WINTER | SECTOR FOCUS
A
ttend2IT came into the
ticketing sector by way
of market demand. Best
known for its Wi-fi expertise,
the company discovered a lot
of instances where ticketing
companies weren’t equipped
to work in the middle of a field.
“Sometimes there just wasn’t
the infrastructure, and clients
who were pleased with our Wi-fi
asked us to step up, so it became
a great niche for us,” Dominic
Hampton, managing director,
tells Access.
As a result, ‘weird and
wonderful’ has become par for
the course for Attend2IT. “It’s
what we specialise in, and it’s
demonstrated by events like War
and Peace, a themed camping
experience. The reason they
chose us is because people can
bring tanks and random vehicles
to the event and this makes the
ticketing categories very diverse.
They have 156 ticket types, and
we write them a bespoke module
to handle these so it needs to be
complex. People’s events in the
outdoor sector often don’t fit a
mould.”
Secondary ticketing issues
haven’t been a big concern for
Hampton, who finds solutions
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to counter the public’s fears. “At
Brighton Pride we undertook
the ticket scanning this year,
and they were all validated with
people’s IDs, so we could make
sure they were who they say
they were. We have a physical
presence on the ground at these
types of events as well as an app
solution.
“A risk for the ticketing sector
is that there’s a lot of cheap
solutions, and the scanning
stage can fall apart. Making sure
people use reputable suppliers is
important, it shouldn’t be a race
to the cheapest.”
On the subject of security,
Hampton says that getting
efficient hardware and software
is key. “A QR code with a decent
database is as good security as
anything if you get it right. On
established events where we
replace a competitor, we use our
scanners, which actively talk to
each other in real-time. You’d
be surprised how often you can
print a ticket out twice. We did
three per second at the pride
event, and all the tickets were
TICKETING
correctly validated.”
TICKETsrv agree, stressing
that both clients and customers
are looking for 100% reliability
- fast, accurate scanning
technology to ensure that their
event is kept secure and with
minimal queues. “A seamless,
mobile-optimised booking
process for visitors quite simply
means more sales, so there is
no room for clunky booking
systems or make-shift ticketing
solutions. Events now rely on
technology designed specifically
for their target market. There is
less room for any event business
model that relies solely on
selling tickets on the gate - it
means less cash once inside the
event (and so less money spent at
the trade outlets and bars), and
many visitors are now arriving
with no cash at all.
“We are moving to a cashless
world and the events industry
is beginning to reflect this. Of
course, the event industry itself
has faced difficulties this year
but we’re pleased to say that it
wasn’t a turbulent year for us,
with none of the events that
we work with being cancelled
this year. After another growth
year, we’re very lucky to work
within a sector where people
have a high level of long-term
experience. Most of the events
we work with are iconic and
long-established (many for over
100 years). They take place on
the same sites every year so
organisers know and have the
expertise to manage their
It’s been an eventful year for ticketing, with the creeping
demise of printed tickets and action over secondary
ticketing, but often getting the basics nailed down holds
you in great stead
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