Timed Ticketing on Re-Opening?
I've done a few searches and not found any discussion about this yet, but if it's happening already I apologize for the repeat question. (And could you link me to the discussion?)
We're looking at timed ticketing for when we re-open and what that entails. For our front desk staff, as well as for our visitors. We're planning to do all online ticketing, or as much as possible, and have a limited number of admissions available for each time period. Is anyone else looking at something like this? I'd love to hear other ideas and implementations - how are we all going to do this as we re-open? Thanks!
Leila
Comments
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Here's one conversation:
https://community.blackbaud.com/forums/viewtopic/400/50277?post_id=196276#p196276
When creating your scheduled program you have the option of "Requiring Registration" or not.
Required Registration:- When buying their tickets online, the customer will be asked to provide the name of every ticket holder.
- Upon arrival, your staff can ask the customer for their name(s) and mark them as attended.
- You will only have the name of the purchaser.
- There isn't a roster to mark as attended.
- You can email tickets that can be scanned when they arrive.
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We are doing timed ticketing and we’ve gone
with option #2. We are not scanning e-tickets though. Our
confirmation email says to ignore the e-ticket generated. We are
just marking the roster with a paper and pencil method as people
arrive. We chose not to go with #1 because we just wanted to keep
it simple, fewer names to check in (people check in at our location
while sitting in an idling car). Seems to be working for us!
Laura Schmid | Membership Manager
4949 Tealtown
Road | Milford, OH 45150
(513) 831-1711, ext.
416 | Membership Office (513) 965-4893
www.CincyNature.org2 -
Thanks Laura, that's good to know it's working for you. We are starting with members-only for a week or two. Maybe we'll change to not requiring registration when we start selling to the public.0
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Thank you both for your responses! I really appreciate the feedback. We're trying to figure out which method would work best for our visitors and our staff.0
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We are open to members only at this time too.
It’s all on the honor system. We aren’t asking anyone to use the
member portal. We’ve never been fans of the portal system to begin
with (we have it shut off) plus we didn’t want to make our members
jump through any more hopes than they already are with registering
to visit. I do have a query I’m running on an hourly basis. It
outputs membership level and exp date. If anyone registers and
isn’t a member or membership has expired, we pick up the phone and
call them and explain that visitation is for active members only at
this time. Most go ahead and join/renew over the phone.
Laura Schmid | Membership Manager
4949 Tealtown
Road | Milford, OH 45150
(513) 831-1711, ext.
416 | Membership Office (513) 965-4893
www.CincyNature.org2 -
Great way to capture membership sales, Laura!0
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We started with timed ticketing for our members for one of our campuses. We will be opening it up to non members very soon. The ticket just need to be shown and name provided to our staff as guest drive in past our gate house. Our staff checks off their names/ticket number. Our visitor center is not open, but the grounds and restrooms are open.1
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Hi Leila,
Just wanted to share that this Preparing for COVID-19 with Blackbaud Altru and/or the Blackbaud Altru in the Post COVID-19 Landscape sessions might be helpful to you.1 -
Hi everyone,
Thank you all for sharing what your institutions have been doing/are planning to do. My institution has two sites both with different needs. We currently do timed ticketing for one (timed tours) but the other building is all self guided. We are looking into doing timed ticketing or at the least doing online sales (which we have never done before). Has anyone done ticket scanning through a mobile phone? I.E. using an Iphone/Android to scan a visitors ticket-- or have you only seen with a regular barcode scanner and computer combo? I know Altru has the mobile check-in function, but I am not sure if that works for daily admission tickets as well. I would love to hear all ideas as we are currently figuring out how to proceed in this Post-COVID world. I will also send along anything I learn while researching this and testing out.
Thank you,
Libby1 -
Hi Libby,
The mobile check-in only works for special events -- not programs (including admission).
We have used iPads w/ bluetooth scanners for mobile check-in, but the scanners were finicky (hard to say if it was the night time light or the amount of people checking in at once for us). If you can, I'd either do a manual scan (just enter the ticket number) or use wired scanners with a computer.1 -
You actually can use the mobile check-in "app" for programs, but they have to be pre-registered (not scheduled or daily admission). We have never issued e-tickets, so when we used the mobile check-in, we had iPads and looked people up by name to check them in. You have to do it one at a time, so if a group comes in together, you have to go back and forth between the list and the check-in screen to get them all.
