Last year we introduced online ticketing for events in the theatre. As a parent I have experienced needing to come early, and the long lines to get good seats to see my children's performances. Introducing ticketing has meant that parents don't need to come extra early, or are stuck at the school when they need to drop their child off for an early rehearsal. Overall the response from the ICS community has been positive. There have been a few challenges; however each "concert season" we are opening up nearly three thousand tickets for Elementary, Middle and High school concerts. There have only been a few of these challenges, so overall we feel that the system has been very successful.
If you do have any concerns or frustrations please either contact me at wilsonp@ics.edu.hk, the relevant principal, or approach one of the Parent Association Reps. We do want to hear your concerns so that we can make sure that everyone has an enjoyable experience a our events.
I regularly get questions on the ticketing system, so I have included some of the answers in this post, If you have any other questions, please send them to me (wilsonp@ics.edu.hk) and I'll add them in!
Enjoy...
FAQ
Where can I find the link to the tickets?
We are posting the link to the tickets on Schoology. Middle School and High School links are posted one week before the event, and the day before we post an announcement that they will be there the following day. We post the links at around 5:00 pm.
Do I need a link or can I search for the event on the Eventbrite website?
Our events will not show up on the Eventbrite pages. Our default settings for our online ticketing are private, this mean that you need to have the link to the page to reserve tickets. This way we extend the invitation to attend the events only to members of the ICS community.
Can I choose my own seats?
In the Middle School and High School we allow parents to choose their own seats. Some are confused by the system, as it will take you to the seating chart and it will suggest what it thinks are the best seats. You need to unselect these seats in order to choose the seats that you want.
The Elementary School, does not practice seat selection, and the system assigns seats based on the best available.
Do I need to print the tickets?
There are many ways to present your tickets, many prefer to print out their tickets, others show a soft copy of the ticket on their phone, others use the Eventbrite App.
What happens if I can’t find my ticket, or my battery goes flat?
We have a computer at the ticket desk, so we can look up your name and find your seat numbers. We then write a "Door Ticket" for you.
What are "Wait List" tickets, and how do they work?
The reason we have to issue wait list tickets is that is the only way to be able to see how many seats we need to find. It also enables us to send out emails to the individuals and the group as a whole. There is a true wait list function, but in order to use that feature the parents would not be able to choose their seats. The "Live Video Feed" reference on the ticket is as it is also a ticket to room 103 where we have overflow if needed.
At around 5 pm on the evening of the concert the tickets are taken offline. We then identify all available tickets and record them on a seating chart. In addition parents often drop off unneeded tickets to the ticketing counter. From around 7 pm, these tickets are then given to parents on a "First come, first served" basis.
It is the schools heartfelt desire to have everyone in the theatre. At the Band Spring Concert in April 2016, we had over 60 people on the waitlist. All of these were given seats in the theatre, and most were given tickets shortly after their arrival as other parents had handed over unneeded tickets.
Please note that the wait list does not guarantee a seat, a Live Video Feed Room will be provided in the eventuality that there are not enough seats.
Why was I on the waitlist but there are empty seats in the Theatre during the performance?
This question has perplexed us, and we are not sure why this is happening yet. It is frustrating for us, as parents are stuck on the wait list yet there are obviously seats available on the night of the performance. This has been a source of ongoing discussion, and hopefully we can solve this mystery. The reason we started scanning at the door was to try to identify who was not coming to the event, however this proved difficult and slow; and the data we did get was not complete.
We believe that people are overbooking the number of tickets they need and, in many cases, are not contacting the school to 'release' the extra tickets back to us. We rely on parents honesty and integrity in respecting the needs of other audience members.
If I am late will my seats be reallocated?
If you arrive late but have tickets, these seats will be opened up to free seating to waiting audience. However, you still will get seats, but they might not be the original seats that you booked.
If my friend is late, may I keep a seat for them, or do I need to allow someone else to take the seat?
We are allowing audience to hold a seat for a friend if they are sure that friend is on their way and they have a ticket for their friend.
If I go to the bathroom will my seat be reallocated to a waiting parent?
Once you have seated that seat is yours. If you need to go to the bathroom etc, we would suggest that someone holds the seat for you, or you leave some personal items to show that the seat is occupied. We would like to avoid any unnecessary conflict with other parents.
Do I need to scan my ticket at the door?
We tried to scan tickets at the door in the Middle School and High School, however it was not very successful so we decided not to do this for these concerts. The Elementary School did successfully scan the tickets upon entry. However the Elementary School no longer scans tickets as it takes too long for the audience to get into their seats.
What if I, or one of my family, can't manage the stairs?
For those audience members who cannot manage the stairs. There are two wheelchair spaces on either side of the theatre at the back, and we always block off the seats on the very back row on either side of the theatre for you to reserve. Contact me at wilsonp@ics.edu.hk or the school office if you want to reserve these seats.
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If you do have any concerns or frustrations please either contact me at wilsonp@ics.edu.hk, the relevant principal, or approach one of the Parent Association Reps. We do want to hear your concerns so that we can make sure that everyone has an enjoyable experience a our events.