Blue Heron Productions: Concerts in Support of Acoustic Music

“The tickets always show up promptly and add a touch of professionalism to the event. For most people maybe just a detail, but for me indicates a little added effort.”

~ David Reynolds, Blue Heron Productions

On September 16, The Crooked Still performed at the Hotel Colorado. The team behind this event was Blue Heron Productions, Inc. “a small company dedicated to the promotion of bluegrass, folk and other forms of acoustic music. Intimate concerts with outstanding artists,” Dave Reynolds explained to me. “This is not main stream music you hear much on TV or radio, and I have always felt it is underserved in the media and especially in the concert format. The Company really is just me. My wife handles the door, and I usually bribe my friends to become roadies and help. It is not a one person job. This is a sideline pursuit, as I am CPA in my real life.”

Blue Heron Productions, Inc. is dedicated to producing intimate concerts with outstanding artists. While it is not affiliated with the Hotel Colorado, many of the concerts take place at this beautiful venue. For the Crooked Still Event, “I used a room at the venue I have never used for the concert. It wonderfully small and intimate, but acoustically challenging. I went for audience sight line and gave up a little in the sound department, but it went very well all things considered. I prefer the high ceilings and ambiance of the Ballroom. The Hotel Colorado is on the National Historical Register.”

For Dave, “The sound quality is job number one, followed by a comfortable venue. I want the band to sound as good as it can, and I am very particular about it. These musicians are very talented and deserve being treated like the aspiring pros they are or will become.” You can visit YouTube for a taste of Crooked Still’s music.

For this event, Dave chose the All Purpose General Admission ticket, a simple but professional ticket that prominently features the band’s name as well as event information. The ticket is individually numbered and features a detachable stub, which allows organizers to keep track of attendees.

“To market the event,” Dave says, “I use posters, newspaper, radio, social media and email contacts, and anything else that I can think, given a limited budget. I am always looking for a more targeted approach. The younger bands see the benefit of Internet marketing and are generally better at it themselves too, which helps.” Bands are featured on the Blue Heron Productions, Inc. Website. They are also touted on the Facebook page for the venue. The bands themselves do their own promotion work as well.

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A Hole In One! Annual Summer Swing Charity Event

“Healing through Sports Foundation (HTSF) is a non-profit, public-benefit organization having the purpose of funding cancer research, patient services, and education programs focusing on prevention. By communicating the benefits of regular participation in physical activity and sporting events, we believe we can make a difference.”

~ James Johnson, HTSF

This July the Healing through Sports Foundation held its 9^th Annual Summer Swing Charity Event at the Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. The event featured rounds of golf, a charity raffle, silent auction, cocktails, and a dinner buffet. Attendees could participate in a number of ways, from sending in a donation of a certain amount, buying raffle tickets, attending one or all of the events, to becoming one of the event sponsors.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was chosen as the charity benefactor. The mission of LLS is to “cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” The goal of the Summer Swing Charity Event was to raise at least $15,000 for the cause of curing blood cancers.

Along with the golf tournament, the charity fundraising event featured a Helicopter Ball Drop Raffle. In this type of raffle, numbered tickets are sold to participants. Then numbered golf balls are dropped from a helicopter above a specific spot on the golf course. The winner is determined by how close to the target, usually a tee or hole, the numbered golf ball lands. Proceeds from the raffle go to the designated charity.

For this event, the organizers chose the Golf Tournament Raffle Ticket. The ticket features a bright blue sky, a well tended green and a golf ball waiting on a tee to be put into play.  The ticket has room for information about the event and the raffle. An individually numbered, detachable stub allows organizers to keep track of tickets and prizes.

I asked James how the TicketPrinting.com raffle ticket benefited his particular event. He said, “It clearly communicated what our event was and what we were offering. Also, the quality of the product was outstanding!”

To sell event tickets, James and his team relied on several proven methods: “email, online, and in person.”  Reaching out through an email list or listserve to individuals who have had contact with the organization can be very rewarding when it is time to sell tickets. It also pays to maintain an up-to-date online source to disseminate information about the event and sell tickets. Whether an event organizer chooses to maintain a website dedicated to the event or a Facebook Event page, information should be relevant and drive attendees to the event. Leveraging personal contacts can also be very important when planning a similar event. The power of word of mouth sales cannot be underestimated.

What advice did James have for other event organizers? “Have plan and stick to it. A clear roadmap is the key to any successful event.” Real planning and dedication make big events like this possible and successful.

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If school fundraising is part of your job description, you’re probably well aware of two things:

1)   Your school’s financial future depends, in some part, on distributing tickets to your upcoming fund raising event.

