If you are wanting to sell allocated seating (i.e where the patron receives their allocated seat number on their ticket), then Ticketebo is pleased to support the following various seating plan schema:

- Basic Social Distancing (allocate a seat, then miss “x” seat/s for social distancing)

- Group Social Distancing (allocate a group together, then miss “x” seat/s for social distancing)

- Skip Row Social Distancing (in order to satisfy any Front and Rear social distancing requirements)  

Group Social Distancing

Let’s now take a closer look at the benefits of the Group Social Distancing option, our most popular Allocated Seating plan option which includes social distancing.

With this option Ticketebo’s ticket platform completes all the hard lifting by auto-magically placing groups (who buy their tickets in a single order) together in seats side by side to each other, then locking out seats between them and the next group in order to deliver the required levels of social distancing. Depending on your need and current restrictions, you can determine the number of seats left between each group (as the below image shows with examples of 1, 2 and 3 seat spacing)

Skip Row Social Distancing

Depending on the restrictions in place in your locale, the spacing of seats between rows may also be required by your venue to deliver social distancing to the front and rear of each group. Ticketebo delivers this easily by blocking out entire rows as the venue requires. Please note in blocking out entire rows your maximum event capacity reduces significantly (for example, in the case of a single skipped row, your available capacity has shrunk by half instantly).

How do I know what my total available event capacity will be with socially distanced allocated seating?

This is such an important question, but sadly one without a fixed answer.

Let’s start with the basics, by way of an example: My venue has 1000 fixed seats in 20 rows of 50 Seats  with one main aisle down the middle. I have been asked to a) skip a row front and back of each group and b) miss 1 seat between each group (but groups can sit together).

So here is what we know. In order to deliver a) (skip a row between groups), we are down to 500 seats being available for sale.

For part b) your patron group sizing will ultimately determine exactly how many seats you can sell till you hit capacity. For example if you have the (albeit completely) unlikely situation where all your guests book single seats then you can only fill half of the remaining 500 seats (50%). At the other end of the scale if your group sizes are large on average, then you have the opportunity to fill significantly more seats per available row. Rest assured Ticketebo’s seating plan algorithms do a great job filling your venue to the maximum capacity based on your seating plan restrictions. On average we see a 63% sell through rate of the (remaining) seats available. Armed with this information you will then of course need to plan out the rest of your event: for example, how many shows you will need to put on to satisfy expected demand, your ticket price (to deliver a profitable event), and any additional capping of tickets per group you may need to also apply (to ensure a fair distribution of tickets).

If the above has you scratching your head – then you are absolutely not alone! This stuff isn’t easy, but rest assured our friendly Client Services team is on hand 7 days a week to help guide you through all your questions, and provide expert advice. In fact, we will even build your event ticketing pages and seating plan for you!

COVID-safe Articles and Resources for Event Organisers

Specialist content around delivering COVID-Safe events can be hard to lay your hands on. Please enjoy the following articles around how Ticketebo supports Event Organisers to deliver COVID-safe events:

Australia’s State By State Guide to COVID restrictions for Events

Event Ticketing & Attendance Tracking for a COVID Safe Event

Stay safe with Covid-safe Online and On-site ticket sales, combined with Contactless Entry scanning

For more information about ticketing your event on Ticketebo, and how we can support you to deliver a COVID-safe event, please get in touch with us on 1800 381 939 or via our Contact Us page

In reaction to the global COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve already discussed attendee contact tracing and tips for organising a Covid-safe event. But come event day, contactless patron check-in upon entry will keep your patrons and event staff safer too!

Complimentary Contactless Entry Management Scanning

Ticketebo's contactless entry scanning technology, the Ticketebo Door Scan Manager App (free to download & use on iOS and Android), provides a touch-free and hygienic way to check-in your attendees, reducing the need for patron contact.  

Patrons can even self check in by scanning their own ticket on a device provided at entry (either smartphone or iPad) under the watchful gaze of a staff member to monitor ticket scanning and provide any support as required.

Not only does the app deliver a touch free entrance, it also allows you to easily monitor your attendees to see who is onsite, giving you live check-in data at your fingertips!

On-site ticket sales are contact free too!

No doubt you will be pushing your patrons to pre-purchase their tickets online (for ease on event day; plus you'll likely have restricted capacities to adhere to; and it provides you simplified covid tracing compliance), but there may be some patrons who need to buy a ticket on arrival. Our Ticket Box Office POS app will deliver the contactless payment solution you are after - the perfect ticketing system for safe Gate Sales/Door Sales.

Patrons can select their ticket/s via the tablet at entry (or you can manage the ticket sale process via the device if you prefer a no shared device solution), they tap their card for contactless payment, and then receive their tickets & receipt via SMS or email! It’s that easy!

Ticketebo’s Box Office solution provides a fully integrated merchant facility, or you can use your own Merchant/EFTPOS service if you prefer.

Ticketebo’s Box Office app can be loaded up to sell your range of on-site ticket options, including standard tickets, discounted tickets, group tickets and even your Merchandise items should you wish – allowing you to provide contactless payments throughout your event.

To find out more about how our contactless Entry Scanning App and Box Office Ticket Sales App may benefit your event, please call us today on 1800 381 939 and we can chat further to ensure your event is optimally run for a covid-safe environment.

If you have a new feature or upgrade you'd like to see, please drop us a line on clientservices@ticketebo.com.au and let us know what you'd like us to release next!

New Product Release:

Sell tickets online on your own event website!

Are you wanting to sell your event tickets from inside your own event website? Then Ticketebo's embedded online ticketing widget is the solution you are looking for!

By adding some simple code (which we provide you with) to the backend of your website, your Tickets will be available for sale immediately inside your own website.

And best of all there is no extra cost to embed our ticketing solution on your website.

