Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Printing tickets and what system

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Operatigger
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Joined: 12/09/07
Location: United States
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Topic: Printing tickets and what system
Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:56pm

Hello everyone,

What system, or method does everyone use for printing tickets? Since we have open seating we have an outside printing company print all of our tickets for us before each show. This can be good to some extent, but we wind up wasting money. Since we don't know what the exact number of audience members are going to be for each show, due to the walk-ins, we always have the printer print up tickets for full house (200), and what we don't use, we wind up throwing out (there's the wasteful part). And that could be a lot of tickets depending on the show. I would love to cut out the waste and print our own, but I'm not sure what systems are out there and which is the best. I know that 'The Best' will be subjective, but there's gott a be a good system out there somewhere. I would like to have a system where I could imput the information in a computer ahead of time, and then just hit one, maybe two button(s) to print out what I need. Did I mention that this needs to be user friendly, at least on the printing side of it? I have a lot of elderly volunteers who really don't know how to use a computer. So any kind of system where I could have them hit a button or two would be great. Is there anything out there like this? Any advice to get me started would be great.

Thanks

"Music can change the world. "
-- Ludwig Van Beethoven

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JoeMc
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Joined: 3/13/06
Location: Australia
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Posts: 832

Posted: 12/27/07 at 4:54pm

You could contact one of our members here, who might be the best shot to help you!

http://www.ticketjunior.com/

[western] Gondawandaland
"Hear the light & see the sound!
TOI TOI CHOOKAS
{may you always play to a full house!}

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whitebat
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Joined: 8/05/07
Location: United States
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Posts: 137

Posted: 1/09/08 at 10:39pm

How we've done tickets in the past is, we made one sheet and had them photocopied. If you're doing a run of several shows, you can print all the dates on with boxes, and check mark the date that ticket is sold for. If you do really short runs, you could just make them tickets for "Name of CT's" next show, and date stamp them as they sell.

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GoldCanyonLady
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Joined: 2/05/05
Location: United States
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Posts: 172

Posted: 1/10/08 at 9:15am

We have 200 seats for each performance and do four performances for our one show a year. I print the tickets using Word Perfect. I format the page to print 8 tickets per page and design the first one with the theater logo and the play picture, title etc. The day and date goes on the lower left corner and the isle and seat goes on the right corner. Then I print them on colored card stock (one color for each performance). It costs us one color and one black cartridge (with plenty of ink left over for lots of other printing) and the paper. My time is free. After they are printed, I use a paper cutter to cut them. They look nice. They aren't perforated (no need) as we let the attendees keep their tickets since they are dated no one could re use them.
Barb

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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Nanette
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Joined: 8/01/06
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Posts: 399

Posted: 1/10/08 at 9:38am

We also design and print our own tickets (8 per page). We developed a master templet and simply need to change the date, title, and image for each show.

We can seat about 200 in our space, but we only print 100 tickets to begin with. If we see we might need more, we just print a few more sheets at a time. Saves on the waste.

We do the same with our programs. We'll print 200 for the first show, and figure about how many we may need for additional shows based on ticket sales for those shows and average number of walk-ins.

NOTE: If you want to perforate tickets easily you can run them through an unthreaded sewing machine 3 sheets at a time. We do this for our "Best Seat in the House" tickets (raffle tickets). Takes no time at all.

In a world of margarine, be butter!

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GoldCanyonLady
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Joined: 2/05/05
Location: United States
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Posts: 172

Posted: 1/11/08 at 8:44am

Great idea on the perforation. I will remember that if we ever need to do that. Clap

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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TotoToo Theatre
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Joined: 8/31/07
Location: Canada
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 1/18/08 at 10:16pm

We do a numbered, perforated ticket - color coded for each night's performance. We run a coupon for a local restaurant on the back of our tickets (we only print 500 tickets per production and the restaurant pays $333 per show for the coupon, an ad in our program, and exclusive rights to host our wind-up party). This was a three-production agreement. It cost us $200 to print 1,500 tickets for all three productions. So we made considerable money from the agreement. And the restaurant did very well, too, because our wind-up parties bring ine easily $500 per performance.

