Does anyone wait to print will call until nearer to the show, and just do a big batch print? Early pickup printed only on an as-needed basis... etc.
We print orders for will call at the time they're purchased, and file them alphabetically. But I'm curious about the pros and cons of other set ups. Alphabetizing the batch before printing seems to be a big potential pro for the mass-batch approach. What's been your experience?
Each of our theaters is a little different. The Hayes (our 589-seat Broadway space) batches most individual orders as they are placed. Then they perform a batch print of everything left (i.e. - phone orders, online orders) the morning of a performance. The Kiser (our 296-seat Off-Broadway space) batches everything the morning of a performance. Because the Hayes is higher volume and more single ticket (non-subscriber sales), it's helpful for them to have as much pre-printed as possible. The Kiser, being smaller and filled proportionally with more of our subscribers (by virtue of available seating), is fine with batching all at once. Either way, both theaters definitely alphabetize the batch prints when they happen.
We batch print HABO three days prior to a performance. We used to print as they come in, but it just got too cumbersome when we'd have three events going on in all three of our venues.
We print will call about 2 hours before the show using Batch Ticket Printing. We seat ~260, so this is pretty easily achievable to package and sort. We have one Box Office Supervisor who handles printing, phone calls, and purchases and one Box Office Associate who packages will call, distributes tickets, and then scans the ticket stubs when they come back.
We do not mail tickets and do not do any digital printing, so all tickets are at Will Call. Occasionally someone will buy tickets in person and want them then, or will come in the day before a show and want their tickets then, which we can accommodate, and we just make sure to not reprint any tickets during the batch ticket printing.