Get in touch with us today on 1800 381 939 if you would like to add your ticketing page code onto your event website.

Additional Feature Releases & Upgrades:

Socially Distanced Allocated Seating

In response to new Social Distancing requirements, the team have successfully developed an enhancement to our Allocated Seating Plan module. Now you can choose if seat allocations will leave 1 or 2 spare seats between each guest (or of course no gap between patrons depending on your event locations & current social distancing requirements.)

Enhanced Ticket Sales Reporting

Summary of Non Entry Sales items - if you also sell non-entry tickets via your Ticketebo page (eg merchandise) - then you will now find a shiny new tab appear on your usual sales reporting which auto-magically summaries these sales for you (eg x500 T Shirt / Colour - Red / Size - Medium)

Tickets & Ticketing Page Upgrades

Here are some snazzy upgrades we have rolled out to our ticketing webpages and tickets...

a. New Artwork by ticket type - to help everyone on arrival at your event you can now customise the artwork you have displayed on your tickets by ticket type. Meaning your VIP customer will have a ticket with your VIP artwork emblazoned on it, so you quickly identify them on arrival and roll out the red carpet!

b. WhatsApp Social Share now added to all ticketing pages - we've made sharing your event even easier for your guests, by integrating everyone's favourite mobile messaging app, WhatsApp, to our ticketing pages. Now, with one click, your guests will be sharing your ticketing page to all their contacts & WhatsApp groups.

c. Ticket Descriptors now added to our ticketing pages - if you've ever wanted to highlight those extra inclusions (or exclusions) for a particular ticket type, then this latest feature upgrade is perfect for you. Under each ticket type, you can now add an extensive ticket description. Here is an example of one we are using now:

d. Mobile friendly + and - buttons added to our ticketing pages - with well over 2/3rds of ticket buyers now buying via their smartphones today, we have made it even easier for mobile users to complete their ticket purchase with easy to use + and - ticket selector buttons added to our Choose Tickets and Checkout pages. Combined with auto completing address fields your smartphone purchaser will be buying their tickets in a flash!

Door Scan Manager App Upgrades (Android & iOS)

With our latest app releases to the Ticketebo Door Scan Manager App on iOS and Android, event organisers can enjoy some extra features and functionality....

a. offline scanning mode - we'll have your back in case the 3G/4G/5G network has a melt down during your event. Just keep scanning as usual, then when the internet reawakens from its slumber, the scanning app will automatically recover and synch everything up as normal!

b. multi event scanning - if you need to scan in guests who have purchased tickets from different event pages (eg Season Pass holders need to be scanned in at the same gate as Single Game ticket holders) - then our latest multi event scanning feature makes this a breeze. In the App simply select all the events you want to scan in concurrently and the App will do the rest for you by combine the guests lists from each list into 1 for you. No more jumping from one event screen to the next!

If you have a new feature or upgrade you'd like to see our tech team develop next, then do get in touch with us on 1800 381 939 or email on clientservices@ticketebo.com.au

In these challenging times, it’s difficult to know what we can and can’t do in each state and territory of Australia. Keeping track of the ever changing restrictions and the Road to Recovery for each state and territory can be overwhelming, particularly for event organisers who need to work within these restrictions to safely deliver their events.

That's why we’ve done some of the hard work for you and created an Australian State and Territory Summary Guide. This covers the capacity restrictions currently in place for events around the country – both indoors and outdoors.

For links to each States' guide to their current restrictions, the below links will also be helpful:

VIC: https://www.vic.gov.au/coronavirus-covid-19-restrictions-victoria
NSW: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/what-you-can-and-cant-do-under-rules
ACT: https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/community/canberra-recovery
SA: https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/restrictions-and-responsibilities
WA: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-the-premier-and-cabinet/covid-19-coronavirus-wa-roadmap
QLD: https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/government-actions/roadmap-to-easing-queenslands-restrictions
NT: https://coronavirus.nt.gov.au/roadmap-new-normal/business/guidelines-for-events-and-gatherings
TAS: https://coronavirus.tas.gov.au/families-community/current-restrictions

In addition, as you know, Event Organisers will need to seamlessly execute strict capacity controls; know how many people are actively at the event at any time; execute Contact Tracing of patrons; and of course protect their staff with contact-less patron interactions. For this and more on how Ticketebo can support you to deliver COVID-Safe event Read More Here.

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy, relevance and up-to-date nature of the information contained in this article and attachment, no guarantee is given nor responsibility taken for errors or omissions. Please always check the latest rules and restrictions with your local government body (links provided above) to ensure all guidelines and any additional requirements have been met.

For this and more, Ticketebo’s comprehensive ticketing solutions have you covered. Our online booking and registrations platform allows you to record the details of everyone who books or registers for your event - helping you meet Covid-safe event planning restrictions. Moreover, full data tracking of guests' time spent at your venue is always at your fingertips with time stamp recordings of when attendees enter and exit your event (driven by our free Door Scan Manager app).

With Ticketebo ticketing, we also deliver event organisers:
- an online booking platform for patrons to book in their attendance in advance.
- full inventory control - by session, by date, by time - so you can never overbook or exceed your venue’s/session's maximum available capacity.
- ticket sales at the door pulling from the centralised inventory pool so your online and door sales sync to avoid any overselling!
- socially distanced allocated seating so you can space out your guests inside your venue.
- all attendee info - full name and mobile number for tracing purposes and any other info you require eg. have you been overseas in the last 3 months?
- contact-less payment for tickets and also merchandise sales to help you deliver contact less payments on site at your venue
- real time reporting for the latest bookings
- the FREE Ticketebo Door Scan Manager app delivers contact-less scanning of patrons’ tickets on entry and exit - giving you date and time stamp for every person entering your venue/premise.

All of which comes as standard for our Event Organisers: where one simple low booking fee delivers our comprehensive ticketing solutions.

