Paying public turned away
Anything about the AIC itself.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle
just as a point of clarity, there is also a red roll in the box office that we purchased for Whirled News Tonight.
the ticket rolls are not incredibly expensive, so i dont mind if those are being used for other shows, but i didnt want this to get habitually absorbed in the weekly ticket sales.
werd.
the ticket rolls are not incredibly expensive, so i dont mind if those are being used for other shows, but i didnt want this to get habitually absorbed in the weekly ticket sales.
werd.
"I suspect what we're doing is performance art, but I'm not going to tell the public that."
-- Del Close
-- Del Close
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- arclight Offline
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Let me pontificate here for a minute... 
The double-wide "raffle" tickets are nice because the box person can keep half and give half to the patron. That lets the house reconcile the books with the receipts and make sure the box person isn't ripping off the house.
The patron takes their ticket to the door person, who rips it in half or just takes it. This can be reconciled against the box office to make sure the house isn't ripping off the act (the number of stubs collected by the door must be less than or equal to the number reported sold by the house, otherwise the house is cheating. Or the door person is incompetent.)
This system is mostly proof against fraud except in the case of collusion between the box person and the door person.
Not that anyone here suspects anyone of cheating; I'm just pointing out that the system was designed to make naive cheating difficult.
The upshot is that this system has evolved and survived through the centuries (at least since 1576 according to Bernie Sahlins) for a reason and that as inconvenient as it may seem, it's worked pretty well over the past 430-odd years.
It'd be cool if we actually counted tickets and reconciled them with receipts and pretended we were a real theater.
----
Fast-forward to last September during Out of Bounds: I accidentally under/oversold the GGG slot because I was selling against fire code limits vs the actual number of seats in the house. The fire code limit is the legal maximum and should not be exceeded unless one is prepared to provide us with a comparable new venue once this one loses its license. The trick is for the box person to "walk down" each venue they're selling for and count the available seats and only sell that many tickets (provided that number is less than the fire code limit) or make sure someone else (house manager) can provide the rest of the seats.
This also requires that someone actually find the fire code limits for both houses (I've been assuming 50 upstairs and 95 downstairs but lately I've been wondering if those figures are just rumour.) I'm worried that if I ask the fire inspector, they'll think something's wrong, but I'd like to believe they'd tell us the answer and go back to their other paperwork if we asked nicely and told them that we're trying to do the right thing. FWIW, I live in a fantasy world full of free beer and endless cartoons and 70-degree sunny spring days. Humor me.
No matter; before you sell tickets, you need to know how many seats are really available and only sell that many. Until we get etched-in-stone occupancy limits from the fire inspector, I'd limit the houses to 50 & 95 respectively so at least we have a policy and we're consistently enforcing it. That should show that we're trying to do the right thing even if the numbers turn out to be wrong in the end; it's marginally better than not caring.
Also, using a different color ticket for each show is pretty simple and a roll of tickets costs between $6 and $15 so there's no reason not to have a few rolls lying around.
PS: Gaffer tape is available for $15 for a 60-yd roll at Altex on the South I-35 access road just south of Braker. It's the shit.
The double-wide "raffle" tickets are nice because the box person can keep half and give half to the patron. That lets the house reconcile the books with the receipts and make sure the box person isn't ripping off the house.
The patron takes their ticket to the door person, who rips it in half or just takes it. This can be reconciled against the box office to make sure the house isn't ripping off the act (the number of stubs collected by the door must be less than or equal to the number reported sold by the house, otherwise the house is cheating. Or the door person is incompetent.)
This system is mostly proof against fraud except in the case of collusion between the box person and the door person.
Not that anyone here suspects anyone of cheating; I'm just pointing out that the system was designed to make naive cheating difficult.
The upshot is that this system has evolved and survived through the centuries (at least since 1576 according to Bernie Sahlins) for a reason and that as inconvenient as it may seem, it's worked pretty well over the past 430-odd years.
It'd be cool if we actually counted tickets and reconciled them with receipts and pretended we were a real theater.
----
Fast-forward to last September during Out of Bounds: I accidentally under/oversold the GGG slot because I was selling against fire code limits vs the actual number of seats in the house. The fire code limit is the legal maximum and should not be exceeded unless one is prepared to provide us with a comparable new venue once this one loses its license. The trick is for the box person to "walk down" each venue they're selling for and count the available seats and only sell that many tickets (provided that number is less than the fire code limit) or make sure someone else (house manager) can provide the rest of the seats.
This also requires that someone actually find the fire code limits for both houses (I've been assuming 50 upstairs and 95 downstairs but lately I've been wondering if those figures are just rumour.) I'm worried that if I ask the fire inspector, they'll think something's wrong, but I'd like to believe they'd tell us the answer and go back to their other paperwork if we asked nicely and told them that we're trying to do the right thing. FWIW, I live in a fantasy world full of free beer and endless cartoons and 70-degree sunny spring days. Humor me.
No matter; before you sell tickets, you need to know how many seats are really available and only sell that many. Until we get etched-in-stone occupancy limits from the fire inspector, I'd limit the houses to 50 & 95 respectively so at least we have a policy and we're consistently enforcing it. That should show that we're trying to do the right thing even if the numbers turn out to be wrong in the end; it's marginally better than not caring.
Also, using a different color ticket for each show is pretty simple and a roll of tickets costs between $6 and $15 so there's no reason not to have a few rolls lying around.
PS: Gaffer tape is available for $15 for a 60-yd roll at Altex on the South I-35 access road just south of Braker. It's the shit.
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- HerrHerr Offline
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Do we have host troupe hosting duties sheet (laminated) which could be kept somewhere safe?