Consider the ticket an advertising opportunity? And then print a really great ticket to make it worthwhile for your advertiser.

Mark Webster
TotoToo
Ottawa's Gay & Lesbian Community Theatre

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ticketjunior
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Joined: 6/23/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 2/06/08 at 11:35pm

Our customers use a wide variety of ticket types. Some like others have mentioned make and print their tickets themselves. One of our customers actually uses note cards and print tickets from just an ink jet print as needed. I thought that was a pretty unique idea. Other customers actually buy pre-printed or customer printed tickets. We also have a good majority of customers who buy blank ticket stock and print tickets as needed from a thermal ticket print (boca, practical automation, etc). The up front cost for going that route is a little pricey but in the long run you end up reducing your ticketing cost. Particularly for reserved seating events its the best route for ensuring that you haven't double sold a seat. Of using a ticket system also helps reduce the possibility of double selling seats.

I think paper tickets can be made / bought for almost any cost. You can spend a few bucks and make your own $30 or less or spend $100-$300 to get full color front and back tickets that will look great.

Of course I would also recommend sending "e-tickets" and allowing your customers to print their tickets at home.

Note: Thanks Joe for plugging Ticketjunior.

-James P. Walters
Phone: 404-272-4778
www.ticketjunior.com

"We're the little guy in the ticketing business."

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laurielu
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Joined: 4/07/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 2/28/08 at 2:04am

I use MS Publisher and use one of the business card templates to print 10 at a time on business card stock. We only seat between 70 and 90 per performance (usually 6 performances), so the cost is about $30 for the card stock. I color code each day (logo and date) so the ticket takers will know the tickets are for that particular performance. What do I do with the left-overs? I have a huge stack on my desk I use for scratch paper!

Nothing changes if nothing changes.

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Running Your Theater
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Theater Administration :Running Your Theater

Author	Message
Operatigger Walk-On Joined: 12/09/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: Printing tickets and what system Posted: 12/27/07 at 12:56pm
	Hello everyone, What system, or method does everyone use for printing tickets? Since we have open seating we have an outside printing company print all of our tickets for us before each show. This can be good to some extent, but we wind up wasting money. Since we don't know what the exact number of audience members are going to be for each show, due to the walk-ins, we always have the printer print up tickets for full house (200), and what we don't use, we wind up throwing out (there's the wasteful part). And that could be a lot of tickets depending on the show. I would love to cut out the waste and print our own, but I'm not sure what systems are out there and which is the best. I know that 'The Best' will be subjective, but there's gott a be a good system out there somewhere. I would like to have a system where I could imput the information in a computer ahead of time, and then just hit one, maybe two button(s) to print out what I need. Did I mention that this needs to be user friendly, at least on the printing side of it? I have a lot of elderly volunteers who really don't know how to use a computer. So any kind of system where I could have them hit a button or two would be great. Is there anything out there like this? Any advice to get me started would be great. Thanks
	"Music can change the world. " -- Ludwig Van Beethoven

	IP Logged

JoeMc Celebrity Joined: 3/13/06 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 832	Posted: 12/27/07 at 4:54pm
	You could contact one of our members here, who might be the best shot to help you! http://www.ticketjunior.com/
	[western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!}
	IP Logged

whitebat Celebrity Joined: 8/05/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 137	Posted: 1/09/08 at 10:39pm
	How we've done tickets in the past is, we made one sheet and had them photocopied. If you're doing a run of several shows, you can print all the dates on with boxes, and check mark the date that ticket is sold for. If you do really short runs, you could just make them tickets for "Name of CT's" next show, and date stamp them as they sell.
	IP Logged

GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Posted: 1/10/08 at 9:15am
	We have 200 seats for each performance and do four performances for our one show a year. I print the tickets using Word Perfect. I format the page to print 8 tickets per page and design the first one with the theater logo and the play picture, title etc. The day and date goes on the lower left corner and the isle and seat goes on the right corner. Then I print them on colored card stock (one color for each performance). It costs us one color and one black cartridge (with plenty of ink left over for lots of other printing) and the paper. My time is free. After they are printed, I use a paper cutter to cut them. They look nice. They aren't perforated (no need) as we let the attendees keep their tickets since they are dated no one could re use them. Barb
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.
	IP Logged

Nanette Celebrity Joined: 8/01/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 399	Posted: 1/10/08 at 9:38am
	We also design and print our own tickets (8 per page). We developed a master templet and simply need to change the date, title, and image for each show. We can seat about 200 in our space, but we only print 100 tickets to begin with. If we see we might need more, we just print a few more sheets at a time. Saves on the waste. We do the same with our programs. We'll print 200 for the first show, and figure about how many we may need for additional shows based on ticket sales for those shows and average number of walk-ins. NOTE: If you want to perforate tickets easily you can run them through an unthreaded sewing machine 3 sheets at a time. We do this for our "Best Seat in the House" tickets (raffle tickets). Takes no time at all.
	In a world of margarine, be butter!
	IP Logged

GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Posted: 1/11/08 at 8:44am
	Great idea on the perforation. I will remember that if we ever need to do that.
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.
	IP Logged

TotoToo Theatre Player Joined: 8/31/07 Location: Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 1/18/08 at 10:16pm
	We do a numbered, perforated ticket - color coded for each night's performance. We run a coupon for a local restaurant on the back of our tickets (we only print 500 tickets per production and the restaurant pays $333 per show for the coupon, an ad in our program, and exclusive rights to host our wind-up party). This was a three-production agreement. It cost us $200 to print 1,500 tickets for all three productions. So we made considerable money from the agreement. And the restaurant did very well, too, because our wind-up parties bring ine easily $500 per performance. Consider the ticket an advertising opportunity? And then print a really great ticket to make it worthwhile for your advertiser.
	Mark Webster TotoToo Ottawa's Gay & Lesbian Community Theatre
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ticketjunior Walk-On Joined: 6/23/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/06/08 at 11:35pm
	Our customers use a wide variety of ticket types. Some like others have mentioned make and print their tickets themselves. One of our customers actually uses note cards and print tickets from just an ink jet print as needed. I thought that was a pretty unique idea. Other customers actually buy pre-printed or customer printed tickets. We also have a good majority of customers who buy blank ticket stock and print tickets as needed from a thermal ticket print (boca, practical automation, etc). The up front cost for going that route is a little pricey but in the long run you end up reducing your ticketing cost. Particularly for reserved seating events its the best route for ensuring that you haven't double sold a seat. Of using a ticket system also helps reduce the possibility of double selling seats. I think paper tickets can be made / bought for almost any cost. You can spend a few bucks and make your own $30 or less or spend $100-$300 to get full color front and back tickets that will look great. Of course I would also recommend sending "e-tickets" and allowing your customers to print their tickets at home. Note: Thanks Joe for plugging Ticketjunior.
	-James P. Walters Phone: 404-272-4778 www.ticketjunior.com "We're the little guy in the ticketing business."
	IP Logged

laurielu Walk-On Joined: 4/07/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 2/28/08 at 2:04am
	I use MS Publisher and use one of the business card templates to print 10 at a time on business card stock. We only seat between 70 and 90 per performance (usually 6 performances), so the cost is about $30 for the card stock. I color code each day (logo and date) so the ticket takers will know the tickets are for that particular performance. What do I do with the left-overs? I have a huge stack on my desk I use for scratch paper!
	Nothing changes if nothing changes.
	IP Logged

Topic: Printing tickets and what system( Topic Closed)