Learn more about our simple low pricing, or call us today on 1800 381 939 to discuss how we can support you to deliver a COVID-safe event, or click HERE to get started.

With thousands of events being cancelled or postponed around the world, it’s hard to know what lasting impact COVID-19 will have on the events sector. And though social distancing restrictions may be easing, the promise of mass events returning to their former glory may still be a while away. With this Event Organisers are exploring new ways to adapt their events so that they can be commercially viable, accessible and safe. Hybrid Events are not a new concept, but could they deliver the future for events and a temporary solution whilst the world gets back on its feet?

What is a Hybrid event?

A Hybrid event is an event that hosts both a live audience and - through the use of streaming technology -  an online audience. The online audience is actively engaged and involved throughout the event, with online polls, quizzes, brainstorms and interacting with the speakers through Q&As as well as fellow online audience members. 

Hybrid events are more than just a static recording that anyone can tune into, as they encourage all patrons to interact with various aspects of the event.

What are the benefits of Hybrid Events?

- Hosting a Hybrid event means there are no longer geographical or physical limitations for the patrons at your event. You are able to reach a far wider audience than ever before as people in other states (and other countries) can join your event as part of the online audience; and there are often no limits to online audience participation. This can therefore increases your geographic reach and brand awareness.

- Hosting one Hybrid event saves you the cost of running the same event in multiple locations. Goodbye travel expenses!

- In many ways the experience for the online guest can be better than the live guest: the online vision of the event will likely be better than those positioned toward the back of the auditorium; associated content can be embedded into the presentation which online guests can easily access; additional moderator/expert commentary embedded into the online experience may not be as integrated to the live event; the ability to easily ask speakers questions (via typing it to the moderator) and the list goes on.

- Although the concept of a Hybrid event is for all to attend at the same time - whether in person or online - a recording of the event does also mean that a patron who is unable to tune in at the event time, can watch it at another time more convenient for them. Although this removes the interactive element, this does mean you are able to reach an even wider audience.

- Similarly the recording of your live event can be reused later as great promotional content for your business.

What do I need to host a Hybrid event?

As there is now a live and online component to your event, there will be additional planning to ensure the enjoyment for both types of attendees. For any sort of virtual event, you will need to have technology that will allow you to stream your event to an online platform: a camera/laptop, microphone, tripod, access to the internet and your chosen streaming provider. With a live audience also present, you will need to carefully think about the placement of this equipment - you wouldn’t want a live audience member to block the camera with their head accidentally! 

For a large scale event, the tech requirements are more complex. There may be a need to hire a camera crew, sound engineers and a tech team to ensure the online audience has a great experience around the content and how they are invited to engage with the event. Think about the different angles shown for a sporting event on TV; that’s what your camera crew can help you achieve. 

If your event takes place on a stage, you may also need to think about the lighting and how this will affect your recording. 

There are a few other technical aspects you may want to consider for your Hybrid event:

- If your event shows a slide/video to your live audience, these will need to be pre-loaded onto the streaming platform.

- It is important that speakers know where the cameras are so they don’t wander off and leave the online viewers with an empty screen!

- You may want to have someone in charge of the online experience - to initiate brainstorms or Q&As. It is important to acknowledge the presence of the online audience as this ensures they feel involved and an integral part of the event. Remember that an online audience can ‘leave’ the event with a click of the button so finding ways to keep them interested is incredibly important! 

- If your live event has an intermission in the schedule - how will you engage the online audience during this break?

- Some streaming platforms even offer a translation service so language barriers may no longer be an issue. 

Remember that technology can be fickle - always have a backup plan!

Will hosting a Hybrid event affect my in-person attendance?

You may be concerned that hosting a Hybrid event will mean attendees choose to participate in the event from the comfort of their own home, instead of attending in person. However, virtual attendees are usually those who would love to attend but due to location, travel costs or other commitments normally wouldn’t be able to. Those with the means to attend in-person most likely still will so they can experience the event atmosphere, network with fellow attendees and enjoy special perks only available in-person. 

Some ticketing tips:

- Run geo-targeted ads which promote the online option to your non local guests, while the locals see a different ad promoting the in person event options! 

- Release your virtual event tickets at a later stage to ensure that you receive a strong response for your live audience tickets.

- Virtual tickets are often cheaper than in-person tickets. This is usually due to special events, products or extras which are only available at the event and are included in the original ticket price. These perks are often why virtual attendees convert to live attendees. 

Whether it’s a masterclass, a concert, a seminar or festival, a Hybrid Event may be the perfect solution to ensure you can still host your event during these unprecedented times. Our Client Services team would love to help you get started to ticketing your 1st hybrid event, so don't hesitate to contact one of our friendly team members today! Click here to get started today

With many events adapting and transferring to the virtual world, it may seem daunting trying to keep up. But hosting an event online can be simple and is a great way to engage your customers in a brand new, exciting way (all from the comfort of their home)!

But where do you start? We’ve created 6 easy steps to assist you in not only ticketing your event, but also adapting your event to an online platform from start to finish!

- Choose a web hosting platform
- Sell your tickets (Ticketebo can help you here!)
- Market & advertise
- Create your event day set up
- Host your event
- Post-event feedback

1. Choosing an online platform

The first place to start is to find an online web conferencing platform to host your event.

There are several sites that offer similar products so doing some research to find one that best suits your event is important. Most will offer a video streaming service, with chat features, screen sharing and presentation options. If it suits your event, creating and sharing a presentation through these platforms is something tangible for your attendees.

Some great sites include: ClickMeeting, Demio, Zoom, GoToMeeting.

There is also the option with some providers (ClickMeeting is one of them) to deliver a unique password to each of your attendees – this means that only paid attendees can access your event!