2)   You’ve got plenty of other things to do in the front office besides distributing tickets.

Do you put the burden of selling Event Tickets on parents and teachers and then deal with the hassle of tracking sales from multiple sources, collecting and verifying money, hounding an unwilling sales team to work harder? Do you depend on the kids to start selling, and deal with the same problems on a grand scale?

How about an option that requires five minutes of commitment on your part, and does all the rest of the work for you?

If you’ve got tickets to sell, we’ve got an app for that.

It’s called Ticket River, and it’s literally the easiest, most reliable, and least expensive way to sell tickets to any school event. Even if you’re not selling tickets, it’s a great way to encourage people to check in to events they plan on attending, so you can get a head count in advance. It even lets you collect donations for your non-profit school!

All you’ve got to do is log on and create a page for your event. It takes about five minutes, and there’s help to help you get started if computers aren’t your thing. You’ll just enter the event information into a template: what kind of event you’re holding, how much tickets cost. You can upload some photographs to liven up the page, and choose a background, as well. And that’s it!

Once you’ve created a page with all your details, all you need to do is direct your students, their parents, and other guests to the URL where they can buy tickets. Ticket River will process credit card or PayPal payments, generate virtual tickets that can be printed out at home, and even track your sales for you. If you’d rather issue your own paper tickets, you can order them from Ticket River’s sister company, TicketPrinting.com, and hold them for attendees as they arrive at the event. The service is completely free: there’s only a small surcharge for each ticket sold (3%—the lowest in the industry), which you can pay yourself, pass on to your customers, or split between the two.

Now, doesn’t that sound a lot easier than waiting for kids to count out their pennies as a line forms around your desk and the phone rings off the hook?

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TicketPrinting Event Series: The High School Prom

We have used TicketPrinting.com for every major event our school has had for the past three years.  I always get compliments on the posters hanging in the hallway advertising the event, and the tickets we receive always look so nice and make keeping track of our tickets sales easy.

~Kristen Kelly, Event Coordinator

Senior Prom is a special time for high school students. It’s a rite of passage that marks an important part of a young person’s life, a time of celebration and fun. Like any event involving a large number of attendees, a Senior Prom needs to be planned and coordinated carefully to ensure everything go es off without an problem and everyone has a good time.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss, Cleveland Heights High School 2011 Senior Prom with its coordinator, Kristen Kelly. Commonly called just “Heights,” the high school was founded in 1901. With an enrollment of approximately 1,800 students, the high school is built around a mod el of smaller schools within the main one, which allows faculty to offer a unique learning experience to its students.

The Senior Prom was held on June 3, 2011. Kristen tells me, ” The Prom went off without a hitch.  The students all looked lovely, the dinner was wonderful and they had a great time dancing.  Some of them wore masks that they had made at home.  The students seemed to think the best part was the dancing.  They really like the DJ this year.  They also enjoyed the crowning of the prom king and queen.”

In an academic environment, the primary focus is making sure students are spending their time learning. Faculty and staff have to maintain a fine balance when preparing for events like prom. Of course, they want to make sure students get excited about the event and have a great time, but they also need to make sure they are paying attention to their lessons. I asked Kristen how they managed ticket sales this year?

“We sold tickets after school 3 days a week for a month, which worked well for our Seniors.  It gave them plenty of time to arrange to purchase their tickets, and didn’t interrupt the school day.” Kristen told me. Students had plenty of opportunity to buy their prom tickets outside of class hours.

For someone planning a similar event, Kristen offers this advice: “Make sure to stay organized, publicize, and have plenty of chaperones.  Having a company that specialized in event planning take care of the event ensures that it runs smoothly.”

Whether you’re planning a  themed Senior Prom or a Fundraiser for your school, you will find plenty of customizable tickets and collateral to match your needs in the TicketPrinting.com design gallery.

Thanks again, Kristen and Cleveland Heights High School for sharing your experience and advice with TicketPrinting.com. Best wishes and congratulations to your 2011 Graduating Class.

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Trinity Services, Inc. “a nonprofit, non-sectarian organization, was founded in 1950 as the Trinity School in Joliet, Illinois.” Its purpose is to serve individuals with developmental disabilities in a variety of ways. From residential services to vocational programs and more, Trinity Services, Inc. employs over  1,000 individuals and provides services to more than 1,400 individuals.

On May, 19, 2011, Trinity Services, Inc. hosted its 18^th Annual Tom O’Reilly Memorial Golf Outing. The theme was “Feel the Funk,” and volunteers dressed up in funky outfits reminiscent of the flower power era. The organization designed and printed custom tickets from TicketPrinitng.com to promote their event.

