Hi all!
As Universities with free/discounted student tickets, I'm sure we have all faced the problem of a high rate of no-shows. How does your University handle this? Do you let students know their ticket is forfeit up to x amount of minutes before the performance? Do you encourage students to return tickets if they will not be using them? In addition, do you have a standby line at performances, and how do you handle it? I appreciate everyone's input on this as we are currently trying to fine tune our (fairly non-existent) policies and procedures around these questions!
Best,
Olivia A.
Hi Olivia,
We have done a few different methods with free student tickets. Our main distribution method is at the door only night of show, beginning 1hr prior to show time. We hold back a limited number of tickets so that we are sure to have available seating at that time.
Another method we have used for free events is to have the policy that anyone with a ticket must be seated 15min prior to start time. At that time, any available seat will be re-distributed to someone who was not able to claim a ticket in advance. We make sure to put the language on the tickets, order page, and confirmation email.
The free ticket thing is definitely a hard issue to work with for those not on the receiving end!