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We never stop innovating to help our clients sell more tickets. That’s kind of become our motto here lately. We’ve been quietly building the Facebook integration for a few weeks and beta testing it to the hilt, and I am happy to say our super genius dev team has done it yet again.
Now, when you set up an account in TicketBiscuit, you can automatically publish your event to your Facebook page. If you update the event, it will be updated on Facebook as well. There is simply no easier, quicker, or cooler way to connect with your fans and keep them in the loop.
I know what many of you are thinking: “I don’t have time for some kid’s toy!” But think again. Rapidly approaching 100 million registered users worldwide, the Facebook community is expanding into all demographic categories. Those 25- 40 year olds with deep pockets? Over 11 MILLION are registered on Facebook in the United States alone. That will probably be 12 million by the end of the month. The takeaway is that this ain’t just a kids toy. It is a serious marketing tool and can reap mucho benefits. (UPDATE: read this blog post if you’re still not convinced)
Check this page out to learn more about Facebook Pages. Here’s another overview page about the other business products you can get.
If you’ve already set up a Facebook account and want to get this feature hooked up pronto, give us a call.
(Full Press Release: TicketBiscuit Ticketing System adds Automatic Facebook and Eventful.com Integration)
I started using Twitter about a month ago. For those of you unfamiliar with the service, it is essentially a microblogging tool, where you post updates of 140 characters or less. This guy explains it pretty well:
The updates can be silly, informative, or completely random. I started twittering to connect and network with others sharing similar interests, and hopefully promote TicketBiscuit without being caught. You can check out our twitter feed here.
So, one month in, I am approaching my 40th post, I’m ranked somewhere in the high thirties / low forties on twittergrader, and I feel like I’m getting to know the tool better. Mark Krejci introduced me to several cool twitter tools like twitterfon, twitfire, and twitterfeed which have made my twefforts easier, and I’ve picked up a couple of other tips as well (thanks to whoever suggested tweet later ).
But, there is still room for innovation (of course). Since Twitter exposes an API I am sure that we’ll see several new tools pop up over the next couple of years (at least until the next hot thing comes along). So, all you developers out there, here’s my wish list:
Bitter: Picks up when @replies are getting testy, announces “twitter fight” to the twuniverse, battle ensues for the amusement of all.
Etiquette-r: Detects when you’re using bad twetiquette (I literally can make up these words all day long), suggests corrections. I seriously could use this.
Toggler: Allows you to maintain separate universes of twitter friends and seamlessly toggle between them, displaying your replies and posts only to the group you choose. I guess you could always create two accounts, but then you would have absolutely no free time.
Critter: A twitter for pet enthusiasts. Can’t you just see the joy in terabytes of microblogs about what Fluffy did today?
Sidesplitter: Short jokes. One Liners. Knock Knocks. 140 characters to make me laugh.
Porntwitter: (forgive the 100% un-clever name, it’s in beta) Not really interested in using it so much, but interested in how it would be executed. This, again, is just a matter of time. I mean, there are porn blogs, right?
Who-Gives-A-Shit-Er: Automatically filters out the truly idiotic / repetitive / annoying posts from the twitterverse. I’d probably be the first victim.
It is highly likely that these tools exist as I write this, and if so, please let me know. Do you use twitter? If so, weigh in on what you would or do find useful or amusing.
At least you got off the Death Star in time...
Ticketmaster announced today that is is cutting about 5% of it’s global workforce, mostly from online operations. This should come as no real surprise, as TicketMaster’s growth strategy as of late has been to buy companies (Paciolan, GetMeIn, TicketsNow, etc.) rather than innovate and win new business. While the move probably makes a lot of sense due to elimination of duplicate jobs in the acquired entities, but I think it signals something broader.
Seth Godin blogged a couple days ago about acting small and thinking big. TicketMaster has the opposite problem. They think small and act big. This act, while it will help in the short term, will not help them compete. They ignore customers and enjoy being the 500 pound gorilla.
Well enjoy it while it lasts, TicketMaster. Because we are coming. Every day we are investing in our online ticketing system help our clients sell more tickets, and your clients are noticing.
Wow. I can’t say that I am surprised by this news, only that it happened so quickly. According to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo Sports,
Elite XC, which produced seven of the 10 most-watched MMA matches in U.S. history on two CBS specials in recent months, will be closing its doors at the end of the week.
Check the full article here. The good news is that Gina Carano may be looking for work. And we can use some muscle in the BattlePass Marketing Department. Gina, call me.
Gina Carano
Juniper Research: 400 Million Mobile Ticketing Users by 2013
October 23, 2008 in Commentary, new tech, research | Tags: Apple, blackberry, iPhone, Juniper, mobile, NFC, RIM, ticketing | by ehoush | Leave a comment
New research released by Juniper states that by 2013 there will be 400 million people using their mobile phones to buy tickets. This makes a lot of sense and seems like a logical next step in the evolution of mobility and Internet transactions. When I worked at Intel, they called the phenomenon “convergence” – that the line between computers and cell phones would gradually blur. Couple this with the fact that people are increasingly willing to purchase online, and voila- the boom of mobile ticketing.
As I have stated before, major roadblocks in the proliferation of this technology are bar code reading issues, lack of reader infrastructure and availability of near field communications (NFC) handsets.
Here’s a link to the full article just in case you’re made of free time, but the salient points are these:
What do you think? Would you be comfortable purchasing tickets over your mobile phone?