Hi,
I was wondering whether anyone has allowed customers to purchase access performance (ie signed, captioned, audio described) ticket allocations online? We currently identify these seats to the Box Office using a hold code. I have been playing with allocations and promo codes - however because of the holds the seats are not available online.
The only way I can see this working would be to remove the seats from the Box Office allocation, remove the holds and then create a 'access performance' Mode of Sale so that the Box Office team are able to sell them as well.This additional effort seems to cancel out the benefit of having them available online
Is there another more intuitive way?
Thanks and regards,
Mardi.
If the hold code is only used for this purpose, you could set it so the web can break that hold code and leave them held but still have them available online.
Funny you should ask that... we're doing that here at Center Theatre Group and will be presenting this at TLCC2011.
The initial set up is pretty much as you theorize. We're using allocations mapped to Modes of Sale. The difference for us is (and only because I haven't had time to investigate this further) we're not using hold codes on top of thos allocations anymore. We've removed the hold codes so the only way to access those seats are through a web promo (that unlocks the special MOS) or a special Box Office/Phone Room access MOS specifically for the ASL, Audio and Open Cap that are mapped to the allocations.
In order to avoid a Box Office union contract "rule" we opted to have these special MOS's so that our staff won't have to choose specific locations for a specific audience. The MOS only allows seating for locations with the special Allocation.
There's a bit of re-training that has to be done for our staff, but we find that re-training worth it.
Thanks Amanda and Skypp,
I had tried your suggestion Amanda - however even with a breakable hold for the web, the seats are not 'available' for purchase. I will track back to make sure that there isn't something else causing this.
Skypp - it sounds as though it is working well for you - i just need to look at the cost/benefit analysis for our organisation to make sure it is the right path for our organisation. It will be interesting to see your TLCC2001 presentation though.
Thanks for your comments!