could pull 2 people per weekend, then we would sell out every show. It's that simple people. You just have to continue to make that effort.
Some may agrue that this ticket price affair stems from this. That it is confusing the audience. That we're losing people as a result of it. I personally feel that we're having a great success from the sliding scale. It's a local industry standard and it's not as confusing as many make it out to be. I've never had a problem explaining it to people, and no one I explain it to has a problem understanding it. Are you sure you'e not just passing your nervousness on to the customer as you are nervous and uncomfortable about the sliding ticket price? This is a great scam that works in our favor.
I feel that alot of this talk stems from our recent low audience attendence. I will tell you this now, low audience attendence is natural. It goes up and it goes down; it's the nature of the beast. Throwing a "quick fix it" solution into the mix isn't going to solve that problem. I've seen tons of restaurants come and go and each time the owners are throwing quick fix it solutions that never work. We'll change our cuisine. We'll have daily lunch specials. We'll change our menu.
I have major concerns about rasing our prices to $10. We're practically pushing away 50,000 students that live here in Austin, and while they aren't a major precentage of the total population of Austin, they are a major percentage of our audience. $3 makes a difference to a college student, especially if it's $10 for an hour show.
Andy is completely correct in that if we are charging $10, then our shows MUST be of that calibre. I will honestly say that a lot of troupes in town are NOT of that level. A significant portion of them are *sometimes* there, but not as frequent that Joe Schmoe would pay $10 for. We should be focusing more on filling those seats & dramatically improving the quality of our shows BEFORE messing with ticket prices yet again. I mean, are we going to alter ticket prices twice or thrice a year? That's a horrible business practice and far more confusing for a theatre goer.
Some may agrue that this ticket price affair stems from this. That it is confusing the audience. That we're losing people as a result of it. I personally feel that we're having a great success from the sliding scale. It's a local industry standard and it's not as confusing as many make it out to be. I've never had a problem explaining it to people, and no one I explain it to has a problem understanding it. Are you sure you'e not just passing your nervousness on to the customer as you are nervous and uncomfortable about the sliding ticket price? This is a great scam that works in our favor.
I feel that alot of this talk stems from our recent low audience attendence. I will tell you this now, low audience attendence is natural. It goes up and it goes down; it's the nature of the beast. Throwing a "quick fix it" solution into the mix isn't going to solve that problem. I've seen tons of restaurants come and go and each time the owners are throwing quick fix it solutions that never work. We'll change our cuisine. We'll have daily lunch specials. We'll change our menu.
I have major concerns about rasing our prices to $10. We're practically pushing away 50,000 students that live here in Austin, and while they aren't a major precentage of the total population of Austin, they are a major percentage of our audience. $3 makes a difference to a college student, especially if it's $10 for an hour show.
Andy is completely correct in that if we are charging $10, then our shows MUST be of that calibre. I will honestly say that a lot of troupes in town are NOT of that level. A significant portion of them are *sometimes* there, but not as frequent that Joe Schmoe would pay $10 for. We should be focusing more on filling those seats & dramatically improving the quality of our shows BEFORE messing with ticket prices yet again. I mean, are we going to alter ticket prices twice or thrice a year? That's a horrible business practice and far more confusing for a theatre goer.
"Anyone can teach improv. It's bullshit." -Andy Crouch on June 4th 11:33pm CST
i brought this up with andy (and asked that it be added to the meeting agenda) for exactly the sentiment that both phil and wes are mentioning.
specifically:
I agree with show caliber. However, resolving the show caliber issue is more complex.
