The TicketSellers provides full-service ticketing for Boomtown
In this case study: How The TicketSellers has provided a full-service ticketing solution to Boomtown, the UK’s fastest growing independent music festival for the last 10 years.
Introduction
The TicketSellers began working with Boomtown in 2010 when both Boomtown and The TicketSellers were smaller, less experienced and about to begin a period of rapid growth.
Boomtown had heard that The TicketSellers was the number one choice of ticket agent for festivals due to our close involvement with Shambala Festival and sought our expertise in helping to delivering ticketing, accreditation and gate management to their event.
The problem
Reflecting our full-service offering, there were a number of ways in which we were able to provide support to Boomtown
1) High volume complex ticketing for the UK’s fastest growing music festival
2) Crew and artist accreditation for the huge number of people working or performing at the event
3) Meal planning and redemption for the event’s 5 canteens
4) Volunteer recruitment
5) Passout solution to allow people to leave and re-enter the event site
Ticketing
An event of the size and complexity of Boomtown really benefits from a full-service ticket agent rather than a self-service platform. This is how we help Boomtown deliver such a fantastic event year after year.
In order to meet the demand for Boomtown tickets we have a highly scalable ticketing website, www.theticketsellers.co.uk. It is easily capable of accommodating the tens of thousands of customers who are eagerly waiting online to buy Boomtown tickets the moment they come on sale.
Boomtown tickets aren’t just about volume, we have a sophisticated rule builder to manage complex buying rules that govern which tickets can be bought alongside other tickets. Licensing and environmental concerns mean Boomtown want to encourage as many people as possible to travel on coaches so we also provide an integration with various coach companies to facilitate this.
Finally our 24/7 UK-based call centre is on hand to answer all customer queries leaving Boomtown to do what they do best – producing one of the most incredible events in the world.
Crew and artists
The team behind Boomtown isn’t just the 100 or so people in their Bristol HQ. Thousands of crew descend on Matterley Bowl each summer to build a city out of nothing.
All these crew plus the thousands of artists and performers need a ticket, to complete a health & safety induction, to provide essential documentation etc.
Just like every event which sells tickets with us we provide Boomtown with free use of Eventree – our crew and artist management system. This allows each manager at Boomtown to have control of their own area in order to issue credentials to the people they need to make the magic happen. Health and Safety inductions must be completed online before crew can access their tickets, and all tickets are linked to wristbands upon arrival at the site.
Meal planning and redemption
Somewhere in the region of 50,000 crew meals are cooked and eaten every year at Boomtown, across 5 separate canteens. Boomtown need a sophisticated meal planning and redemption system to help coordinate this, and we are delighted to supply this in the form of Eventree. As well as being the best way to manage crew and artists working at your event, Eventree provides a full meal planning and redemption interface.
Managers can request meals for their team members who collect them on site with a quick zap of their wristband. Of course, dietary requirements, collecting meals in bulk and free passes for the event’s directors are all supported, and the entire system works offline in the rain if necessary (this is England – it always rains).
After the event, detailed reports highlight teams who didn’t manage to collect all their meals so that food wastage can be examined and reduced for future events.
Volunteer recruitment
As well as all the paid staff and crew Boomtown wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for the stellar efforts of around 2,000 volunteers. Recruitment for these begins early – usually around October the year before the event.
The team at Boomtown use Eventree to build application forms for the various volunteering roles and publish them online. Once applications are submitted the team can quickly shortlist them and respond to the most promising applicants with a few clicks of the mouse. Eventree takes volunteer deposit payments and, as you’d expect from a full-service ticket agent, we handle all the headache of auditing and refunding those payments after the event while the Boomtown team enjoy a well deserved break.
Passout system
Boomtown have sophisticated rules around leaving site and returning. Although you can leave at any time you can only re-enter the site up to 10pm. Furthermore attendees can only bring alcohol into the event on their first entry – subsequent re-entries are searched and managed differently.
In addition to this there are limits set as to how many times each person can leave and return, and of course there is other analysis which takes place to spot people trying to use fake, stolen or sold wristbands to access the event.
The TicketSellers has a sophisticated passouts system which manages all of the above, and more. Installed at every gate at Boomtown, the system is used to manage the access for all attendees, whether they are ticket holders or crew. Detailed reports highlight suspicious behaviour, pinpoint the busiest arrival gates/times and allow the all-important first entry with alcohol rule to be put in place.
Conclusion
Having worked with Boomtown for the last 10 years we have built an excellent relationship and rapport with the team. It’s clear that our companies benefit from each other – The TicketSellers from the drive and vision of the Boomtown team, and Boomtown from the systems and service level that only a company specialising in the festival sector can deliver.
We look forward to the next 10 years working together.
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