Wondering why e-ticketing has its own subforum this year....
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Posted by helenbb
#1

I'm guessing that e-ticketing might expand this year to more events... maybe even the majority of events? That seems to be a likely reason for having its own sub...

Any other thoughts?

Posted by mikeboozer
#2

E-ticketing will be expanding this year and we want a place to discuss how it works and what it's many benefits are for attendees and EO's alike.

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by hahnarama
#3

Mike, 

Is there any reason why ALL events cannot be e-tickets? 

Posted by traveller
#4

As a guess, scaling.  This is not a situation where you want to find out that something didn't quite scale up as expected.  Selling, generics, redemption, refund, transfers there are a lot of things happening all at one.  You want to be sure that the backend is ready to scale to meet demand. 

I remember when they went to a computer system the first time, it was a nightmare.  I'll take a controlled successful rollout over that anyday.

Posted by mikeboozer hahnarama
#5

hahnarama wrote:
Mike, 
Is there any reason why ALL events cannot be e-tickets? 

Traveller has it right. There is a lot of work to be done to make sure E-Ticketing progresses smoothly. EO's and Customer education as well needs to happen. Hence this forum as an example. 

The benefits for E0-Ticketing are obvious and exciting for everyone concerned. It just needs to be managed correctly.

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

 

Posted by helenbb
#6

Glad to hear that e-ticketing will be expanding! Looking forward tp hearing the details...

Posted by qwaserity
#7

I'm hoping to see how all of the e-tickets work out. I help run the Math Trade and we get 150 - 180 people. That's a lot of badge scans and running the event is like herding cats!
Question/request: Can the developers put in a button to "select a random" player for those events where we give away prizes?

Posted by toxic_rat
#8

We used the e-ticketing last year.  The only issue we had was with one attendee's badge holder not showing the full bar code, so she had to remove it to allow the scan.  Nothing wrong with the e-ticket process itself though.

Posted by jpederso
#9

Last year on Saturday morning, a friend of mine wasn't going to use his 9 to 1 RPG session.  I was open for that time, so he gave me his paper ticket and I went to the game.  It was easy to "transfer" the ticket because it was a paper version.  How would this work for an e-ticket?  

Posted by austicke jpederso
#10

jpederso wrote:How would this work for an e-ticket?  

He would go to gencon.com and click Transfer.

​​​​​​​_____________________________________
Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group

Posted by black jack rackham
#11

It sounds great (and I am looking forward to it) but I have a GM in my crew that has a non-compatible phone which would make things difficult for him. We're going to stick with regular tickets until that gets worked out and then we'll be on board.
 

Posted by buffythecatslayer qwaserity
#12

qwaserity wrote:I'm hoping to see how all of the e-tickets work out. I help run the Math Trade and we get 150 - 180 people. That's a lot of badge scans and running the event is like herding cats!
Question/request: Can the developers put in a button to "select a random" player for those events where we give away prizes?

I wouldn't count on that, especially for this year.  If you use the tickets for prizes, don't request going to e-tickets yet.  Eventually you may actually have to hand out paper tickets like you get at a fair.

Posted by buffythecatslayer austicke
#13

austicke wrote:
jpederso wrote:How would this work for an e-ticket?  

He would go to gencon.com and click Transfer.
_____________________________________
Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group

I was wondering how that would work as well.  Will Transfer allow someone to transfer to an event that is already full, or would the GM have to mark no-shows first to open up slots?

Posted by mikeboozer buffythecatslayer
#14

buffythecatslayer wrote:
austicke wrote:
jpederso wrote:How would this work for an e-ticket?  

He would go to gencon.com and click Transfer.
_____________________________________
Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group

I was wondering how that would work as well.  Will Transfer allow someone to transfer to an event that is already full, or would the GM have to mark no-shows first to open up slots?

Not sure I understand your question. If your transferring a ticket you bought to an event to someone then your just giving them your slot. 

You can only transfer a ticket to someone for that event.

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by rutherfordr
#15

So if my friend is going to transfer his ticket to me, but I have a ticket for a different event at the same time, will the transfer work?

(Hint: It should. Please don't make us manage your system for you!)
 

Posted by matthias9 rutherfordr
#16

rutherfordr wrote:
So if my friend is going to transfer his ticket to me, but I have a ticket for a different event at the same time, will the transfer work?
(Hint: It should. Please don't make us manage your system for you!)
 