At this point, I think we can ask for $10 for gen public and $8 for students on a regular basis.
specifically:
I think we offer a promotional 2 for 1 (2 for 10) discount in the summer/low seasons to students. This is the same reason you buy 3 boxes of Hill Country Fair mac n' cheese at HEB - is it because you were interested in 3 boxes of .33 mac?MOST PEOPLE PAY $10 EVERYTIME (students included!). Almost everyone who buys two tickets just drops a twenty and asks for no change back, and if I had to estimate, I would say that around 70% of the people are perfectly happy with paying $10. Especially if we set a keg upstairs and have free beer available (although you technically cannot charge for the beer, people might see it as more of a deal if they get the beer after buying a ticket!) There are some nights that most people want to pay $7, but believe it or not, those people are almost all college students
I agree with show caliber. However, resolving the show caliber issue is more complex.
At this point, I think we can ask for $10 for gen public and $8 for students on a regular basis.
"I suspect what we're doing is performance art, but I'm not going to tell the public that."
-- Del Close
-- Del Close
I have major concerns about rasing our prices to $10. We're practically pushing away 50,000 students that live here in Austin, and while they aren't a major precentage of the total population of Austin, they are a major percentage of our audience. $3 makes a difference to a college student, especially if it's $10 for an hour show.
Student discount = $7 = no change for students on pricing
Student discount = $7 = no change for students on pricing
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- kbadr Offline
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If most people truly are paying $10, then fuck it. Flat $10 sounds good to me.
Two for one tickets sound good. Though we tried this once (in conjunction with the surveys) with piss-poor reuslts. If we started distributing 2-for-1 tickets on flyers or something, that'd be cool. Though we should decide which situations call for 2-for-1's and which ones call for using the free ticket cards.
Blah blah blah. We all love each other and stress out only because we care.
Two for one tickets sound good. Though we tried this once (in conjunction with the surveys) with piss-poor reuslts. If we started distributing 2-for-1 tickets on flyers or something, that'd be cool. Though we should decide which situations call for 2-for-1's and which ones call for using the free ticket cards.
Blah blah blah. We all love each other and stress out only because we care.
You work your life away and what do they give?
You're only killing yourself to live
**YES, we SHOULD change ticket prices to a $10 flat fee/price per person, all shows.
Why???...
1) Yes, students do make up a big part of our audiences, but we were planning to impliment the change during the SUMMER when they are all (mostly) gone!
2) Yes, we should (and are) offering limited DISCOUNTS and DEALS based off this everyone pays (ie. Current "Free Ticket" promo; proposed 2-for-1 promo)
3) Yes, we should (and are) increasing the quality of our shows -- including troupe performance quality, and individual show ownership/branding.
4) Yes, we should (and are) going to offer free beer until the Hideout Cafe' is up and running again.
5) Yes, we should (and are) going to track how this affects our audience attendance.
HOWEVER!! What have we decided about troupe COMPLEMENTARY tickets? If Kacey's dad won't come pay $10 to see her perform, can't she give him a "comp"? If so, should we have special VIP comp tickets made up to distinguish them from the FREE tickets we are handing out to bar tenders and conierges (sp?)?
Why???...
1) Yes, students do make up a big part of our audiences, but we were planning to impliment the change during the SUMMER when they are all (mostly) gone!
2) Yes, we should (and are) offering limited DISCOUNTS and DEALS based off this everyone pays (ie. Current "Free Ticket" promo; proposed 2-for-1 promo)
3) Yes, we should (and are) increasing the quality of our shows -- including troupe performance quality, and individual show ownership/branding.
4) Yes, we should (and are) going to offer free beer until the Hideout Cafe' is up and running again.
5) Yes, we should (and are) going to track how this affects our audience attendance.
HOWEVER!! What have we decided about troupe COMPLEMENTARY tickets? If Kacey's dad won't come pay $10 to see her perform, can't she give him a "comp"? If so, should we have special VIP comp tickets made up to distinguish them from the FREE tickets we are handing out to bar tenders and conierges (sp?)?
