Strike Up The Band
Strike Up The Band – For Battle! Drum roll please…it is time for the annual Battle of the Bands competitions to happen throughout the United States. As you start to prepare for your show and the competition(s) that you might be participating in, we wanted to highlight a few things on how HomeTown can help make planning and organizing this year’s competition easier than ever before. Tickets You can streamline all ticket purchases online so that every school participating can encourage their parents to purchase tickets in advance. You also can sell tickets at the gate the day of the competition. By creating multiple ticket levels, you could have a ticket level dedicated to each participating program and then with our reporting, you can share with each school how many tickets were sold for their program. Band Merch Have some awesome band merchandise that your band and band parents will love? Stay organized with these sales by sending out a link to your families for them to order their gear through a private event* set up in your box office. You then get real-time reporting, the money will go directly to the school and you do not have to worry about collecting info or cash. Plus, you still get to work with your school-approved vendor. Concessions* Do you sell concessions to raise more money for your program? The HomeTown platform allows you to sell concessions through our point of sale system. This allows you to take credit card payments or cash as well as have real-time reporting to know exactly how much you sold at the end of the day. Plus, the school can receive a direct payment for those funds. Feel free to reach out to your dedicated Client Success Manager to learn more on how to set this up. Not a HomeTown school, but would like more information? Please schedule time with our performing arts experts to get started today. *HomeTown’s in-house platform has many unique features including creating private events that are not visible to the public and concessions. There are seemingly endless ways to use your HomeTown box office.
Choosing the Right Ticket Passes for Your School
Season passes are one of the most common ways that schools use Hometown Box Office’s pass feature, but which of these additional passes might benefit your programs? Here’s a look at a few ways schools use passes to drive ticket sales and offer their students, their families, and fans the options they really want. What are Passes? Passes provide an easy way for fans to purchase entry to multiple events at one time, while providing fans with flexible options. Select the events your school wants to sell a pass for, most commonly this is used to provide a single digital pass that grants access to an athletic season’s events. Then, fans receive one QR code via email or the Hometown Fan App that can be scanned for entry. Multi-Sport Passes With a multi-sport pass, the passholder can access events beyond a single sport and athletic season. With one purchase, you can create a simple way for your most loyal fans to attend sporting events within the same season. This option can be especially useful for parents who have student athletes in multiple sports, for example a family who has a basketball player and a wrestler, may opt for multi-sport passes to access both of these winter sports. Related post: Benefits of Season Passes and Season Tickets for your Sports Season Student and Parent Passes Some schools opt to offer an exclusive and convenient way for students and parents to access multiple events with passes. Using our built-in passcodes feature, student ID numbers or a unique code can be given to each eligible person to unlock passes with a particular set of events or at a special rate. Family Passes Family passes can be set up to allow one pass to earn entry for multiple people in a family. Settings allow you to set a pass from one valid scan per event to multiple entry scans per event. Family passes can offer a set number of scans per event, allowing a family to attend events without worrying about purchasing single game tickets. Related post: Why Choose Hometown Box Office? Want to learn more about using Hometown Box Office to sell passes and single tickets to your events? Set up a time to talk with our team to gather the information you need and get started with our digital ticketing solution.
Benefits of Season Passes and Season Tickets for your Sports Season
Want to make it fast and easy for your most loyal fans to get into every game? HomeTown has the built-in option to sell season passes and season ticket packages to your events. Which one is right for your programs? Related post: 4 Tips for using Digital Ticketing for Event Planning Season Passes Passes provide an easy way for fans to purchase entry to multiple events at one time, while providing you with flexible options. Select the events within your season that you want to sell a pass for. When fans purchase their season pass, they will receive one QR code that can be scanned for entry. The QR code will be valid for one entry to each event within the season and can be stored on a mobile device or printed at home. Season Ticket Packages Season ticket packages allow your fans to purchase entry to each game of an athletic season for one price. Season tickets can be sent digitally, with individual tickets for each game that are easily scanned upon entry to ensure each ticket is valid for the correct date. Related post: Set Up Your School for a Sell-Out Crowd with Digital Ticketing Season tickets also allow fans to choose a reserved seat within your venue and keep their seat for the entire season. For example, you may have fans who want to sit on the 50-yard line for the entire football season or want to be near center court in your gym. When it comes time to renew your fans’ yearly ticket package, you will work directly with your Client Success Manager to send out automated renewal information. Why Do Schools Sell Season Passes and Season Tickets? Both season passes and season ticket packages drive early ticket sales for your events, increase event attendance across the season, and provide an easy alternative to buying single game tickets. They also provide a lower fee option for fans when compared to purchasing tickets individually, rewarding your loyal fans with savings. Ready to get started selling your season passes and single game tickets with HomeTown? Schedule a call with our team to get the answers to your questions and get set-up with your own HomeTown Box Office.
