Hi everyone!
I'm looking for anyone who has creative ideas on how to fill empty seats at the last minute. Full disclosure: I'm looking for moderators/gurus for a TLCC2012 discussion entitled Creative Pricing to Fill the House: Empty Seats? Not Us!
I've scoured the forums and I've found several people post the question, but not a lot of answers ... yet! So, all you creative marketing people, it's time to speak up! Who's done what in the name of getting butts in seats?
We do something called Friday Fiver. On the day of the show, if there are any seats left, they can be sold for a fiver. Tickets cannot be reserved at this price, they have to be bought on the day of the show.
Center Theatre Group has numerous ways of making sure our houses are filled properly so that we don't fall below a certain percentage of the house in attendance. Everything from Goldstar to "front loading" the first few performances with comps (to help spread the word for actual ticket sales).
I'd be happy to discuss this off line and I'll make sure I attend this session (but I'm shy, so don't ask me to moderate!).
Sadly, again not all posts made it to the forums; recording this post from Mallory Pierce that came through email:
"At the end of last season we ID’ed a number of performances that we knew were not going to sell. We promoted a $10 ticket offer with a can of food. We got some media coverage, moved a bunch of tickets and collected much needed food for the food bank.
Mallory D. PierceDirector of Marketing and CommunicationsOregon Shakespeare Festival15 S. Pioneer StreetAshland, OR 97520www.osfashland.org(541) 482-2111, ext. 246