Isn't managing their system exactly what you are trying to do right now?

It may not be productive to start assuming all kinds of flaws and problems for a system you haven't yet seen.  There's  a reason they started small with it for a limited number of events -- to test and work out these kinds of issues.

In the case of your example, though, you shouldn't have a ticket for the same time.  If you do, return that ticket first -- and then you will have no conflict.  By the way, this is what you should be doing anyway as it allows another gamer into that event -- and prevents the game organizer from having vacant slots, which may negatively impact that game.

Posted by mikeboozer rutherfordr
#17

rutherfordr wrote:
So if my friend is going to transfer his ticket to me, but I have a ticket for a different event at the same time, will the transfer work?
(Hint: It should. Please don't make us manage your system for you!)
 

I think matthias9 adequately answered your question here. We do not want you to have conflicting events so we would not allow transfer of that event until your schedule has cleared. It helps you from making a mistake, it helps the EO, and it frees up the spot for another attendee. It is managing the system in the most proactive way.

Mike Boozer 
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by selene314 mikeboozer
#18

mikeboozer wrote:
rutherfordr wrote:
So if my friend is going to transfer his ticket to me, but I have a ticket for a different event at the same time, will the transfer work?
(Hint: It should. Please don't make us manage your system for you!)

I think matthias9 adequately answered your question here. We do not want you to have conflicting events so we would not allow transfer of that event until your schedule has cleared. It helps you from making a mistake, it helps the EO, and it frees up the spot for another attendee. It is managing the system in the most proactive way.Mike Boozer 
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

As more events shift to e-tickets, please consider adding a way to clear one's schedule (with no refund) after the half-hour-before-start deadline to return tickets.

Depending on how your database works, it might be simple to turn on the "allow overlapping events" flag that tournaments, parking, etc. already use.

There are legitimate reasons why someone might miss the beginning of an event or leave early. Their character got killed. They didn't realize they needed to bring a constructed deck. Their kid needed a nap at an inopportune time. The GM overestimated how much time the game would take to complete. Etc.

The policy has been that unused paper tickets become generics. That allows the person who declines to participate in one event to use the same ticket to play something else in the same time slot. Likewise someone who is carrying regular generic tickets can use them after leaving an event early.
But that capability will no longer exist when paper generics are replaced by GMs issuing e-tickets at the event itself.

Posted by mikeboozer selene314
#19

selene314 wrote:
mikeboozer wrote:
rutherfordr wrote:
So if my friend is going to transfer his ticket to me, but I have a ticket for a different event at the same time, will the transfer work?
(Hint: It should. Please don't make us manage your system for you!)

I think matthias9 adequately answered your question here. We do not want you to have conflicting events so we would not allow transfer of that event until your schedule has cleared. It helps you from making a mistake, it helps the EO, and it frees up the spot for another attendee. It is managing the system in the most proactive way.Mike Boozer 
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

As more events shift to e-tickets, please consider adding a way to clear one's schedule (with no refund) after the half-hour-before-start deadline to return tickets.Depending on how your database works, it might be simple to turn on the "allow overlapping events" flag that tournaments, parking, etc. already use.
There are legitimate reasons why someone might miss the beginning of an event or leave early. Their character got killed. They didn't realize they needed to bring a constructed deck. Their kid needed a nap at an inopportune time. The GM overestimated how much time the game would take to complete. Etc.
The policy has been that unused paper tickets become generics. That allows the person who declines to participate in one event to use the same ticket to play something else in the same time slot. Likewise someone who is carrying regular generic tickets can use them after leaving an event early.
But that capability will no longer exist when paper generics are replaced by GMs issuing e-tickets at the event itself.

Generics will not be replaced until we are at or near a much higher e-ticket capacity so they will still be available to use. So there is no worry there. GM's will still be able to take generics or unused tickets even if their event is e-ticketed.

"Clearing ones schedule" become moot since you can still use these generics and other event tickets to attend.
 

Posted by mikeboozer
#20

This topic has gotten off track...my fault. If you have questions about e-ticketing and how it works please start a topic about it in the E-Ticketing 2020 forum! We will be happy to answer your questions and take your feedback.

To be clear e-ticketing of events is not happening all at once. That is to say that it will be a gradual process over a few year to make more and more events e-ticketed. The goal is to get the vast majority of events e ticketed. Until then we will still have paper tickets and generic tickets.

Locking this one now.

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