Depending on the type of event, you may want different levels of attendee participation, and therefore different audio and visual capabilities. You may only need your attendees to listen, or perhaps you want to allow a Q&A session at the end with both microphone and video in use. When researching your web conferencing platform, make sure you look into how many attendees per session are permitted, how long sessions can be and audio/visual allowances for your attendees.

We have tested some of these platforms for our own video meetings so if you would like to hear more about our experiences, please feel free to contact us.

2. Selling tickets to your virtual event

You want to ensure that you use an advanced ticketing platform that can cater for your virtual event.  This is where we can help. We offer pain-free online ticketing which is free to the organiser, simple to use and stunning in design.

We’ve set up a sample online event so you can see some of the features we can offer you for your ticketing page. Take a look here.

With features such as multiple session times on one page, unique URLs and the ability to ask custom questions, we can work with you to create a page that suits your event perfectly. On completion of booking, your patrons will receive their order confirmation and PDF receipt/invoice via email.

To get started with setting up your ticketing page, please register here and one of our friendly team members will be in touch to guide you through the process.

3. Marketing & Advertising

With the current global COVID-19 pandemic, many people may assume the events they were interested in have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. It also means that many people are looking for new ways to fill their time.

Your target audience is now wider than ever before because you are no longer restricted to those in your geographic location.

Spend some time advertising your event on social media to create interest and ensure your first online event has a great turnout! Both Facebook and Instagram have excellent promotion features that allow you to target a broad range of customers.

If you have an active LinkedIn account you can reach out and network with other like-minded members of the community and expand your business network, inviting them to your online event.

Don’t forget to email your current database of customers to invite them as well!

4. Creating your Event Day set up

An imperative part of running an online event is ensuring that your set-up to host is perfect.

There are a few key aspects to cover here:

Location – Where are you going to set up?

What you have as your background will say a lot to your viewers. Try to find a nice quiet room with plenty of space to set up your equipment. It doesn’t have to be a plain white wall; in fact depending on your event you may want to add some furniture or plants in the background to make it homely.

It is important you test your space for sound and light before your event starts. Think about the time of day, where the light enters the room and whether your neighbour may embark on some loud DIY projects right next to your window!

Equipment – What do you need to film this event?

You don’t need to have the most up-to-date camera and equipment to run an online event. Whilst you can purchase the latest microphone, camera and sound devices, you can also make do with the equipment you already have!

A successful online event can be run with the following items:
- A computer/laptop with filming capacity (an in-built webcam)
- Headphones with in-built microphone if your location isn’t quiet enough to use the in-built microphone on your computer. Headphones that connect via Bluetooth allow you to stand further back if you need room to present products.
- A tripod
- Internet Access

A few top tips:

- Try to place the camera at eye-line; if you don’t have a tripod to do this, get creative! Maybe try stacking some books on top of a table to achieve the height you need.
- Keep light on your face, not behind you, as light behind you will create a dark image for your attendees to see.

5. Hosting your event

The big day has arrived; you’ve spent weeks planning your content, preparing your presentations and setting up your space and now it’s almost time to host the event.  Don’t be afraid to do a test recording before you go live to ensure the audio and visual aspects are clear for your attendees – you may even want to practice your delivery so you feel comfortable when you’re live on camera. Some of the web conferencing platforms have this feature built in but if not, simply hit record on your camera and watch yourself back.  You’ll be able to get a feel for what your event will be like when it’s live!

A few top tips:

- Pre-load any presentations, videos or audio needed before the event
- Ensure you have access to power and keep your equipment plugged in. You don’t want your devices to lose power half way through your event!

6. Post-event feedback

Congratulations, you’ve just finished your first online event! We hope it was a huge success! You now have a feel for what works for you and what you might change for next time. 

But the work isn’t done just yet.
Depending on your event, you may want to email a copy of the presentation to all your participants or send a recording of the event. Ticketebo provides sales reports with email addresses of participants so you can contact them after the event; to send out a survey, to receive feedback or so you can invite them to your next invite!

So those are the 6 easy steps to move your event to an online platform. If you have any questions or would like to talk through the process at all, please feel free to reach out to our Client Services team here at Ticketebo; we’re here to help!

If you have a new feature or upgrade you'd like to see, please drop us a line on clientservices@ticketebo.com.au and let us know what you'd like us to release next!  

New Product Releases:

Ticket Box Office app - now live!

If you sell tickets at the door, then our new Android Ticket Box Office app is your perfect on site ticketing solution!  Complete your ticket sale in just a few clicks (card or cash), and your patron receives their ticket & receipt via their smartphone, allowing you to scan them into your event as normal using Ticketebo's Door Scan Manager App.

By using our new Android Ticket Box Office App, all ticket sales will now be recorded centrally.  In terms of pricing: if using our merchant facilities then our booking fee remains at our low 3.85% (with a min of $1), or we charge just 2.2% (Inc) fee for transactions where you use your merchant facility or take cash at the door.

For more information about using our Ticket Box Office solution at your next event, get in touch with us today on 1800 381 939.

Interest Free instalments with OpenPay

We are excited to be the first ticketing company in Australia to offer your patrons the option of buying their tickets on interest free instalments via Openpay. This is a great way for your patrons to secure their tickets now, and pay later!  The additional cost of offering Openpay for tickets to your event is just 5.5% (Inc), and you only pay this fee for those customers who choose to pay using Openpay. For more info on our new instalments option, please click here, or to add OpenPay instalments as an extra payment option for your event, just give us a call on 1800 381 939, and we can activate this for you right away. Please note Openpay is only available for purchases from $75 to $1000.