I'm interested in hearing how different organizations are deciding whether to use pre-registered programs or just scheduled programs for their timed ticketing. The scheduled program seems easier for the patron (less to fill out on the web form) but possibly problematic if you need to do contact tracing for every individual who comes in since only the ticket buyer has to fill out contact information. If anyone ends up going the route of using pre-registered programs, I think using the mobile check-in app would be a good way to go in order to track how many people have actually arrived during each timeslot. I believe you can also scan pre-registered tickets to add a scan date/time so it's just a matter of where you're wanting to track their "check-in" data3 -
Thank you all for your suggestions! We will most likely use the scheduled programming option for our site that has the timed tours. For our other site, we are leaning towards daily admission sales and selling tickets for specific days only, with a capped capacity. We will not allow tickets to be used for a later date. For both of our sites we are looking to have tickets on-sale online the week of, but not too far in advance. We want to make sure that even if we get walk in's we will be able to accommodate them to the best of our ability.
I wish I had asked this in the web forms webinar I took weeks ago, but if we sell daily admission tickets online, is there always an option for the calendar view? I saw that on some of the examples others provided, but I haven't been able to figure that out. When we sold timed tickets for a program in December, we had individual links for each day and time, which was a lot. I think having a calendar where a visitor can choose a day and then a drop down to choose the time would be much more efficient-- I am just unclear if Altru has that capacity or if it is an overlaying website design/code. Thank you!0 -
I believe there are a couple different ways to go about pointing people to your ticket web forms. If they are all in the same program and each program event has the same name, then the calendar and time options should allow you to search for other program events within that program to choose a different timeslot. You can also use the program-level URL (instead of one that points to just a specific program event). Again, depending on how the program events are named, the URL will either take you to the next available timeslot or else give a list of upcoming program events in that program
Hope that makes sense. If you have a general sense of how you will set it up, I'd just do some testing - make a week's worth of program events and then see how using the various URLs will or will not allow navigation between them0 -
J Kiku Langford McDonald:
You actually can use the mobile check-in "app" for programs, but they have to be pre-registered (not scheduled or daily admission). We have never issued e-tickets, so when we used the mobile check-in, we had iPads and looked people up by name to check them in. You have to do it one at a time, so if a group comes in together, you have to go back and forth between the list and the check-in screen to get them all.
I'm not sure what you mean by, "You have to do it one at a time, so if a group comes in together, you have to go back and forth between the list and the check-in screen to get them all."
We are requiring registration and we are using Altru/Sales/Preregisted program check-in.
On the iPad you can't select multiple names like you can on a computer. So you have to mark them as attended one at a time. But you don't have to go back and forth...?
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Libby Clark:
I wish I had asked this in the web forms webinar I took weeks ago, but if we sell daily admission tickets online, is there always an option for the calendar view? I saw that on some of the examples others provided, but I haven't been able to figure that out. When we sold timed tickets for a program in December, we had individual links for each day and time, which was a lot. I think having a calendar where a visitor can choose a day and then a drop down to choose the time would be much more efficient-- I am just unclear if Altru has that capacity or if it is an overlaying website design/code. Thank you!
If you go to Web/Manage Event Registration Forms you will see a "Parent" for each program with all the dates underneath. Click the double green arrows to the left of the "Parent" program and it will show you the URL for all the dates.
When you go to this URL you will have the option to select "Other dates..." or "Other times:"
1 -
Yes! So, in Mobile check-in there is a list of registrants. When you click on one of them, you got to a new page where you can press the "mark attended" button which then takes you back to the top of the main list. This is not a problem if you only have like 20 or fewer people to check in (even several dozen). But when you have hundreds of people, the list gets very long and it's frustrating to have to locate everyone in a group by scrolling through the list for every single person. I meant you have to go back and forth between the list of registrants and the page where you actually press the "mark attended" button.0
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Weird. Is it possible we are seeing different things? What I'm seeing allows you to click the name, then click Mark as Attended. It doesn't take you to a new page.
This is what ours looks like:
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YES!!! We are totally talking about two different things. Thanks for clarifying and for the screenshot. I did not know about that check-in method. I'm talking about the mobile check-in interface that you get to from the main Altru landing page:
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That makes sense! I didn't know about what you were talking about, lol!1
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So I just tried the "Mobile Check In" out. I think the way I knew about is much easier on the iPad. (Go to Start Altru/Sales/Preregistered program check-in.)
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Dianne Crosby:
Libby Clark:
I wish I had asked this in the web forms webinar I took weeks ago, but if we sell daily admission tickets online, is there always an option for the calendar view? I saw that on some of the examples others provided, but I haven't been able to figure that out. When we sold timed tickets for a program in December, we had individual links for each day and time, which was a lot. I think having a calendar where a visitor can choose a day and then a drop down to choose the time would be much more efficient-- I am just unclear if Altru has that capacity or if it is an overlaying website design/code. Thank you!
