Ticketing on a tiny budget

By PETER GRIFFIN

The Auckland Philharmonia has overhauled its outdated ticketing system for a fraction of the $50,000 some companies were demanding to do the job.

The Philharmonia's management said the organisation, which last year performed for 676,000 people, was in threat of losing touch with its loyal customer base because ticketing was cumbersome and could not generate any relevant marketing information.

Auckland computer consultant SumWare Computing was hired to design a ticketing program based on FileMaker Pro.

The software is widely considered to be more user-friendly than its main competitor, Microsoft Access.

SumWare consultant Rob Russell said the Philharmonia had looked at installing a system from ticketing agency Ticketek, but could not meet the cost.

"Because they're a trust and aren't rolling around in money they weren't prepared to pay $50,000 or more."

Although the Philharmonia has a relationship with Ticketek, much of the ticketing will be done through the FileMaker system, which was installed for less than $12,000.

Concert-goers taking in a night of entertainment at venues such as the Auckland Town Hall or the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna are now sorted either geographically in theatres or by their preference for a particular concert.

Venues can be set up directly from database fields in FileMaker Pro, and subscriptions running over several months can be booked in venues with multiple price zones, providing financial information and the ability to print tickets and letters.

Mr Russell said it was important for the Philharmonia to make sure that on performance night there were no duplicate seat allocations, "which is something they used to have a lot of." deficiency in its ticketing facilities was the major driver for a new, custom-made system, the Philharmonia was unable to generate marketing information and easily stay in touch with its paid-up members.

Links


FileMaker

Auckland Philharmonia

SumWare Consulting