At the Wex, we are always trying to find new and better ways to gather event information from our programmers. I'm looking for ideas from the Columbus community. How do you manage collecting the ticketing, logistics, and marketing data you need in one place?
Here are some of the communication methods we've tried:
Here are the challenges we face:
What methods has your organization tried? I'm interested to hear what has and hasn't worked for others.
Hi Joanna -
This is something that we are grappling with as well. We have tried a few different reporting techniques. We have tried scheduling automated report in Tessitura, but, like you said, each department's needs are different. This works for ticketing just so that everyone is aware of our weekly attendance, but it gets dicey when we are trying to schedule multiple reports for different areas (membership, events, etc.). We have also used Word for this -- basically using a writable, standard form to simplify data from each department and sending it out to all staff as a weekly snapshot. This form included a weekly breakdown for the following: tickets sold/price types, memberships sold, donations, event attendance, number f guided tours and guests in attendance on those tours, group sales for the week, etc. This worked okay for us, but we ended up stopping since we did want something more automated -- it's difficult when one person is filling out that information and has to solicit feedback from multiple departments.
It's nice that this is a discussion topic, because it's something that we are once again exploring right now. What method have you found works best for your organization so far? It's definitely a struggle to report on all of this info at the same time, but hopefully with some collaboration we can all find a solution that works!
Hi Ashley! Thanks for your response. I should have been a little more clear in my question. We are currently trying to find an effective way to gather program information *before* the event happens. We collect a broad range of information (as I'm sure all organizations do!). For example, we collect website copy, ticketing information, and event logistic information. We are trying to reduce emails and instead share the information in a format that works for everyone. It's a challenge.
As for reporting, I agree this would make a good conversation topic at a meeting. At the Wex, we receive an automated report that is emailed daily. It includes sales information like holds,number of comps, number of tickets sold, and revenue. I believe this was a custom report that one of the Wex staff members built. I'll make a note to get more information about that and share at a future meeting.
Makes sense - sorry I misinterpreted! That is challenging for sure -- we use a few different forms for what you're describing. We have a Ticket Request Form and Event Request Form. Based on the event request form, the events team then fills out an event script based on the information provided; the event script goes out to all staff. From there, the requesting department is responsible for ensuring that they submit the proper forms to everyone for items needed if the event is an internal event. For external events, the process is similar with contracts, scripts, etc. The way we streamline our communication here is by sing Monday.com. We have a board that everyone can look at and some can edit based on items completed or outstanding. Hope this is semi-helpful!