Set Up Your School for a Sell-Out Crowd with Digital Ticketing
With the fall season in full swing, high schools around the country have been kicking off their big games in front of huge crowds. Football games bring the community together through school spirit and pride. What can you do when you are expecting a sell out for the big rivalry game and want to make the process as smooth as possible? Sell out more events Through digital ticketing, schools can monitor ticket sales in real-time. They can communicate with their fanbase via social media when they reach certain thresholds that an event is nearly sold-out. The best examples of posts like these inform fans of the large expected crowds, urge people to buy their tickets early, and provide the link to their box office in the post. Related post: Increase Ticket Sales by Using Social Media Use reporting tools to be proactive If a large crowd is expected for your event, it’s important to have fans purchase their tickets as early as possible. This prevents your gate workers from feeling overwhelmed with ticket purchasers at the gate, and fans can easily get into the game. Tracking attendance in real-time as game day approaches allows you to be proactive by opening up additional entrance gates, adding staff members or volunteers, and even increasing concession stand inventory. Use your seat map to show available seats If you’re using reserved seating or seat maps provided by HomeTown, you can show which seats are still available. Take a screenshot of the seatmap in your box office and post a message such as, “Seats at the 50 yard line are selling out fast!” or “Get your general admission seats before they’re gone!” Related post: 5 Ways to Promote Your Events Be proud and create some hype It’s also important to let fans know on social media when a game is officially sold out. Not only does this inform your fans that tickets are no longer available, but it also creates hype and excitement for the big game. It can even create urgency for fans to purchase tickets early for future games as well. Related post: 4 Tips for using Digital Ticketing for Event Planning
State of Digital Ticketing Talks with the MSHSAA
Organizing for high school events has changed over the past decade. As schools, districts, and state associations have embraced technology to save time, stay organized, and simplify processes, digital ticketing has become a major part of day-to-day operations. Through the HomeTown platform, state associations like the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) have found a comprehensive digital ticketing solution that simplifies events while offering the flexible options desired to meet the needs of every fan. Related post: Going Digital: The Benefits of Digital Ticketing Platforms Recently, HomeTown’s Connor Thinnes, Vice President of Marketing, was joined by Craig Long, the Chief Financial Officer of the MSHSAA, and Stacey Slaughter, the Accounting Manager for the MSHSAA, to discuss how the association uses digital ticketing for their events. In their conversation, they shared how the world of high school athletic events has changed over time and why they require digital ticketing for their post-season events. You can check out their conversation and hear firsthand why they advocate for the benefits of digital ticketing. https://vimeo.com/723421826 HomeTown thanks Craig and Stacey for sharing their thoughts and experiences in using the HomeTown platform for MSHSAA events. We greatly appreciate their insights on how digital ticketing works at state association and school levels. We are proud to be a part of the MSHSAA’s continued success and to support the association’s administrators and student-athletes. About HomeTown Ticketing HomeTown Ticketing is the leading digital ticketing provider in both K–12 and collegiate spaces, serving schools, districts, conferences, and associations. A professional-level and fully automated ticketing solution, HomeTown’s in-house developed, proprietary ticketing platform is tailored specifically to the needs of schools and governing bodies. Benefits of the HomeTown system include unmatched value through easy-to-use purchasing and redemption options, custom box-offices, event and fan specific reporting tools, and secure financial management features to streamline operations and increase financial transparency. Intuitive and easy-to-use for both event organizers and ticket buyers, HomeTown never touches the event organizer’s funds. Learn more about HomeTown at www.hometownticketing.com | @hometowntix Want to learn more about how digital ticketing can play a role in your 2022–2023 athletic events? Schedule a call with our team today!