Additional Feature Releases & Upgrades:

Enhanced Ticket Sales Reporting

We rolled out some great enhancements for our sales reporting for organisers craving deeper ticket sales insights:

a. Summary of Sales by Day - if you want to see how many tickets and $ sold day by day (eg to help answer questions like: "Did we see sales lift after that ad in the paper?"),  then our new Summary tab (now activated on all standard sales reports) is just for you. It even gives you a days out countdown, so you can compare this year's sales versus last year's by day.

b. Location of patrons by Suburb and Postcode - we have always given you the postcode of your customers but now we can add suburb details into your reporting too. Just ask and we can activate this on your sales reports!

c. Attendance Report (New) - want to follow up those who came to your event, or even those who didn't show? Then our new Attendance report will give you the answers you seek!

d. Gate Reporting - keen to know which of your entry points are your busiest?  Then our Gate Report is what you are looking for. Just let us know and we can activate this on your account for your event.

Custom Question Upgrades

We have worked some magic here for you...

a. No more codes! Gone are the mysterious codes which we needed to translate into Answers for you! What the patron selects is what you now see in your sales reports!

b. We have also rolled out Repetitive Questions which means for example if a person buys 5 tickets, then the page can auto-magically ask them to tell us each of the 5 attendee names, or any other question that you need asked for every attendee.

c. Custom Questions linked to Coupon Codes: when a specific coupon code is used we can now enable a custom question to pop up when that code is entered. Eg if you're running a Coupon Code promotion for RACV members, where they receive discounted tickets, then when that coupon code is used the system automatically asks them for the RACV membership number!

3rd Party Ad Tracking & Analytics

With advanced analytics & online advertising techniques now so widely used by Event Organisers, we are pleased to support a wide range of tracking tools. With support for Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, Google Tag Manager, and other mainstream Spotlight tags - you will now find it easier than ever to gain insights about your existing patrons; source new ones; understand how much your ads cost per ticket sold or even execute re-marketing ad campaigns (eg serve ads at customers who didn't quite finish their ticket purchase the 1st time!).  For more ideas about popular digital advertising campaign ideas employed by Event Marketers today, this article is a good read, or feel free to get in touch with your Ticketebo Account Manager.

Lighter, faster tickets

To help beat the pesky Junk Mail Gremlin, we have rolled out a new version of our pdf tickets. These are now a fraction of the file size, which means they are quicker to send, receive & open! No more tickets lost to the junk mail troll!

Ticketing Page Upgrades

Here are some nifty upgrades we have rolled out to our ticketing pages...

a. Automated End Dates (Events & Tickets) with Custom Messaging - Fully automated end dates are now possible for events as well as any ticket type. Just let us know the messaging you want displayed as the end date kicks in, and this will appear on the event page or next to the ticket type (or we can have the ticket type vanish if you'd rather!)

b. Automated Start Dates (Events & tickets) with Custom Messaging - everything we can do for end dates we can also do for start dates!

c. Hide In-Active Ticket Types - you may prefer to hide inactive ticket types (not yet on sale or now expired). Let us know if you want them to disappear and we can pre-set the page to auto-hide the ticket types which are inactive!

Tax Invoices for Organisers

As you may know, if you are registered for GST as your ticketing agent we can set our Receipts issued to be your official GST Tax Invoice for your patron's purchase. We've also now separated the receipt/invoice pdf from the tickets file so your patrons can easily send onto the relevant receipt to their bean counter department!

Door Scan Manager App Upgrades (Android)

With our latest Android app release, Android users can now enjoy some extra features and functionality... (Note to iOS users: we haven't forgotten you, these upgrades are in production now, for release pre July)

a. De-Activated tickets - for any cancelled tickets, you can now see them greyed-out in the app, which of course also won't allow them to be scanned.

b. Duplicate (reused) tickets - want to know if you accidentally scanned a ticket at the door or if the patron is trying to get 2 people in on 1 ticket? To help you decide, the initial scan time is now displayed when you scan a duplicate ticket.

c. Issue a current Sales Report - from inside the app you can now email your full detailed sales report on demand. Just go to the Reporting tab and hit Send Sales Report button and it will be on your email in a flash!

If you have a new feature or upgrade you'd like to see our tech team develop next, then do get in touch with us on 1800 381 939 or email on clientservices@ticketebo.com.au

1. Showcase Prior Events with a Highlight Reel

Video promotion is a fast and creative way to capture the energy of your company and previous events. You can create a video showing highlights of previous events to give potential customers a taste of what they could experience at your upcoming event. Catchy audio and bright visuals are key parts to driving registration and excitement.

You'll also get several engagement opportunities when you share it across the various social media channels to your family and friends. Consider hosting it on both Vimeo and YouTube, then uploading it to Facebook or other platforms is quick and easy.
 

2. Extend Your Event's Reach with Facebook's Events Page

Posting upcoming events to your website and then turning around and reposting them to Facebook may seem repetitive. But, it's a great way to give your audience a familiar and convenient place to find details about upcoming events. The Events feature also lets you connect and engage with your audience, answer questions, and see who's attending the event.

When they RSVP, they can share the event on their own newsfeeds. This allows you to extend your organic reach as well. Any potential event attendee will be able to quickly see all of your events in one convenient place.
 

3. Empower Your Event Attendees and Fans with Shareable Content

You want to make it as quick and easy as possible for your fans to share your upcoming event across multiple social media platforms. Give your registered attendees access to a webpage that has your branded downloadable resources. Give them a button like ClicktoTweet that allows them to share your page after they register and get on your event's landing page.

Make sure you have graphics, audio, video, and different platform updates ready to share and accessible. Also, remember that different platforms have different posting styles like square images for Instagram and rectangular images for Twitter. You want a few pieces of different promotional items for each platform you plan to promote on.
 

4. Buy LinkedIn Ads and Sponsored Updates to Promote Your Event

LinkedIn is a platform for business professionals that has ads that work like Facebook ads. Sponsored updates appear right at the top of people's news feeds. You want to avoid stock images for both of these promotional items and make sure that you create a catchy call to action that motivates people to click.