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- beardedlamb Offline
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hey guys,
i think everyone is right, just like religion.
but seriously, i'm down with the sliding scale. i also don't think it is too confusing. in the marketing, it should be $7-$10 which is what it would be anyway if we did $10 firm, $7 students. or the marketing could include "pay what you can $7-$10." it's kind of quirky and quirky is good.
if it is true, and i think it is, that a lot of people just pay $10, then the system is working. they feel like they're giving a little extra to something they want to support. but those same people may feel less willing to pay $10 if they were forced to.
i am extremely poor and part of what kept me away from seeing a lot of shows here in chicago was ticket prices. i saw a few shows that were anywhere from $8-$12 and didn't really enjoy them; didn't feel satisfied with my purchase. i understand i have a unique situation being retardedly poor and several years out of college, but if i were a regular schmo who appreciated good improv, i would pay $7 every time, as i am given the option. i have high standards and tight pockets though.
i also agree that shows are not across the board of the same quality. that is part of our weakness as an open collective. therefore, going $10 for everyone but students is not going to solve any audience number problems. if anything it might just piss some people off. it is show quality that is affecting attendance, and maybe it's just cyclical. it probably isn't.
generally speaking we should be cheaper than and better than going to the movies as most people do one or the other on a given night.
i guess what i really want to get across is students aren't the only poor bastards out there (hell, i had more money when i was in college) and shows DO need to get better. these are both difficult demons to conquer.
i say we stick with sliding and work on improving attendance in other ways.
btw, 50,000 students IS a large portion of the austin population which is around 700,000 i think. i think they are being undermarketed to.
i think i think i think. i have a lot to say all the way from chicago, eh?
i think everyone is right, just like religion.
but seriously, i'm down with the sliding scale. i also don't think it is too confusing. in the marketing, it should be $7-$10 which is what it would be anyway if we did $10 firm, $7 students. or the marketing could include "pay what you can $7-$10." it's kind of quirky and quirky is good.
if it is true, and i think it is, that a lot of people just pay $10, then the system is working. they feel like they're giving a little extra to something they want to support. but those same people may feel less willing to pay $10 if they were forced to.
i am extremely poor and part of what kept me away from seeing a lot of shows here in chicago was ticket prices. i saw a few shows that were anywhere from $8-$12 and didn't really enjoy them; didn't feel satisfied with my purchase. i understand i have a unique situation being retardedly poor and several years out of college, but if i were a regular schmo who appreciated good improv, i would pay $7 every time, as i am given the option. i have high standards and tight pockets though.
i also agree that shows are not across the board of the same quality. that is part of our weakness as an open collective. therefore, going $10 for everyone but students is not going to solve any audience number problems. if anything it might just piss some people off. it is show quality that is affecting attendance, and maybe it's just cyclical. it probably isn't.
generally speaking we should be cheaper than and better than going to the movies as most people do one or the other on a given night.
i guess what i really want to get across is students aren't the only poor bastards out there (hell, i had more money when i was in college) and shows DO need to get better. these are both difficult demons to conquer.
i say we stick with sliding and work on improving attendance in other ways.
btw, 50,000 students IS a large portion of the austin population which is around 700,000 i think. i think they are being undermarketed to.
i think i think i think. i have a lot to say all the way from chicago, eh?
i would like to point out that if we switch our ticket prices to a fixed $10 rate, that will be a $3 increase to anyone who has been paying $7 all along. this is almost a 143% increase in price!! As someone pointed out during the meeting, many audience members were miffed at the $6 to $7 hike.
i don't think having a sliding scale makes us seem unprofessional. many theaters around town offer a sliding scale price system. if anything, i think it makes us seem supportive of the community and all-inclusive of those who want to see improv.
i don't think having a sliding scale makes us seem unprofessional. many theaters around town offer a sliding scale price system. if anything, i think it makes us seem supportive of the community and all-inclusive of those who want to see improv.
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- beardedlamb Offline
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- ChrisTrew.Com Offline
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I support whatever decision is made on this and I don't feel super strongly either way, but I do agree with Andrea that it feels like we are supporting the community and the arts by being flexible with ticket prices.
I also agree with switching to a fixed price for the reasons mentioned above.
