We are planning a renovation to our Box Office space in 2019 and in advance of this project I'd like to gather some feedback from others who have gone through this process. What layout changes did you make to the Box Office space, is your Box Office an enclosed area or open to the lobby or other style? Were there also functional changes to the Box Office? What would you have done differently? What worked, and what didn't for your space? What was the impact on staff and on patrons? And finally would you share photos of your current Box Office space? Photos can be sent directly to me by email. Thanks for any and all feedback. Barb
I haven't gone through a box office renovation, but I have worked in a new facility. I started about 4 months after a new box office was built and opened (this was a long while ago at this point). My biggest recommendation would be to NOT go cheap on materials or equipment - I know, that's hard not to do, but seriously don't go cheap if at all possible.
Less than 8 months after the new facility had been built, our safe had broken because the decision makers had the bright idea to save money and buy a regular home fire safe - problem was that those are not meant to be opened very often. Being opened at least twice a day wore that thing out suuuuuuuper fast.
Also within a year of the facility being built, we noticed that drawers (built using particle board) were coming loose from their tracking. I left the organization for a few years about 16 months after the box office was built, and came back around 2 1/2 years later. In that 2 1/2 years, handled had fallen off of drawers and cabinets. By the time I left, I think there were more drawers/cabinets without handles than with. The way that box office was designed left everything visible to patrons, so they could see the broken cabinets and drawers.
Another recommendation I would have is to make sure you think about a grown person when deciding the placement of workstations. Think of the space that you would need to successfully do your position without feeling like you've got no room. I've worked in large spaces and small spaces and the small spaces are very difficult.
Also, make sure that all computers and ticket printers are in places that are easily accessible for maintenance, especially if you have a ticket printer that is vertical/under the counter.
I'd send you photos of the spaces I'm talking about, but I'm no longer at that organization.
Good luck with the renovation!
-C
I also haven't gone through a renovation myself, but I've worked in several different box office setups. Here's a few things I'd recommend keeping in mind:
- What kind of work does your box office do? Do you ever have time where your staff is in, working, but not physically open to the public? If so, make sure you have a place for them to do that work, or a way to actually CLOSE your box office. I've had two box offices that sit open to a lobby, and we cannot close the box office to prepare will call, etc. Also, we can't easily take reps off the line to just handle calls, if we want to. And there are plenty of circumstances where we want to. I also had a box office where we had a glass barrier, and blinds we could close. Made all the difference in so many circumstances. (I wish I had that now!)
- Will you need a "call center" or secondary space that is a work space, in addition to the public facing box office?
- Try if possible to build in room for growth as an organization - maybe additional stations in each work area more than you need now.
- This might be considered small, but think of your signage in a long term perspective. Try to get more "evergreen" signage, if you switch signs in and out. If you have it made from a company, make sure it's a large company that'll be around a while. We have signage from decades ago that needs updating, but the company that made it is long gone, and it's very specific looking to our venue. It makes finding a vendor to update the signage a bit more tricky.
- Consider ergonomics for your staff, and make sure you have work spaces that can accommodate employees with disabilities.
- I agree with Catie on getting quality supplies - including chairs, computer, safe, shredder, printer, etc. Some of these you may already have and you're just going to move, but if you're buying new, these are investments in most box offices and well worth it. A lot of time they get much more use in a box office that's open 12-14 hours a day, compared to just a regular office.
- Consider where Bocas/ticket printers will go for easiest access. Will each station get a ticket printer, or will multiple stations share? Do reps have to get up to get tickets? That adds to the length of the transaction. If you have sharing of Bocas, expect that you will have to replace them more often. Again, quality reigns supreme in this area also.
I guess if I were redoing our box office, these are some areas I'd be paying attention to.
Hope that's helpful!