• Created by Unknown User (marvel@mit.edu), last modified by Unknown User (nsniu@mit.edu) on Apr 19, 2020 01:18

Responsibilities

  1. Print tickets well in advance (ask set designer for number of seats)
  2. Contact professors to give free tickets to their students
  3. Contact community connections
  4. Arrange booth hours
  5. Manage TechCash Payments
  6. Make sure the officers have a stash of one-dollar bills
  7. Find two or three people to help you per night.
    1. House manager or usher hands out programs, rips tickets, and occasionally seats latecomers, although if they want to see the show, you can do it too.
    2. No fancy name, but the other two people help you sell tickets. Only one helper is needed on slow nights.
  8. Email reminders in the morning of each performance.
  9. Close reservations (or ask the webmaster to) when they exceed the number of seats in House
  10. Report show earnings

TechCash

The information you need to collect is Name, ID, and Amount. Fill out the TechCash contract.
You will need to have it signed by SAO and then submitted to the TechCash office before the event.
In the week after the show closes, submit the appropriate information to the office.

If you decide to use a Google form, find an appropriate script to send form results from the Ensemble Gmail account. You can use 2014S as an example.
Make sure this script is set to trigger: on submit (click on the icon that looks like a clock).
The form on the Ensemble website is easy to use, but Google forms store information better. Decide which to use! Either way, stick to a single form.

Buying/printing tickets

  1. Get onto a computer that has InDesign on it. The iMacs in the student center should have it on them, and the entire Adobe CS2 is available for free on their website.

  2. Download the Ensemble Tickets Merge and Much Ado Mail Merge files from this wiki. Choose the Sala or KLT file depending on show location.

  3. Open the Much Ado Mail Merge, and change the contents of the fields to the information for the current show. Save as a .csv file.

  4. Open the Ensemble Tickets Merge file. If there are any issues with the font, make sure you have The Real Font and Merriweather downloaded on your computer. Search for a free download online, click on the .ttf or .otf file in the downloaded folder and click install in order to use them. The Merriweather (TT) font may show up weirdly in the Merge file at first, so just replace with Merriweather.

  5. Click on “Window” > “Utilities” > “Data Merge.” There should be a box that pops up with the fields from the Mail Merge file listed.

  6. Click on the three lines in top left of the box, and choose “Select Data Source.” Choose the .csv file that you updated with the information for the current show.

  7. Check the "Preview" box in the bottom left of the popup to make sure all the information is displaying correctly.

  8. Currently it should display the information for the first date. Click on “File” > “Export” and export as a pdf. Make sure to save the file with a distinctive name, i.e. “Much 13” for the performance of Much Ado on the 13th. Double check all the information is correct!

  9. Return to the popup box with "Preview" selected–on the bottom right, you should be able to flip through the different dates. Alternatively, click on the arrow to the right of the .csv title and choose a number in 'single record' to open each date as a separate tab. Export and save a pdf for each date of the show.

  10. Go to http://copytech.mit.edu/.
  11. Click "Ready to print? Upload your files now!" on the right
  12. Log in
  13. Go to "Upload A File: Multiple Files?"
  14. Upload all the ticket files
  15. Click "Add to Cart"
  16. Fill in the options.
    1. Order site (top right): Main campus
    2. 'Color, BW, and Plex' tab: black and white, 1 sided; 'Paper' tab: choose the color (choose one that includes the word "cover")
    3. In "Other Notes", mention that these are show tickets
    4. At the bottom, choose quantities, suggested numbers are below, but you can check expected audience size with officers, the TD, and your reservation list:
      1. Friday and Saturday of 1st weekend: 8x (=96 tickets)
      2. Sunday and Thursday: 6x (=70 tickets)
      3. Friday and Saturday of 2nd weekend: 9x (=108 tickets) --> remember that you can use leftovers from the other nights if you need more physical tickets
  17. In "Billing Information," use "Cost Object" = 2720524 (main account) -- check with the Treasurer.
  18. Double check and submit order!
  19. Wait for an email telling you they're ready then go pick them up (basement of building 11)