I recently corresponded with Sherry Ladislas, Director of Development at Trinity Services, Inc.,  to learn more about her experience.

“The best part of the day was the camaraderie people felt as everyone came together for dinner after their game of golf,” Sherry told me. “Other highlights include the interaction golfers experienced on the course with our volunteers, and the live radio broadcast by a local radio station from our event. The DJ interviewed seven of our employees who were able to talk about the multitude of services we provide to people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.”

It sounds like the event was a success. Folks enjoyed themselves, established bonds and money was raised for the organization.  In order to host a successful and well-attended fundraiser, an organization should have a strategy that allows it to maximize its ticket sales. I asked Sherry what tactics her organization employed in order to sell the most tickets. Trinity Services, Inc. employed several methods

Feel The Funk Volunteer Costumes

1.  We included them in the invitation, which was effective,

2.  We sent them out to our core constituents, also very effective,

3.  Event planning committee members also sold tickets. While this was effective for us, the outcome will be determined by the number of committee members who sell tickets, and the number of contacts they have within their own networks,

4.  Lastly, we sold tickets the day of the event.

Sherry and Trinity Services, Inc. chose to have design and print tickets with TicketPrinting .com . I asked Sherry how the products enhanced her event.

“Ticketprinting.com is an easy way to get raffle tickets quickly, which is important when there are so many other details that require your attention as you prepare for a special event. On a couple of occasions we underestimated the number of tickets we thought we’d sell and had to order more. They arrived very quickly so we didn’t miss important ‘sales time.’”

For those planning a similar event, Sherry left me with this advice, “There are so many organizations out there doing great work in a this difficult economy. Like Trinity Services, many of them have golf outings as a means to bring additional dollars to support the work they do. We just held our 18th annual golf classic. Based on our experience, I would suggest finding unique ways to engage golfers – something that makes your outing stand out from all the rest.”

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Event Planning for the Holidays?

Is it time to:

A:  Scream, pull your hair out, and start crying?

B:  Find an assistant so you can pass the buck?

C:  Run away and hide until January?

D:  Get your act together and start planning?

The sooner you start your preparations, the more organized you’ll find your event, and for most us, that means a real shot at actually enjoying our own get-togethers.  We interviewed many of our customers and found that a combination of tangible “real world” and virtual “digital world” activities works best to drive and increase event attendance.

Here are the first five Holiday Event Planning Tips to keep you on top this holiday season.

1) Practice Proper Pre-event Publicity (that’s a mouthful!):

2) Bigger is Better, Everywhere is Better.

3) Start Taking Names!

4) Amp up the Details!

5) Secure Sweet Sales Success

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            From print to radio, from television to the internet, the medium for selling event tickets seems to be ever evolving. While the internet appears to be the frontier of the future, the focus has shifted from traditional web advertising. Promoting your event tickets through a web site is still essential, yes, but now it’s a part of a larger movement, that of social media marketing.

            Aside from being fairly easy to implement, social media marketing is also extremely inexpensive.  No matter the cost, though, you want to get a return on your investment, be it money or time. Here are a few aspects to focus on when using social media marketing to sell your event tickets:

·      Frequency

·      Interaction

·      Quantity vs. Quality

·      Integration

These four items are key to being successful as you jump into the world of social media.

Like Clockwork

            Part of the appeal of using social media platforms for marketing is the frequency with which you can send out your message. Web users are constantly looking for new information, and sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter allow you to give them that information. You need to mention your event tickets as frequently as possible, so your promotion doesn’t get lost in the constant information stream.

            Remember, all news is important in the social media world.  If you’ve just designed your event tickets, mention it online. Even if you’ve just started considering what your event tickets should look like, bring that up. Frequent updates engage your audience and make the process more personal, no matter how tiny the detail might be.           

A Part of the Team

            The internet allows you to interact with your audience like no other medium and social media sites take this to the next level.  That germ of an idea for the design of your event tickets? See what your audience thinks. Invite them into the process. You don’t have to listen to their suggestions; you just have to ask for them. The simple act of listening to your audience will draw them in.

            Get them talking. Allow comments on your posts on sites like Blogger and WordPress. Create a posting board. Encourage discussion on every aspect of your event, from the aforementioned event tickets to reviews afterwards. Getting them to come back for updates is great, but getting them to come back because they want to interact is even better.

Playing the Odds

            When promoting your event tickets online, try to cast as wide of a net as possible. Networking can spread like wildfire, as one connections links you to another who links you to another and so on. Your target demographic for event tickets is simply your first audience, but they are certainly not your last. Once you connect with them, you can expect your message to spread.

