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I really don’t know why I’ve never heard of this before. Orange RockCorps started in the US in 2003 “to act as the bridge between communities in need and young adults in a position to help.” The group organizes volunteering events, then rewards volunteers with exclusive concert tickets.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/10/rockcorps.volunteering?gusrc=rss&feed=society
While the article does present a negative side to this idea - that volunteering should be altruistic – I agree with Orange RockCorps founders that it is a great way to mobilize young folks.
Kudos all around, guys.
I stumbled across this article posted on chron.com, the Houston Chronicle’s website:
It’s pretty amusing how Ellison writes this piece as if it were news. Maybe everyone isn’t as savvy on the benefits of going online as I choose to think they are, though.
I especially like this quote in the article from the Ticketmaster spokesman: “”I think business will continue to migrate to the Web. The Internet provides convenience.”
Pure.
Genius.
/sarcasm
Being located in the “Heart of Dixie,” and like many Alabamians being a rabid college football fan, the following story caught my eye today, for two obvious reasons:
Price of SEC football seats soars (Birmingham News)
The cliffs notes version is this: college football tickets are getting more expensive. The article doesn’t mention any fan outrage, partially because there is not enough to speak of. Ticket prices are the way that teams are funded, and better teams, larger stadiums, better coaches cost more (Alabama fans definitely know this). In fact, the only team mentioned whose attendance has suffered since ticket prices started climbing a decade ago is Tennessee.
What we’re seeing in this scenario is a simplified version of dynamic pricing. If fans are willing to pay more for a ticket, the ticket price can (and should) adjust to meet a level that approaches the limit of willingness to pay. Does this exclude some folks from being able to see games? Yes. Is that wrong? No. This is a tough pill for some fans to swallow, but it is the free market at work.
If we think of the goal of any live entertainment event to generate as much revenue as possible, then we can further deduce that increasing attendance is critical to meeting that goal, even if it means that some tickets are priced higher than others (50 yard line, for example) while others are offered at a level below common face value (the “nosebleed” seats). Based on attendance levels, the price should adjust to fill as many seats as possible. If, for example, attendance did start to suffer, colleges would lower prices again to draw fans back to the gate.
Currently, the secondary market performs this pricing equalization clumsily and in a fractured fashion. But the days of the secondary market as a discreet market are numbered. In the future, software like the models we’re piloting now will do this job on behalf of the venues, keeping all of the revenue currently lost to the secondary market in the hands of promoters, artists, and venue owners. Let me say that a different way – easier pricing and a full house almost every time. You’ll hear much more about dynamic pricing in the future on this blog and in our press releases, so stay tuned for this exciting technology.
Today’s biggest tech news is undoubtedly the launch of the iPhone 3G, eagerly awaited by fanboys and tech geeks since the hubbub died down after the launch of the original iPhone. I gotta admit, even I followed the macrumors blog religiously for some time, drooling over leaked spy shots, carefully examining patent filings. What was Mr. Jobs up to?
Today the headlines are abuzz with news that demand was so great for these new phones that it has crashed both the iTunes store and the AT&T network. The question that I am sure burns in many minds is- what is so darn great about this device? There are other phones that support flash, record video, have GPS, and run on 3G. How come there aren’t droves of fans lined up to snatch them off of shelves?
The great game changing thing about the iPhone is that it finally got cell makers to consider design (much in the same way the iPod did this for MP3 players). The iPhone is incredibly easy to use. The included manual was one folded page, and that was plenty. And it was beautiful. I wish Steve jobs would design a hybrid truck. I’d probably wait in line for that one.
So what does the iPhone have to do with us? We’ve been developing and testing software to encourage the emerging trend of mobile ticketing for some time now- the ability to purchase and receive tickets via a mobile device. As phones become more ubiquitous and indispensable, mobile ticketing will make a lot of economic sense. It will eliminate paper, and will solve a key problem of counterfeiting for venues and promoters. It will also allow dynamic pricing and geotargeting to occur more fluidly, so shows will sell out more often and revenues will go up. The key hindrance to wider adoption now is the diversity of incompatible technologies and the cost of scanners (both of which will eventually pan out in the marketplace).
Whenever the leading tech or group of techs emerge, this trend will go volcanic (I estimate mid 2009), and cell phones will get yet another cool feature: the ability to get you IN.
The importance of ethics
July 16, 2008 in Commentary | Tags: Commentary, news, opinion, ticketmaster | by ehoush | 1 comment
Marianne Jennings was my ethics professor at the WP Carey School of Business in Arizona. Her class, as tough as it was, ingrained in me the importance of having a clear ethical lens when it comes to business practices. Dr. Jennings could boil down ethical decisions to one simple question:
“What if your actions made the front page of the newspaper? Would you be proud or embarrassed?”
That was 2002, even before the meteoric growth of the “social Internet.” Now, while the relative importance of newspapers can be debated, no one can debate the power of viral messaging. So it was perhaps without surprise then, that this article was passed to me by a colleague late yesterday:
TicketMaster: We were not involved in Elton John ticket trouble in Canada.
The actions of TM and their subsidiary TicketsNow are again called into question, as hard to get Elton John tickets went straight to TicketsNow, where they will, of course, fetch a higher price. The question is though- can TM deny responsibility here? They own both properties, they had to be aware of this and the negative perception it would undeniably seed.
I probably answered that question in an earlier post. TM has enough of a monopoly that they are pretty much immune to public outcry. At least for now. But what about this bizarre marriage of the primary and secondary market? What business rules should apply? TM will never prohibit tickets from its shows from ending up on TicketsNow, that would be completely counter-intuitive. It will be interesting to see how this ethical mire plays out, since the head-in-the-sand excuse will soon lose its efficacy.
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