Post-Sellout Ancillary Events
Your event has completely sold out weeks ahead of schedule. All tickets are G-O-N-E gone.
So, now what? Sell some more! Even in the best case scenario of an event selling all tickets, the opportunity is there for you to sell even more. Adding new ancillary events that occur nearby is a smart way to keep both your patrons and your bottom line happy. The completely sold out Austin City Limits Music Festival is not resting on its laurels, you shouldn’t either.
ACL 2012
The Austin City limits Music Festival is one of the most popular, highest attended music events in the country with thousands of fans flocking to the state capitol every year. The annual three-day music festival has been going strong for ten years and shows no sign of slowing down. For 2012 the ACL has another impressive lineup of performances including headliners Florence and the Machine, The Roots, Iggy and Stooges and Neil Young
To get a feel for the event's scope, scale and popularity, below is a video highlight reel of the 2011 event.
If the festival sounds like something you want to go to, you better have your tickets already because, like in years past, the event is completely sold out. No tickets are available for any of the three days from official outlets. The velocity of ticket sales exceeded expectations this year, surprising even seasoned veterans of the event.
Some have said the window of opportunity to get ACL tickets seems to get smaller and smaller every year even with the fair practices of early reserves for Austin residents and UT students.
Once the tickets are gone, there's no hope of being part of the experience...Or is there?
Ancillary events. Official. Late night.
Last week, the ACL Music Festival announced that there will be over 20 official ancillary events to take place late at night after the big daytime performances. The ‘Late Night Shows’ will occur at various small to medium sized venues in the area surrounding the festivals formal Zilker Park location.
There will be an pre-sale time for fans to be put into the purchase queue, then a day later, the tickets will go on sale. Note the creative use of pre-registration and passcodes for access to the pre-sale tickets:
Pre-Sale happens at 10AM CDT on Wednesday, August 22nd and you must be on the C3 Concerts e-mail list by 9:59 pm CDT on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 to get your passcodes! If you sign up before 9:59 pm on August 21 OR if you’re already on the list, you’ll receive your passcodes a few hours before the on-sale happening Wednesday, August 22ng @ 10AM CDT. Pre-Sale Tickets are limited and subscribing to the e-list does not guarantee you access. The Public On-Sale happens at 10AM CDT on Thursday, August 23rd.
Given how quickly the main event sold out, these new smaller shows are fully expected to do the same.
The new events are officially sanctioned by ACL and are receiving full marketing and advertising, but technically, they have been assigned to a 3rd party. The ticket buying public is being given full disclosure of the 3rd party involvement on the ACL website as seen by the 3rd party production company’s name in prominent display.
If there were people who missed out on getting ticket for the main event, they now have a second chance to attend the new ancillary events, thereby participating in the experience. Even better, those who did get tickets to the main event are now considering buying even more tickets for the “late night” supporting events. It’s just a Win-Win-Win (event ticket sales, previous ticket buyers, and those who missed out the first time) anyway you look at it.
No rest for the wicked
ACL never stopped to open champagne bottles after this year’s festival sold all its tickets. They continued on selling and providing more entertainment by adding a veritable cornucopia of “bonus events” in the same vicinity - an extremely smart strategy.
The Austin City Limits production company and the 3rd parties have the big budget that’s needed to extend beyond the original scope of their planned event, but that doesn’t mean smaller venues and event organizers cannot learn and adapt the same strategy to a smaller scale.
In theory, any event for which ticket sales velocity was much higher than expected could plan ahead and have the same new additional shows occur just like the ACL “late nights”. But gauging ticket sales velocities and knowing when to add ancillary events at multiple venues is not trivial and requires a lot of experience and the right tools.
First venue sold out in an hour? Great. The event name suffix changes from “concert” to “block party”. All those new venues sold out too? No problem. The event is no longer a “block party” but a “city-fest”. There is no limit. Unless, of course, the tools you use, like online ticketing software, isn't up to the job. Going from sold out concert at one location to multi-venue block party requires ticket software that can adapt as needed, meet demand, and keep track of all remote sales and commissions.
ThunderTix has extensive tools for an event that occurs in multiple locations, on multiple days, and with sales by multiple agents. We pride ourselves on meeting your needs and providing the best possible set of tools and pricing plans that work best for you and your event.
Be sure to take a look at all the features we have to offer and sign up for a free trial today!
