TicketManager is a shared service enterprise SaaS (software as a service), which is invested in, by a long-term contract and monthly fees to encourage the best use of company tickets and assets. The monthly fee is a blended rate of all the work and services that go into a successful program during busier times with high user usage and less busy times where administrators are highly active.
Once through the implementation process with TicketManager, each company begins to plan and prepare for their upcoming events. The plan and prepare process begins, on average, three to six months prior to the event or sports season itself.
The planning and preparation stage include the loading of inventory, planning for who will have access when, and setting up approval and denial workflows. Planning and preparation is similar in timeline whether it is a summer baseball game or a major hosted event with thousands of guests checking in and usually takes months to allow for proper requesting and approving of guests.
As a fact: the average request in TicketManager occurs 31 days prior to the event and needs to be available for request much further in advance with a large percentage happening over 90 days prior. Once seasons and events are announced, customers begin to make plans and start looking or asking for tickets.
As an example: The NFL releases their schedule in the middle of April. In 2019, it was April 17th. The first pre-season game kicked-off August 1st. Companies and leagues use that 106-day period to prepare, plan, take requests, and properly use inventory and assets for business purposes before they “expire” at kickoff. Similarly, MLB released their 2018 schedule on September 12th and opening day was 199 days later on March 29th.
The plan and prepare season is vital to any companies success with live events.
Once the season starts, it is time to get the most out of company tickets and live events. Tickets are being shipped, guests are checking into events, and TicketManager is flexing its operational muscle at scale as events happen seamlessly while gathering every important data point. Who is coming? Who didn’t? Who cancelled? What tickets did we donate? What tickets did we sell? Is everyone getting in efficiently? Are these the guests we want?
Activation season is the most visible aspect of TicketManager with the most users, but it is actually one of the least service heavy. That visibility is why we often hear “we only want to pay when an event is ‘in season’” however, activation season cannot be successful without Plan and Prepare, Post-Event, and Reconciliation and are often overvalued in the eyes of a customer due to the sheer volume of users during events. Activation season can be a nightmare if not planned and prepared for – and that’s exactly what we do together.
Once an event wraps up, the focus turns to one of the most imperative seasons: post-event season. Immediately following an event or a professional season, our teams work together to make certain we have captured all the necessary and vital information we need to justify our events and their investments.
Our teams work through any information which looks like an outlier to understand where we can continue to improve process. We look at the workflow we planned and prepared for and, while fresh, make notes and adjustments we can implement during the next Plan and Prepare season. The Post Event season is where we start to dig into metrics to understand what was successful and what wasn’t, work with vendors to right size inventory, and plans for the next time the event comes around.
Usually taking place from 30 days until 90 days after the completion of the event/season. Reconciliation is where our teams work together to fill all the gaps, reconcile all inventory/payments, and put together plans to reconcile and right size agreements with teams and vendors. Reconciliation season is where we use the data we planned and prepared to gather, activated to get, and followed up post event to assure value to make decisions about live event investment in the future.
Every year, and often throughout the year without warning, there is a time where we are called on to report on our live event activations. At the conclusion of a company’s fiscal year, reporting is due for internal finance teams and controllers. Every year there are audits, both internal and external, as well as financial statements reported which include our efforts together in live events. TicketManager is heavily leveraged during this season even when no events are occurring. Throughout the year, our TicketManager team upkeeps reports and analytics in the event of an unannounced audit, government inquiry or tax situation. These things happen daily to major companies making Reporting Season a year-round event.
When all is said and done, we roll right back into Plan and Prepare season and work through the process together.
Tickets, live events, and hospitality are a vital part of business. They are also year-round, even when the events are not. As such, it is imperative that we have the appropriate team and tech in place throughout the year to support customers and is why our pricing reflects a year-round monthly blended fee and not a throttling fee which can be confusing, costly and time consuming.