Ensure that your ads or sponsored updates target a specific audience and you want to split-test your promotional campaign. Design and run three different ads for each campaign and see which one does the best. HootSuite can measure and track how well promotional campaigns do on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
 

5. Use Past Event Attendee Photos for Updates

Half of the battle of promoting an event and selling tickets online is engaging your potential attendees while getting the word of your event out. If you have a similar event coming up, promote it by using past event attendee photos and create a status update. Make sure that you use fun and flattering pictures when you post.

Name and tag the attendees when you post these status updates if you can. Not only will this encourage them to comment and talk about their experiences, but it can also draw interest from the people on their friend lists. Invite your attendees to post their own photographs and share their experiences. This will generate buzz for your next event.
 

6. Give Teasers with Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are very popular within the Instagram community. A story is a series of connected clips that the user can upload as they go about their normal daily activities. For events, this is a quick, convenient, and fun way to give your followers a glimpse of what happens backstage. People love to see what happens behind the scenes before, during and after an event, and you can build interest in your next event this way.

Post small daily video clips showcasing teasers of upcoming events. Make sure to continue uploading these clips during the event so your followers who couldn't make it can see what they missed and to build interest for the next one. Each video is only live for 24 hours so production quality isn't a huge issue.

7. Utilize Your Guest Speakers and VIP Guests

Do you have a speaker or VIP guests coming to your event? If so, they're usually a very large draw for attendees. The speakers and VIP guests want your attendees to see them as much as the attendees want to watch their speeches. A little encouragement on your part can get this process off to a strong start.

If your guest speakers or VIPs have a sizeable following on Snapchat or Twitter, give them something to Tweet and Snap about. You can send them swag from your upcoming event and some relevant information that they can talk about to generate excitement before the event. Get a recap of their favorite event moments at the end so you can use it for your next event promotion.
 

8. Join and Be Active in Communities

There are several active communities spread across various social media platforms that can help you promote your event or boost ticket sales. These communities could be Facebook groups, Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups, or Google+ communities. They allow you to connect with other businesses and like-minded people all in one convenient spot.

Be active in these communities and interact with any influencers you find. These are the people with larger followers. You want to get involved before you start promoting your event because this involvement can encourage other people to interact with you and share your promotional materials. In turn, you could find new event attendees or extend your reach out to more groups or communities.
 

9. Make and Share Event Hashtags

Twitter is a very active platform that has one of the easiest and fastest ways for companies to expand their organic traffic. You don't want to pull random hashtags in for your event. Instead, you want to concentrate on doing a little research and finding out which hashtags are popular in your niche or industry, as well as more generic ones.

You can incorporate both of these hashtags into your event to gain reach. It'll also boost your chances of having your event show up in the search results. Since 75% of social media users actively use hashtags, this can be a powerful tool. You do want to make sure that your hashtag isn't already linked to an event or person though because this can divert attention away from your promotion.
 

10. Create Contests to Generate Interest

Finally, you can create and use contests to sell tickets online and promote your event. Most people look for events or brands with a lot of great reviews or buzz, and a contest is an excellent way to encourage activity. A contest on Instagram or Twitter encourages users to promote your event and engage with your brand.

You could give away event swag or even one or two tickets to the event itself. Offer incentives for people to share your promotion, and make sure that you follow through with your promises. Ask contest winners to share photographs of themselves at the event and feature them in your promotional material. The possibilities are virtually endless.

To get your next event started and set up your online ticket management system with Ticketebo, click here. For questions or more information contact our friendly team today!

Event budgeting involves making a forecast of the expenditure and income that is likely to be generated over the course of an event, and adjusting these estimates in relation to actual costs. While it's important to prepare an accurate budget as early as possible, it's equally important to review and update this budget throughout the process. An event budget involves predicting the financial outcome of an event in order to improve event management practices and ascertain financial viability.

Why does it matter?

Regardless of the type of event you're involved with, having an accurate working budget is critical. Solid budgeting practices will allow you to reduce unnecessary expenses, enhance income streams, eliminate redundancies, and improve management practices. Without a budget, it's all too easy for costs to spiral out of control and profits to be left on the table.

In order to exercise complete control over your event, you need to make sound financial decisions every step along the way. A solid plan is necessary for anyone who wants to keep their eye on the bigger picture without getting lost in the fine print. A clever event budget is both organised and flexible, with the entire project set down from the outset and continual refinements made where necessary.

How do I create an event budget?

Preparing a budget involves identifying and costing all probable sources of income and expenditure. From venue hire and event marketing through to the food and the sound system, all possible expenses need to be listed, categorised, and tracked. From ticketing and sponsorship through to merchandising sales and participation fees, all possible sources of income also need to be identified.

While some form of predictive capacity is needed to create an event budget, this process is about experience and expertise more than simple guesswork. Excel and other spreadsheet programs can be helpful when creating a budget, with software tools allowing for numerous adjustments and refinements throughout the project life-cycle.

A number of templates can be used to create an event budget, with one robust method using the following iterative approach:

• Budget item

• Projected expense or income

• Actual expense or income

• Difference between projected and actual costs

• Details about discrepancies

• Repeat

More specialised event budgets will categorise individual items according to their class, monitor timelines, and track discrepancies between projected and actual costs. For example, all marketing expenses can be listed adjacent to one another, and all income sources related to ticketing can be managed in a similar fashion.

While a well-managed event budget can take a little time to set up, it will help to save you more time, money, and headaches than you could possibly imagine. This basic template is repeated in much more detail at the end of this guide.

Top Ten Money Saving Ideas for Your Event

1. Start early

Like most things in life, the early bird catches the worm. It's no use taking the time setting up an event budget if you've already overspent on key items - you need to get in first. An early-start, top-down approach is always best, as long as you remember to be flexible and make adjustments where needed. Borrowing templates and figures from past events can be a great way to establish a baseline, especially if you've managed similar events in the same event space.