The night of a performance

Times are for an 8pm performance, adjust accordingly for other times

  • Set up booth at 7pm at the latest
  • Make sure the cash box has a good supply of $1-bills, if not ask the officers to re-supply it
  • Separate a number of tickets equal to the number of reservations, and make sure to not sell reserved tickets until 7:45
  • Sit at booth starting around 7:20, there will be few customers before 7:30 but having a presence at front of house is a good idea.
    • Make sure you are on headset, or have an easy way to communicate with the Stage Manager
  • Selling tickets, suggested strategy:
    • for 1 ticket seller (slow nights)
      • Take a person's name and check their reservation, circle the dollar amount on the ticket and charge them.
    • for 2 ticket sellers (normal nights)
      • First person has the list of reservations, the ticket piles and a pen. Second person has the cash box
      • Have the first person check reservations, circle the dollar amount on the tickets and hand said tickets to the second person
      • Have the customer move to the side and pay second person
      • This allows for the first person to take a second customer while the first customer is paying
    • for 3 ticket sellers (nights when you expect to close to capacity)
      • The extra person will sit between the two jobs described above and do all ticket circling and handling.
  • Once the line has disappeared, confer with the Stage Manager about closing house. (around 8:05pm)
  • Once house is closed, count ticket stubs while waiting for any late-commers (or have the House Manager do this)
    • When letting in late-commers, make sure you are doing it in a way that won't inconvenience the audience or the actors, discuss this ahead of time with the Stage Manager
Selling out
  • As you will notice, only about 80% of reservations are picked up. You can therefore reserve for ~10% more than you have seats. Be weary of large parties when figuring out this number, they might mess it up for you.
  • If you have reserved out, make two lines
    • one that leads all the way to the table, for reserved tickets
    • one that stops a few paces back for walk-ins.
    • you might want to consider making a sign telling comps and people who have paid at booth to come directly to the table
  • Starting at about 7:45-7:50, if the line for people with reservations disappears, start allowing walk-ins to buy tickets
  • Remember that you can probably add a few more seats to your audience, to accommodate more people, just make sure to not violate any fire codes
    • Talk to the TD and Set Designers ahead of time to know where you can add seats, and indicate this to the House Manager/Usher so they can take care of it, should the need arise.

Professors

Names

Shakespeare

  • Diana Henderson (Writing with Shakespeare - F12) - dianah@mit.edu
  • Shankar Raman (Shakespeare - F12) - sram@mit.edu

Literature

  • Peter Donaldson (Comedy - F12) - psdlit@mit.edu
  • Wyn Kelley, Noel Jackson (Writing about Literature - F12) - wkelley@mit.edu, njackson@mit.edu

Acting

  • Keeley, Kim, Anna, Alan, Janet, Jay, etc.

WGS

  • E. Wood (Feminist Thought - F12)
  • C. Capozzola (Gender and Law - F12)

Other

  • Tom and Kate Delaney (EC Housemasters) - tdelaney@mit.edu and kdelaney@mit.edu
  • Christine (Chris) Kelly (Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication) - ckelly@mit.edu
Sample Email

Dear Professors,

This spring, the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble is producing "Julius Caesar", directed by Directory McDirectorFace. We have an enthusiastic cast and crew and are anticipating an excellent production.

In order to promote theater at MIT, the Ensemble is offering free tickets to students enrolled in Theater, History, and related classes. Tickets are available for the first weekend and second Thursday of our run: March 15, 16, and 21 at 8 PM and March 17 at 2 PM. All shows are performed in La Sala De Puerto Rico, on the second floor of the Student Center. We'd be delighted to host any number of your students. These tickets are entirely free for any interested student.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. More information for you or your students can be found, and reservations can be made, on the show website, http://web.mit.edu/ensemble/www/shows/2013s/. Simply have your students indicate that they are in your class when they make the reservation.

Best regards,

Community Connections

Personal
  • Wellesley Shakespeare Society (President)
  • lruddy@mit.edu (Boston Area MIT Alum Association)
Newspapers
  • aucoin@globe.com
  • ostriker@globe.com
  • events@bostonmagazine.com
  • RFord@eagletribune.com
  • features@ledger.com
  • calendar@thejewishadvocate.com
  • letters@phx.com
  • jgantz@phx.com
  • cclay@phx.com (Carolyn Clay)
  • westarts@globe.com
  • tbyrne@globe.com (Terry Byrne)
  • listings@weeklydig.com
  • bb@theswellesleyreport.com
Theater Specific
  • listings@theatermania.com
  • larry@theatermirror.com
Other

 

Ticket Files

Much Ado Mail Merge.csv

Ensemble Tickets Merge Sala.indd

Ensemble Tickets Merge KLT.indd

 

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