As I was reading this I wondered what would having a set price for all the shows mean to someone who was doing a special sketch show or the late night Saturday show or if something got started on Monday nights, whatever. Mainly I was thinking about Thursday Night Awesome, but then that was mentioned by Phil.
Dave Buckman and I had our first TNA meeting tonight and we decided that we want to sell tickets for $5. Does that, in your opinion, interfere with the AIC if it's decided that all shows are $10?
What about the ______ sketch show that is going to play Wednesday nights this summer? Do they HAVE to charge $10?
I also agree with switching to a fixed price for the reasons mentioned above.
As I was reading this I wondered what would having a set price for all the shows mean to someone who was doing a special sketch show or the late night Saturday show or if something got started on Monday nights, whatever. Mainly I was thinking about Thursday Night Awesome, but then that was mentioned by Phil.
Dave Buckman and I had our first TNA meeting tonight and we decided that we want to sell tickets for $5. Does that, in your opinion, interfere with the AIC if it's decided that all shows are $10?
What about the ______ sketch show that is going to play Wednesday nights this summer? Do they HAVE to charge $10?
I am torn about this issue.
Sliding Scale
Pro: Other theatre companies do it.
Pro: We already have it established and I think the Hideout is notorious for changing things way too much.
Pro: Right now we are not selling out and want more audiences, which is a strange time to raise ticket prices in any way.
Con: It's confusing to some.
Con: It sends a message that we are unsure about the quality of our product (which from the discussion on the board seems like an accurate statement.)
Con: It puts us in a museum/fringe theatre category of "Please support the arts" "Alms for the poor" as opposed to a "You'll get a great entertainment value for the price of a ticket."
Set Price w/ a Student Discount
Pro: Clear and Simple
Pro: Efficient
Pro: Possibly more profitable
Pro: Sends a confident message about our product
Con: Alienates the poor (are these people our best or ideal customers?)
Con: Changes something that is already set.
I've watched what's happened at Dad's Garage over the years. They started with a bunch of guys straight out of college, cheap tickets, and half empty houses. I used to go down there for Crazy Hat Thursdays. If you wore a crazy hat you got in free. Most shows were around $7. But as the quality of the shows and marketing improved and the houses started selling out, they raised their ticket prices, so now they are $13-$15 for improv and $18 for mainstage shows. This is the case even though they have lost some of thier key players and in my opinion the shows are not at the peak quality that they were 5 or so years ago.
I think I'm leaning towards keeping things they way they are now and hoping to change them in the future as audiences build.
Sliding Scale
Pro: Other theatre companies do it.
Pro: We already have it established and I think the Hideout is notorious for changing things way too much.
Pro: Right now we are not selling out and want more audiences, which is a strange time to raise ticket prices in any way.
Con: It's confusing to some.
Con: It sends a message that we are unsure about the quality of our product (which from the discussion on the board seems like an accurate statement.)
Con: It puts us in a museum/fringe theatre category of "Please support the arts" "Alms for the poor" as opposed to a "You'll get a great entertainment value for the price of a ticket."
Set Price w/ a Student Discount
Pro: Clear and Simple
Pro: Efficient
Pro: Possibly more profitable
Pro: Sends a confident message about our product
Con: Alienates the poor (are these people our best or ideal customers?)
Con: Changes something that is already set.
I've watched what's happened at Dad's Garage over the years. They started with a bunch of guys straight out of college, cheap tickets, and half empty houses. I used to go down there for Crazy Hat Thursdays. If you wore a crazy hat you got in free. Most shows were around $7. But as the quality of the shows and marketing improved and the houses started selling out, they raised their ticket prices, so now they are $13-$15 for improv and $18 for mainstage shows. This is the case even though they have lost some of thier key players and in my opinion the shows are not at the peak quality that they were 5 or so years ago.
I think I'm leaning towards keeping things they way they are now and hoping to change them in the future as audiences build.