            If you’re creating compelling content about your event tickets, your updates will get passed along from person to person, and suddenly a link to your site is popping up everywhere. This makes up your expanded audience, those who end up visiting your site and investigating your event tickets because they saw a link somewhere.

            It’s the grapevine of the 21^st century!

Headquarters

            It is absolutely essential that, while promoting your event tickets, you have all of your online interactions point back to your web site. Your latest status update may be interesting enough to gain you new fans, but unless they are following you back to your web site, it won’t translate into event ticket sales.

            The process works both ways. It easier than ever to imbed your social media updates into your web site. You want to make sure that anyone who comes to your site directly can also follow you through other sites. Once they add you as a friend or a follower, they indirectly become a part of your marketing team!

            Social media marketing is a cost effective, high traffic way of selling more of your event tickets. With just a little bit of time and effort, you can receive a big return on your small investment!

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Are you part of the resurgence in the world’s most awesome sport? It’s time for you and all your roller derby gals to get competitive. You can offer public sporting events—your team versus other local rollers. Start planning, promoting, and selling event tickets for your bouts and let your jammers start lapping for the fans! It’s time to lace up your skates, squeeze into your campiest uniform, and get rolling.

Call it like it is: Your team moniker

Roller Derby teams need clever names. Puns reflecting your punk third-wave feminist roots are a sure draw for crowds and fans: the Sandra Day O’Clobbers, the Shevil Knevils, the Beauty School Knockouts, and the Rushin’ Rollettes. Be as violent as you like! Or, choose two words, say an adjective and a noun, that best encompass your team, like the Zany Fembots. Just make sure your name is intriguing and your fans feel like they’re in on the joke.

High noon: When to meet

When you’re ready to brawl, contact other roller derby teams in your area and decide which one your team will battle. You may be able to join a league and schedule a series of derbies. Can’t decide whom to meet first? Create your own raffle tickets and draw a name from a hat. Once you’ve decided upon whom, you need to figure out when. Pick a date and a time for your event. Consider days and times that would work best for the audience you are trying to attract. Audiences for roller derbies are diverse: from families to hipsters to teens, so your breadth should be vast, but conscious about your target audience. Families prefer daytime, weekend event. Teens may be available in the afternoon, after school, and twenty-somethings like to stay out late.

Meet me in the parking lot: Choose your venue:

If your city doesn’t already have a dedicated roller derby rink, you will to find need a venue that can satisfy the inherent needs of the sport. True roller derby typically requires a sports arena or a gymnasium, but you could also convert a large gallery or performance space. If you know of a space that often exhibits artwork or avant garde performance, you may persuade them to host your derby as a way to further the venue’s original intent. Perhaps a very large gallery that could accommodate a derby may choose to have your team battle another team in their space while highlighting related artwork such as photographs of Derby girls alongside your event. If the venue already has a box office or a way of handling ticket sales, that’s a bonus for you, as it makes it easier to sell event tickets.

Shout it out: Event promotion

Get your artists on the job. Your general promotion should be creative and intriguing. Collage-style designs featuring your team portrait or other relevant images can be distributed as postcards. Include the date and time, the venue, the ticket price, the names of the both teams, and information on where to get the tickets (don’t forget to include any relevant URLs). Take it to the streets and pass out the postcards in your derby garb to attract some attention. Hang posters in book shops, record stores, college campuses, and other local businesses. In addition to this, use your website and other networking tools such as Facebook to promote the event.

At the door: Get your event tickets right here

Have fun with these! Use your original promotional designs to create a unique custom ticket, or choose an online event ticket template. These can be printed on demand and are a good way to create the tickets for your event. Remember to include the same pertinent information you used on your postcard or promotional flyer: who, what, when, where, how much. Don’t forget web addresses or phone numbers where people can get more information. Consider creative ways to make those tickets your own! In designing your event tickets, you may include the logo for both teams or photos of the two teams. Individually numbered event tickets with perforated stubs help you keep track of attendance, control the venue, and increase security. Selling event tickets helps you realize some profit for your event, giving your team even more passion to have a great and memorable roller derby battle!

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Planning a Neighborhood Event

It's summer, and the sun is shining. The sky is a deep blue. It's warm, but a soft breeze keeps everyone cool and in a good mood. In the distance, there's the sound of live music, and close by, the rich smoky, aroma of food being cooked up on a grill.  Children are playing while their parents watch on, and folks are mingling, getting to know one another and having a wonderful time.

Your organization is hosting a community barbecue and raffle, and you did your best to get everyone involved. All of your neighbors are there. Everyone bought a ticket. Some contributed money or meals, tables and tents or just their willing hands. Local church groups, police and firefighters, teachers and representatives showed up. Area vendors sponsored the event and even put up the funds to print event tickets and host a prize raffle.

