The perfect solution for 2013 ticket sales

[CornMan]

A solution (in retrospect): The LLC should have done nothing different than what they did last year other than require purchasers to attach photos of themselves to be printed on the back of each ticket and to have STEP. Increase ticket prices by $5 (if necessary) to cover the cost of printing the photos. During the event, gate workers might or might not check the photos on the tickets, but just having them on the tickets would spook any scalpers (which may or may not exist) and also reduce purchases by the non-committed. Tickets probably still would have sold out (probably sometime in April or May) which would have caused an uproar among the procrastinators that the ticket distribution system was completely unworkable.

[CornMan]

Here's how it's done:

[Rice]

A solution (in retrospect): The LLC should have done nothing different than what they did last year other than require purchasers to attach photos of themselves to be printed on the back of each ticket and to have STEP. Increase ticket prices by $5 (if necessary) to cover the cost of printing the photos. During the event, gate workers might or might not check the photos on the tickets, but just having them on the tickets would spook any scalpers (which may or may not exist) and also reduce purchases by the non-committed. Tickets probably still would have sold out (probably sometime in April or May) which would have caused an uproar among the procrastinators that the ticket distribution system was completely unworkable.

Well that may address the apparent (but not necessarily proven) scalper issue, it does nothing to address the fact that there are less tickets than there are people wishing to attend. If they had left the ticket system in place (as it was) there certainly would have been a large number of people who would not get tickets. The lottery system was an attempt to address this issue (yes, I know it didn't work out as well as planned).

If the system would not allow for the transfer of tickets, then, the picture-on-a-ticket plan would make sense. IE: Purchasers would have to pre-register with photos of all people the tickets are for. no transferring, no changes, no refunds, etc. Otherwise, a scalper would just buy some tickets and transfer them with picture to whomever is their intended victim (customer, whatever)...

[Rice]

Damn, I left at about 1pm. No NDN stands up at all. And I was HUNGRY after breaking down camp!

I suspect you may have been distracted (tired, etc.) and simply missed the stand. I believe there is one just before Gerlach (between the 12 Mile turn off and Gerlach). That is simple to miss if you are not looking for it

[CornMan]

The system allows transfer of tickets through STEP. They could have about 10,000 or so tickets at the highest tier ($600) that are completely transferable for those who demand the privilege of being flaky.

To address the higher demand than tickets: Put the highest tiers on sale first. There were not a whole lot of complaints about the $420 presale tickets. Don't make a big deal of things by having a lottery that caused people to game the system and make demand seem higher than what it really was.

[Rice]

The system allows transfer of tickets through STEP. They could have about 10,000 or so tickets at the highest tier ($600) that are completely transferable for those who demand the privilege of being flaky.

How would this prevent a scalper from acting like a flaky burner and buy up tickets to the limit, and transferring them later??

[CornMan]

Because those $600 tickets are priced at the less profitable, higher tier.

[pink]

Damn, I left at about 1pm. No NDN stands up at all. And I was HUNGRY after breaking down camp!

I suspect you may have been distracted (tired, etc.) and simply missed the stand. I believe there is one just before Gerlach (between the 12 Mile turn off and Gerlach). That is simple to miss if you are not looking for it

Yah, the exit road was bone jarringly rutted, it took me an hour just to traverse it. I was looking once I got to the rez.

[moonrise]

Imagine how "uncool" Burning Man will be when we hit 100k. It sucks, don't go. Go to that non-thing in July, haha...
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