Making the change and breaking away from traditional ticket boundaries can be a bold move for some arts organisations. As part of the Ticketsolve Campaign Considerations, we’re taking a look at how arts organisations can encompass a green ethos and move away from paper ticketing.
Last year, our team came together to create a stronger green ethos for Ticketsolve. This is a topic which is passionate for our whole team, so we wanted to share our passion and inspire the wider arts and cultural sector to get their own communities on board. Culture Change for Climate Change #Culture4Climate is a campaign in which our team want to promote the importance of including environmental issues and impacts as a regular theme of programming and marketing within the arts and cultural sector. As ambassadors of culture, the arts have a power that most other sectors don’t. We speak in a meaningful way to our audience members, we look to break barriers, create movement from traditional conventions, open dialogues on sensitive topics, and create awareness.
The first important point to consider when making the move to green ticketing is that you are not alone. Seek support and you will find it and, you’ll realise it’s readily available to the arts. There are arts organisations spread all over the UK and Ireland who have made the move and found it a great success. Luckily enough we know a lot of them and delighted to see that Ticketsolve has been an important part of their green movement.
The Garage Norwich have just recently joined Ticketsolve. The team at the Garage are bold and defiant (in all of the best ways possible). From the very beginning, their team decided to forget about the traditional conventions of ticketing and ticket printing. Since going live with Ticketsolve, their team only use e-ticketing and print at home tickets.
You might be genuinely surprised about how much your organisation can save by excluding ticket stock from your normal monthly inventory order. Take for example Liverpool’s Royal Court. Their team experienced huge savings on printing costs by leaving paper tickets behind. With no printing needs, you are alway waving goodbye to expensive ticket printers.
At the moment, the team at Watergate Theatre are working on their green ethos and looking at how they can reduce their carbon footprint. Speaking with Ticketsolve customer success specialist Aoife, their team believe that Watergate Theatre has an important part to play in helping to promote environmental awareness for their audience members and their wider community.
Get involved in other green projects and encourage your audience members with a passion for caring for our planet to get involved with you. Green doesn’t just mean you’re mindful of your recycling bin (although recycling is an absolute must!!) you can also consider your team’s carbon footprint, the amount of waste from the Green Room, the energy used to power the office printer. Why not offer your audience members a link to public transport on their confirmation email? Encourage them to use it.
Our friends of Pavilion Theatre now how to take an e-ticket and use it to its full advantage! Take a look at their template below for serious ticketing envy....
Trial it. If it’s going to work, your strategy may need to be refined and refined again. Don’t be afraid to tell your audience members that this is something new, once they hear that you are making changes for the better of our beautiful planet. They will be more likely to give you the support and encouragement your team deserve.