While your first budget draft doesn't need to be rich on details, it should be architecturally intact and include room for all possible scenarios. By starting early, not only are you setting up good habits for the remainder of the process, you're also providing a sense of confidence to your clients, boss, or anyone else who's entrusted you with an event.

Key benefits:

• Getting an early start will allow you to lock in contractors and access more competitive quotes.


• Lots of businesses offer early bird discounts to people who make a booking months or years ahead of the event date.


• Starting your budget early will also allow you to get more quotes, make more detailed plans, and leverage online marketing and online event ticketing channels.

2. Get organised with templates

Even the very best event managers are likely to fail without a plan. Whether it's a rough notepad or a highly detailed Excel spreadsheet, templates allow you to turn abstract ideas into concrete structures. Access to the right template will help you to visualise your ideas, structure your plans, and improve your memory. Excel spreadsheets and similar software tools offer users far more flexibility than hard copy budgets, because they can adapt to your event over time as changes are made.

You can build your own event budget template from scratch in whichever format you prefer, with specialised events often needing to borrow ideas and structures from existing templates. For example, if the template you're using for a corporate event is almost perfect but has no entry for sponsorship income, you can easily add this feature from another template.

Helpful tools: Along with spreadsheets, you may want to access other digital tools such as dedicated online marketing programs, specialised accounting and budgeting software, event ticketing systems, and other event management resources.

3. Review and update often

The perfect event budget relies on structure and flexibility. While it's important to start early and construct a detailed plan from the outset, your budget should always be ready to adapt. It's simply not possible to know all of the costs or income details from the outset.

A clever budget needs to be flexible so that it can be refined as soon as new information becomes available. That way, each new decision you make is based on accurate and up-to-date data. Whether it's an altered quote, a different delivery date, or updated ticketing changes, changes in the real world need to be reflected in your budget as soon as possible.

Budgeting for an event is all about forecasting, predicting, sometimes even taking educated guesses. This is where budget reviews and exercises come into play. By reviewing and analysing your existing budget throughout the process, you can identify any leaks or pressure points well before the event starts.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are your estimates conservative enough?


• Have you accounted for the worse case scenario?


• Are your margins realistic?


• Is your financial plan robust enough to cope with major changes?

4. Be conservative

From selecting venues and decor through to menus and music, planning an event requires creativity. In order to meet your creative goals, however, you need to be conservative when it comes to your budget.

Instead of trying to make a huge profit, you should always start by trying to avoid making a loss. Once the basics are covered, you can start trimming expenses and adding revenue streams to transform a neutral event into a profitable one.

If things start to go awry due to unforeseen circumstances, it's often better to change the scale or style of the event rather than incur a huge financial loss. Every single expenditure estimate that you make should be conservative. For example, if you've got two quotes for catering, adjust your costing’s for the more expensive quote even if you don't plan on using it. That way you're covered if the first option falls through at the last minute.

Even when you're sure about a supplier, it often makes sense to add a few hundred or thousand dollars to the estimate depending on the size of the event. It's especially important to be conservative about potential incomes such as sponsorship, online event ticketing, participant fees, or fund-raising achievements. Incomes are harder to pin down than expenses, so try not to rely on money you may not be getting when crunch day comes around.

5. Get multiple quotes

When you're organising an event, it's always important to keep your options open. Research is a valuable negotiation tool, and in this day and age of the Internet, it's easier than ever before. Regardless of the service you're considering, you should always get a minimum of three quotes before signing a contract or parting with your money. It's amazing how widely quotes can differ for the same service, so always remember to compare as many options as possible.

While price is the most significant factor in many cases, it's also important to read the fine print and compare quotes based on the level of services available. The cheapest option is not always the best, so take your time, and find the perfect provider for your event. Even if you've got an existing relationship with a vendor, or you've made the decision to use a particular provider, you may be able to use alternative quotes as a bargaining tool for price matching purposes. Having multiple quotes can prove useful throughout the negotiation process, so always keep an accurate record for future reference.

There's more to negotiation than simply comparing quotes; however, you should also be able to bargain with vendors to help them drop prices or throw in additional services. You may be surprised how many added options businesses are ready to include in order to secure a big deal, something you'll never know if you don't ask.

Typical event expenditure includes:

• venue hire


• decor


• travel and accommodation


• insurance


• catering


• gifting and activity expenses


• postage and telephone


• printing and stationery


• equipment hire


• transportation


• marketing


• event ticketing systems


• staff wages

6. Plan for the unexpected

No, it's not always OK on the night. Sometimes, everything goes wrong at the same time and you're left trying to explain the hopeless situation you're in to guests or clients. When organising an event, it's always important to plan for the unexpected. One way to do this is by having a second or third option for every item in your budget. Who do you call when the sound system cancels at the last minute? What do you do when the venue becomes unavailable a week before the event?

7. Set up a contingency reserve fund

While planning for the unexpected is not all about money, setting up a contingency reserve fund is one of the best security blankets you can have. Depending on the size and complexity of the event, you may want to allocate as much as 25 percent of the entire event budget to this emergency pool. Having some leeway with your budget should give you enough breathing room to absorb unexpected costs and get on with the show.

This is especially important if your event is outdoors, where unexpected weather conditions can add on costs and create additional headaches at the last minute. While having a contingency fund for the entire project is often the most conservative choice, you may wish to create an alternative contingency section in your budget for each individual event item.

8. Diversify your income

Running a financially successful event is not just about reducing expenses; it's also about generating revenue. While making money is not the end goal of every event, income streams are an important way to offset expenditure and ensure the validity of your event going forward. Whether it's sponsorship, government grants, or merchandising, it's always important to diversify your income streams and find additional sources of revenue away from ticketing.