If you go to Web/Manage Event Registration Forms you will see a "Parent" for each program with all the dates underneath. Click the double green arrows to the left of the "Parent" program and it will show you the URL for all the dates.
When you go to this URL you will have the option to select "Other dates..." or "Other times:"I am having an issue using that parent link in that instead of defaulting to the next available day (eg, tomorrow right now), it shows the original date of the event and people HAVE to click the Other dates link to get to the calendar. Is there a secret I'm missing to get that link to auto-default to the next available date for tickets?
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Kaelynn Bedsworth:
Dianne Crosby:
Libby Clark:
I wish I had asked this in the web forms webinar I took weeks ago, but if we sell daily admission tickets online, is there always an option for the calendar view? I saw that on some of the examples others provided, but I haven't been able to figure that out. When we sold timed tickets for a program in December, we had individual links for each day and time, which was a lot. I think having a calendar where a visitor can choose a day and then a drop down to choose the time would be much more efficient-- I am just unclear if Altru has that capacity or if it is an overlaying website design/code. Thank you!
If you go to Web/Manage Event Registration Forms you will see a "Parent" for each program with all the dates underneath. Click the double green arrows to the left of the "Parent" program and it will show you the URL for all the dates.
When you go to this URL you will have the option to select "Other dates..." or "Other times:"I am having an issue using that parent link in that instead of defaulting to the next available day (eg, tomorrow right now), it shows the original date of the event and people HAVE to click the Other dates link to get to the calendar. Is there a secret I'm missing to get that link to auto-default to the next available date for tickets?Hi Kaelynn,
I'm confused because the parent link doesn't have a date associated with it. Here are screenshots of what I see:
Is that what you are seeing?
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We are doing timed ticket sales for our re-opening as well. We would like to add a request for an additional donation to the web form but it appears this isn't possible? Is anyone else trying to configure this?0
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We just reopened last Wednesday and have had almost zero problems. We are only open to members who must make timed advance reservations. So we use the member online registration requirement with Altru then they sign in to make the hourly reservation.
The only problem has been people who arrive (we check admissions at a booth before they park) and haven't "activated/printed" their ticket and only have the order number. Since we've restricted the number of tickets to membership level, which can be easily seen, we let them through. Then we "activate/print" the tickets to obtain the barcode number and then type it in.
However, this is the only hiccup in the process, Many arrive with their etickets printed or on their phone and we simply scan. It is an amazing process. So those who only have order numbers are those who don't follow directions to click the eticket link.
The key is keeping the number very low, we only permit 35 visitors per hour. We will eventually increase and begin admitting general admissions but keeping with advance tickets only.
All has gone extremely well. Our admissions booth staff love it.
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Andrea Chapman:
We are doing timed ticket sales for our re-opening as well. We would like to add a request for an additional donation to the web form but it appears this isn't possible? Is anyone else trying to configure this?Hi Andrea-- I have been looking into this too and have thought the same thing. I think just figured it! To be able to use a discount/promotion code online, you have to build it that way. So when you build a discount, when you get to the drop down for "Selected Use" you have three options-- Automatically, Manually, or With Code. The obvious downside to this is you cannot choose more than one. So if there is a discount you want to use online (but may also already use in daily sales), you will need to create a new one for Online specifically. You can edit existing ones to say to Use with Code, but that would most likely create some issue in the front of house. Hope this helps!
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Thank you, Libby, for responding! My question was about how to collect an additional donation from timed ticket registrants on the registration page. This donation would then be added to their cart and they would pay for their tickets and the additional gift at check out. You were referring to discounts rather than donations, correct?0
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Andrea Chapman:
Thank you, Libby, for responding! My question was about how to collect an additional donation from timed ticket registrants on the registration page. This donation would then be added to their cart and they would pay for their tickets and the additional gift at check out. You were referring to discounts rather than donations, correct?AH gotcha! I must have read your reply quickly and thought you said discounts on web forms... not Donations. I haven't looked too much into the donation option on the web forms. I know you can add a donation to the website, but I am not sure if they show up on the same page since you have to build the forms differently.
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Right! That was our conclusion - that it isn't possible to add a donation to your registration. This is definitely a disappointment. Our workaround was to add a link to our donate page on our website in the email confirmation for registrants. Not ideal. Thanks again!0
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We added the donate option. Followed all the instructions in the webforms user manual. Works great. Only raised $350 so far after 1 week but it's 350 more than last week.0
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