Understanding Fan Ticket Behavior: Online vs. On-Site Sales
Some school administrators wonder, “How would digital ticketing work for us?” Today, we’re going to share how digital ticketing provides flexible options that help your fans to get tickets when and where they want with the help of stats from a recent survey conducted by Navigate, a leader in understanding and marketing sporting events. Tickets via Smartphone Did you know that 87% of Americans own a smartphone? That’s one of the reasons that Hometown created our Fan App, which is available for both Android and iOS devices. The Fan App makes it fast and easy to buy tickets and store them directly on a smartphone. And for those people who do not own a smartphone, Hometown’s digital ticketing solution, Box Office, also allows fans to buy tickets on a computer and print them, or purchase tickets at the gate with cash or credit cards. These flexible options ensure that all of your fans have access to tickets in a way that is convenient for them. Buying Tickets Early and Making Plans to Attend While your fans may be used to buying tickets at your box office on the day of the event, a recent study found that 78% of ticket consumers want to purchase tickets in advance, rather than at the event. Digital ticketing is the simplest way to offer easy access to presale tickets and allow fans to get their tickets ahead of time. By selling tickets online, you also help them save time and avoid lines at your box office. And with flexible in-person options, you can be sure to meet all your fans’ needs. Tickets On Your Website We found that 97% of people attending high school events felt at least “slightly comfortable” purchasing tickets online. And when it comes to transitioning your school to digital tickets, Hometown is here to support you every step of the way. We connect you with a dedicated client success manager to help you along the way and offer an in-house support team to answer you and your fans’ questions! Meeting All Your Fans Needs But what about those fans who want to purchase tickets in person or use cash? While the number of fans in this category is significantly smaller than those who prefer digital purchases, it’s important for many organizations to meet their needs. Hometown’s Box Office solution has a built-in point-of-sale system that allows you to accept cash or credit cards at your box office. We recently expanded our in-person ticket options to include a kiosk solution, which provides an easy-to-use, self-checkout solution for fans to use their credit card and access tickets on-site. Want to learn more about digital ticketing trends and how Hometown can provide you with the solutions to meet your fans needs? Reach out to our team to start the conversation and get answers to your questions.
State of Digital Ticketing Talks with the IHSAA
How can schools, districts, and state associations use technology to save time, stay organized, and simplify processes? When it comes to ticketing, technology has advanced well beyond the need for tearing paper tickets and counting cash. HomeTown is proud to provide a comprehensive digital ticketing solution that simplifies events while offering the flexible options desired to meet the needs of every fan. Related post: All Types of Tickets: HomeTown Has the Options People Want So how has digital ticketing advanced athletic events for our schools and state association partners? HomeTown’s Connor Thinnes, Vice President of Marketing, sat down with Tom Keating, the Executive Director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) to discuss how digital ticketing positively impacts the everyday operations of the association and how this user-friendly technology provides the solutions they need. You can check out their conversation and hear firsthand why digital ticketing is here to stay. HomeTown thanks Tom Keating for taking the time to share his experience with our platform and insights on high school athletic events. We appreciate your thoughts on the impact of digital ticketing on schools and associations and how to bring the best possible experience to the fans. We are proud to be a part of the IHSAA’s continued success and to support the association’s administrators and student-athletes. About HomeTown Ticketing HomeTown Ticketing is the leading digital ticketing provider in both K–12 and collegiate spaces, serving schools, districts, conferences, and associations. A professional-level and fully automated ticketing solution, HomeTown’s in-house developed, proprietary ticketing platform is tailored specifically to the needs of schools and governing bodies. Benefits of the HomeTown system include unmatched value through easy-to-use purchasing and redemption options, custom box-offices, event and fan specific reporting tools, and secure financial management features to streamline operations and increase transparency. Intuitive and easy-to-use for both event organizers and ticket buyers, HomeTown never touches the event organizer’s funds. Learn more about HomeTown at www.hometownticketing.com | @hometowntix Want to learn more about how digital ticketing can play a role in your 2022–2023 athletic events? Schedule a call with our team today!
State of Digital Ticketing Talks with the PIAA
How do state associations go about planning their seasons, tournaments, and championship events? What impact does digital ticketing have on these events and the ways that state associations operate? When it comes to digital ticketing, HomeTown is proud to provide a comprehensive platform to individual schools, and also state associations. Our list of partner state associations includes the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). Related post: All Types of Tickets: HomeTown Has the Options People Want To better understand the PIAA and how they approach digital ticketing across their districts, regionals, sectionals, and championship events, HomeTown’s Connor Thinnes, Vice President of Marketing, sat down with Mark Byers, the Chief Operating Officer of the PIAA. You can check out their conversation about how digital ticketing streamlines and simplifies events at every level. https://vimeo.com/718499007 We’d like to thank Mark Byers for taking the time to share his experiences and perspective on using the HomeTown platform. We appreciate his insights into presale ticket reporting impacting event planning to ensure that fans have the best possible experience. We are proud to be a part of the PIAA’s continued success and to support their association and student athletes for many years to come. About HomeTown Ticketing HomeTown Ticketing is the leading digital ticketing provider in both K–12 and collegiate spaces, serving schools, districts, conferences, and associations. A professional-level and fully automated ticketing solution, HomeTown’s in-house developed, proprietary ticketing platform is tailored specifically to the needs of schools and governing bodies. Benefits of the HomeTown system include unmatched value through easy-to-use purchasing and redemption options, custom box-offices, event and fan specific reporting tools, and secure financial management features to streamline operations and increase transparency. Intuitive and easy-to-use for both event organizers and ticket buyers, HomeTown never touches the event organizer’s funds. Learn more about HomeTown at www.hometownticketing.com | @hometowntix Want to learn more about how digital ticketing can play a role in your 2022–2023 athletic events? Schedule a call with our team today!