You've been planning this event for a long time—networking with neighbors, pinning down dates, finding volunteers, designing and printing event tickets and promotional collateral—and as you stand back and reflect over all you've accomplished, you realize, there's a bit of an art to planning and pulling off a big event. You have a talent for it!

It Starts with an Idea

Any good event  starts with a worthy idea. Perhaps you realized your local school needed money for its music program or you saw your neighborhood playground could use some rehabilitation. Maybe bought an event ticket to attend a less successful event . The venue could have been too small or the raffle was poorly managed; maybe the organizers didn't print event tickets  that kept the event secure. You realized with a little extra effort, you could pull off something better.

You began to do your research. You thought of the kind of event you wanted to host. You learned about venues. You looked at promotional materials online and browsed event ticket printing websites to find further inspiration. You simply talked to others about it, and realized you had a willing set of volunteers and attendees.

Using Your Resources

Once you decide to do it, planning a big event can be a challenge, but it's an opportunity to bring your community and its resources together.  It can be refreshing, too, when  you realize there are plenty of people who want to help. Let them!

Preparing the venue—If you're hosting a community event like a neighborhood barbecue, you can may want to have it in the form of a block party or host it at a local park or school. Make sure you have the proper permission, and recruit volunteers to help set up tables and cooking stations and bring supplies, as well as to take tickets or sell raffle tickets.

Rely on Donations when you can—Seeking donations is a good way to host a community event on a budget. Volunteers can donate anything from food to tableware to time. This is a great way to get everyone involved.

Get local vendors in on the action—If you have local businesses in your neighborhood, invite them. They'll get to know the community better, and attendees may be more likely to frequent them afterward. They might even donate a prize or help print event  tickets if you're hosting a raffle. You can also sell tickets at local businesses.

Promote It!

Your neighborhood event won't be a big success unless you take the time to properly advertise it. You want local attendees, so promote locally. Print event tickets and promotional materials that reflect the spirit of your community and provide all the important details. You can usually do this through an online vendor using an event ticket template.  If you're holding a fundraising raffle, you'll want to be sure to find an event ticket printer who can provide securely numbered tickets, so that everything runs smoothly.

Enjoy your Event!

You've managed to bring your whole neighborhood together! Your family, friends and community members are having a great time! Have a great time with them!

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Say your event has become a tradition in your community. You can count on your base to buy event tickets and show up, but your basic audience has not changed in years. How do you increase your roster from the traditional and convince new people to buy tickets to your event? By altering even small aspects of a tried and true event, you can attract new audiences: From revising publicity materials and punching up promotional event tickets to adding a trendy spin or a popular attraction, open yourself to possibilities and watch your ticket sales soar.

*  Get Out of the Box: Sometimes the best way to move beyond routine is to observe your standard operating procedure with a fresh set of eyes. Take inventory of what you have done over the years. Which elements have contributed to the success of the event? Is it the design used on event tickets and promotional materials? The entertainment? The venue? Then, consider how to use your old ideas in new ways, or update those options. Having trouble seeing with fresh eyes? Ask creative friends and guests for their opinion.

*  Answers Into Action: After taking this inventory of what has worked and deciding how you’ll revise the event to attract a new audience, get started. Don’t wait! Spring into action as long before the event as you can. Allowing yourself plenty of planning time help ticket sales go smoothly and guards against mistakes that would detract, not attract, guests in the future.

*  What Kind of Audience: Decide what type of audience you want and cater to their needs. If you want more children and young adults at your event, consider something like a Make a Sundae stand for your fundraiser. Teen volunteers can man the stand to help the young children. Many teens are looking for community service hours for their own extracurriculars, like the National Honors Society, and local teens are always a good resource to pull in a new audience. Often teens will buy Event Tickets if they know their friends will be there.

*  Ho Hum to Electrifying: Small changes can add a great new dimension to your traditional event. Customizing an event ticket can be the first step in customizing an event. Other elements such as entertainment or food and drink being served at your event can further your success in attracting new audiences. If you have always had a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, try something just a little different, such as a Lasagna Dinner, adding a catchy title that ties the fundraiser to the organization being funded. Research trends and find out what foods people want to try and what music they want to hear.

*  Spread the Word in Fresh Places: If you desire more elderly patrons to come to your event, print custom event tickets that can be raffled off at a local senior center. For more youthful participants advertise online, and at local high schools and colleges. A diverse audience will always give you a new audience, so cater your promotional materials and tickets to all facets of your community. Spreading a wide net in a variety of places will assist your event in attracting many different people to your event and make it a true and new success.

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