Don't limit your options by only offering one type of sponsorship, create tiered and personalised sponsorship packages that really engage businesses. Don't rely on print marketing alone to generate online ticket sales, use online marketing channels to target your audience. Another great way to diversify your income is to piggyback on other events. Maybe you can share a sponsorship deal? Perhaps you can purchase merchandising material in bulk to save costs?

Possible income sources include:

• government grants

• commercial sponsorship

• merchandising sales

• participant fees

• raffles

• spectator fees

• event ticketing systems

Expert advice: Online ticketing is a great way to save time and increase your revenue, allowing you to invest your resources in other areas.

9. Use online marketing 

Whether you're organising a slick corporate gathering or a family friendly charity event, the Internet has a huge role to play in modern event budgeting. From online marketing and promotions through to sales and online ticketing, the Internet allows you to target specific audience groups better than ever before.

Online marketing can be split into organic and commercial campaigns, with organic marketing using search engine optimisation (SEO) to drive traffic to a website, and commercial marketing using targeted ads on Google and other platforms. Depending on the size of your event and the time you have available, both options can be incredibly effective. Online marketing is a great way to create a buzz around your event, appeal to sponsors, and drive ticket sales through event ticketing systems.

10. Use online event ticketing

Online event ticketing platforms are a great way to streamline the marketing, sales, and ticketing process for any event. Gone are the days when you had to mail out individual paper tickets to every attendee. Not only was this time-consuming and expensive, it also had a greater capacity for error.

Online ticketing platforms allow this entire process to be automated, with marketing channels built-in, sales tracked, and tickets delivered electronically. This can save you time and money, with no need to continually check ticket sales manually and no need to cross-check tickets at the door.

Expert advice: When choosing an online event ticketing platform, it's important to pay attention to marketing integration, ticket options and tiers, list building strategies, and hard copy delivery.

Build Your Own Basic Event Budget Template

Creating your own event budget template is about solid organisation and ongoing refinement. By completing the following steps, you can ensure an accurate event budget that continually adjusts itself to meet your needs and expectations. Clever budgeting should always be approached in an iterative fashion, with the entire sequence repeated time and time again until the event takes place. It's not enough to simply list expenses and revenues; you need to analyse the differences between projected and actual costs and make adjustments where needed.

Budgeting is not an activity that is completed in a few hours. A good budget may be worked on for several weeks, if not months, adding and changing figures as new information comes to light. For this reason, budgeting is often referred to as an iterative process.

Step 1: List individual items

All good budgets start by listing and categorising individual budget items. The list will vary in size depending on the scale of your event, and vary dynamically depending on how close you are to event day. While you will know some of the details from the outset, items may need to be added or removed as the situation changes. Unless your event is very small, it normally makes sense to categorise each item in a logical manner, with the most basic split being that between expenses and income.

Step 2: Calculate projected expenses

Once you have listed each budget item, you need to separate the expenses and calculate the projected costs for each one. While there may be some guesswork involved here, you can improve the accuracy of your budget by using current quotes and past estimates from previous events. It's important to get multiple quotes for each item where applicable in order to come up with an accurate forecast. Once the actual costs are known and have been analysed, this step can be refined to the point where no guesswork is involved at all.

Step 3: Calculate projected incomes

Much like the last step, this stage of the process involves forecasting incomes based on past experience and expertise. Once again, this step can be improved by using income estimates from previous events. While you can never rely on event income with 100 percent accuracy, approaching this list in an iterative fashion will allow you to make increasingly accurate projections, as you get closer to event day.

Step 4: Set up a contingency reserve fund

Having an accessible reserve fund is always a good idea. Depending on the scale and type of event, you may wish to make a contingency reserve fund that covers the entire event or set up individual reserve funds for specific items that are more likely to go wrong. Depending on how exposed you are, this fund can be anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of the overall event budget.

Step 5: Compare projected expenses with incomes

Quite simply, this step involves adding up all of the projected revenues from your event and subtracting all of the projected expenses, including a conservative contingency reserve fund. If your event is found to be running at a loss, it's time to go back to the drawing board. If your event is revenue neutral, great, try to trim some fat and turn a good event into a great one. If your event is profitable, ask why. Have you missed anything? Can you make it even better?

Step 6: Calculate actual expenses

As you get closer to event day, invoices will start to come in and you will have a very real idea of where you're at. Make sure to be honest with yourself and keep accurate records that quantify the actual costs involved with each item on your budget list.

Step 7: Calculate actual incomes

If everything is going well, revenue streams will start to solidify, as you get closer to the event. While some incomes such as sponsorship and government grants should be well and truly locked down by now, other expenses such as merchandising and ticket sales may still be up in the air.

Step 8: Compare actual expenses with incomes

Quite simply, this step involves adding up all of the actual revenues from your event and subtracting all of the actual expenses. Similar to Step 5, only this time you are using actual costings instead of financial projections.

Step 9: Compare projected estimates with actual costs

By this time, you really can't hide from the truth. Because your original budget was based on projections alone, you won't know the real financial state of your event until you have compared your projections with the actual costs incurred. The differences between your forecasts and reality will tell you whether or not you need to make significant changes. 

Step 10: List details and discrepancies and repeat

Once you have accurate working figures, you can list details about items that are nor performing as expected, analyse discrepancies, and repeat the entire process to see where you can make refinements. If you're way off the mark, you may need to alter or remove budget items, find cheaper quotes, or generate additional sources of income. This is the key to clever budgeting, with a tight feedback loop allowing you to identify and solve problems before they get out of control.

Even when your budget is on point, it's important to have an experienced team to help you optimise ticket sales. Event ticketing systems can help you to improve revenue and reduce expenses by selling more tickets and optimising sales channels. For more advice on ticketing strategies, speak to the team at Ticketebo.