Organize Your Summer Camps with HomeTown
For students across the country, summer is one of the most exciting times of the year with events to look forward to all season long, including summer camps. Whether you’re planning to host sports skills camps, STEM camps, or even performing arts camps, the HomeTown platform has the tools to help you simplify registration and stay organized. Simple and Secure Online Registration With the HomeTown platform, it’s easy to register and pay for summer camps at the same time. By going directly to your website, attendees can select the camp, answer a few registration questions, and pay registration fees without ever leaving your page. By having registration on your own website, there is an added level of confidence in your camp and the registration process for parents or participants who may be trying your program for the first time. Related post: Scanning, Security, and a Professional-Level Ticketing Experience The platform also has the built-in ability to accept passcodes or promo codes. Passcodes can be used to access special camp rates, like scholarships registrations or invite-only programs. Promo codes can be used to offer discounted registration rates, like family discounts or early registration rates. Stay Organized with Reports The HomeTown platform allows you to add custom questions to the checkout page to gather important information from your campers, like their T-shirt size, emergency contact person, food allergies, and more. You can view the answers to these questions, easily track registration numbers, and see incoming revenue with HomeTown’s reporting tools. These reporting tools keep all your information in one place and export files as needed. Reports can also help you budget for materials, account for any paychecks that are paid from camp fees, and plan for the snacks, prizes, and T-shirts for you campers. Easy Communication Tools When attendees or their parents complete the registration, they’ll receive a confirmation email. This email can include PDF attachments, like medical forms or waivers that need to be printed and brought day one of camp, as well as any key information like pick-up times or parking instructions. Related post: Communication, Capacity, and Cancellations: How HomeTown Can Help HomeTown’s platform also allows you to pull a list of email addresses to send programing updates, important changes, and get campers excited to attend. These email lists can also help you after the camp to promote next year’s camps, recruit campers to your college, or share information about upcoming events on your campus.
State of Digital Ticketing Talks with the OHSAA
The move to digital ticketing can be incredibly impactful for schools, districts, and even state associations. HomeTown is proud to support state athletic associations across the country as they operate and manage tournaments and championship events. One of our partner associations is the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Related post: Going Digital: The Benefits of Digital Ticketing Platforms To get a better understanding of what the OHSAA does, how they plan for these tournament events, and how using HomeTown’s platform has transformed their ticketing and reporting, Connor Thinnes, HomeTown’s Vice President of Marketing sat down with Dr. Kim Kiehl, the Chief Operating Officer of the OHSAA. You can check out their conversation below. https://vimeo.com/716453498 Thank you to Dr. Kim Kiehl for taking the time to share her insights and experiences using the HomeTown platform. We loved hearing how digital ticketing has played such a key role in recent operations and how it has helped the OHSAA find new layers of success. We are excited to continue to support the OHSAA and student athletics across the state of Ohio in the coming 2022–2023 school year. About HomeTown Ticketing HomeTown Ticketing is the leading digital ticketing provider in both K–12 and collegiate spaces, serving schools, districts, conferences, and associations. A professional-level and fully automated ticketing solution, HomeTown’s in-house developed, proprietary ticketing platform is tailored specifically to the needs of schools and governing bodies. Benefits of the HomeTown system include unmatched value through easy-to-use purchasing and redemption options, custom box-offices, event and fan specific reporting tools, and secure financial management features to streamline operations and increase financial transparency. Intuitive and easy-to-use for both event organizers and ticket buyers, HomeTown never touches the event organizer’s funds. Learn more about HomeTown at www.hometownticketing.com | @hometowntix Want to learn more about how digital ticketing can play a role in your 2022–2023 athletic events? Schedule a call with our team today!