We have a lot of troupes. Not all people in all troupes read this forum. People forget things, etc...
It would be nice for the night's overall duties to be broken down. It would be nice for there to be a box office duties sheet in the box office. It would be nice if all troupes took these duties seriosuly (some do amazing work...like The Leading Brands).
Here's a tricky one. It would be nice to not have to play in a show the same night one is on a host troupe. I know this is hard to do b/c some of us are in multiple troupes. Scheduling so many troupes is not easy...I know...this is more of a wish than anything else....
We have a lot of troupes. Not all people in all troupes read this forum. People forget things, etc...
It would be nice for the night's overall duties to be broken down. It would be nice for there to be a box office duties sheet in the box office. It would be nice if all troupes took these duties seriosuly (some do amazing work...like The Leading Brands).
Here's a tricky one. It would be nice to not have to play in a show the same night one is on a host troupe. I know this is hard to do b/c some of us are in multiple troupes. Scheduling so many troupes is not easy...I know...this is more of a wish than anything else....
Sometimes it's a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.
--David Byrne
--David Byrne
RE: fire code limits
Would it be possible/practical to have the box office staff set up the evening's tickets before the first show starts?
What I mean by this is that someone would assign ticket colors and ticket number ranges (based on fire code numbers) for each show.
Purely-Made-Up-Example: Show A goes at 8:00 in the Cabaret. Show B is at 9:30 in the Mainstage. Show C is in the Cabaret at 10:00
Show A is assigned Red tickets numbered 123001-123050.
Show B is assigned Dark Blue tickets numbered 456001-456095.
Show C is assigned Light Blue tickets numbered 789001-789050.
Not sure how the logistics of enforcing the ticket number ranges would work (tearing off enough tickets for a full house for every show could potentially be very wasteful and costly), but I think there may be some merit to the above.
Also, as regards improvisors/other comps versus paying customers:
Regardless of anyone's personal thoughts on "doing it for the art" etc., IMHO a paying customer should ALWAYS (or at least 99% of the time -- there are always going to be exceptions to the rule) be given priority over improvisors and their comps.
This has nothing to do with profit, greed, or commercialism.
Rather, if someone has taken the time and effort battling traffic to get downtown, finding a parking space, and walking however many blocks to the Hideout to see a show, then they shouldn't have to be turned away if there is a seat available for them.
They have no vested interest in seeing the show besides the entertainment value. Most paying customers probably aren't friends with, related to, or co-workers of the performers. They didn't come to cheer someone on.
They came to the show to have a good time. Which is where we come in.
And if that customers likes what he/she sees, then he/she will come back, and maybe even bring a friend. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people become repeat season subscribers for the theatres I've worked in simply because they came to see ONE show and really liked it.
We need repeat business. We need positive word-of-mouth. Regardless of the quality of the shows. Otherwise, it won't matter how many people we can seat or when the Hideout's lease is up because NO ONE WILL BE WATCHING.
Better yet -- if all that really matters is "the art," then just eliminate tickets altogether. Do free shows, with people getting in on a first-come, first-served basis.
I'll step off my soap-box now, and expect to be lambasted by those more in the know on AIC's past and present operations and policies...
EDIT: Ok, so some of the stuff I address above was mentioned in one form or another earlier in the thread. I probably should have read the whole thread more carefully, but I still stand by my comments.
Would it be possible/practical to have the box office staff set up the evening's tickets before the first show starts?
What I mean by this is that someone would assign ticket colors and ticket number ranges (based on fire code numbers) for each show.
Purely-Made-Up-Example: Show A goes at 8:00 in the Cabaret. Show B is at 9:30 in the Mainstage. Show C is in the Cabaret at 10:00
Show A is assigned Red tickets numbered 123001-123050.
Show B is assigned Dark Blue tickets numbered 456001-456095.
Show C is assigned Light Blue tickets numbered 789001-789050.
Not sure how the logistics of enforcing the ticket number ranges would work (tearing off enough tickets for a full house for every show could potentially be very wasteful and costly), but I think there may be some merit to the above.
Also, as regards improvisors/other comps versus paying customers:
Regardless of anyone's personal thoughts on "doing it for the art" etc., IMHO a paying customer should ALWAYS (or at least 99% of the time -- there are always going to be exceptions to the rule) be given priority over improvisors and their comps.
This has nothing to do with profit, greed, or commercialism.
Rather, if someone has taken the time and effort battling traffic to get downtown, finding a parking space, and walking however many blocks to the Hideout to see a show, then they shouldn't have to be turned away if there is a seat available for them.
They have no vested interest in seeing the show besides the entertainment value. Most paying customers probably aren't friends with, related to, or co-workers of the performers. They didn't come to cheer someone on.
They came to the show to have a good time. Which is where we come in.
And if that customers likes what he/she sees, then he/she will come back, and maybe even bring a friend. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people become repeat season subscribers for the theatres I've worked in simply because they came to see ONE show and really liked it.
We need repeat business. We need positive word-of-mouth. Regardless of the quality of the shows. Otherwise, it won't matter how many people we can seat or when the Hideout's lease is up because NO ONE WILL BE WATCHING.
Better yet -- if all that really matters is "the art," then just eliminate tickets altogether. Do free shows, with people getting in on a first-come, first-served basis.
I'll step off my soap-box now, and expect to be lambasted by those more in the know on AIC's past and present operations and policies...
EDIT: Ok, so some of the stuff I address above was mentioned in one form or another earlier in the thread. I probably should have read the whole thread more carefully, but I still stand by my comments.
Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee, burn-dee, flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip.
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- beardedlamb Offline
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