Ticket Sales Update
Information on Writers Festival Ticket Sales
We are still catching our breath after an incredible opening day of ticket sales. Thank you so much for your continued, overwhelming support for Writers at Woody Point. We could not do what we do without you.
However, we have been approached with concerns about how our ticket sales work, especially about the virtual waiting room and queue. We value our supporters' experience, and appreciate the opportunity to clarify.
When ticket sales began on May 11 there were approximately 500 people on the Ticketpro site. Many of you would have noticed that you were placed into a virtual waiting room if you signed in early. The operators of Ticketpro have explained to us that it’s not a line-up – but rather a mechanism to prevent the site from crashing in moments of high demand; everyone signed in before or at 12:30 pm sharp, were quickly allowed into the site, in random order. After that, as buyers placed tickets into their carts they were no longer available for purchase, unless the customer didn't finalize the sale, and tickets were released back to the system.
From there it was a simple matter of very high demand and limited supply. Our legal capacity in the Heritage Theatre is approximately 200. The numbers alone make it clear that not everyone would get the tickets they wanted, and that many people, including those who may have already made travel plans, would come away disappointed.
We are sorry about the dissapointment, but please understand that we have always believed that the only fair way to distribute tickets is first-come, first-served. Way back when, that meant getting on the phone and calling us. Now it means operating through a ticket sales website as you do for virtually any other event. We do not sell places at the front of the line. You can’t get there by donating money, buying a special ticket category, or holding a certain credit card. Whoever you are, you have the same chance as anyone else.
If any extra tickets become available between now and the festival, we will put them on sale through Ticketpro – and give you plenty of notice. But understand that those numbers will be very small. During the festival, we will deal with any extra capacity at the door before the shows – again, first-come, first-served. Doors open a half hour before each performance. We still have tickets available for some of our events and everyone is welcome at our free, non-ticketed shows.
A note on Facebook ticket scammers: Unfortunately, they became an issue for us last year.
Many of our real ticket buyers have traditionally used social media platforms to buy and sell extra tickets, and the issues with scammers are new to us. Scalping hasn't been an issue at our festival, and our tickets tend to change hands at face value. But dishonest folks have found our sites, and pretend they have tickets on hand that they are willing to sell, solicit offers, and then try to take money before disappearing. It’s not just our problem. You've undoubtedly dealt with similar scams if you’re connected to the world by phone or internet.
We do not control social media other than our official Facebook and Instagram pages. We appreciate that the volunteers who operate other classified pages have done their best to weed out the bad apples, but a few will still slip through.
So once again, a note of caution:
Be wary when buying tickets.
Ask many questions, the more Woody Point specific the better.
Don’t send money for tickets to anyone unless you are very certain of their identity. If possible, purchase tickets in person.
It is very unlikely that anyone has large numbers of tickets in hand that they are suddenly willing to sell (the sales process mitigates against that….), especially at this early date.
If an offer seems too good to be true – it almost certainly is.
Thank you for your patience, and we wish everyone the most pleasent Woody Point Experience possible.
See you in August.
