Virtual Box Office

April 2012 Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 01:31:00 +0000

Welcome to the April Virtual Box Office Newsletter! We have a number of new features to tell you about, and introduce you to a few new events!

Latest News and Announcements

It is April, and we've partnered with our first organizations in Russia, the USA and New Zealand - this is very exciting as we never expected such a rapid uptake of our system internationally.

We are working on enhancing our reseller program as well, so that professionals in the performing arts industry can take advantage of Virtual Box Office.

Special Offer - Free Site Branding

For the months of March, April and May 2012, Virtual Box Office will be offering a free site branding package for all new clients. This service allows organizations to style the ticketing engine to meet their own web site's layout and colours.

The free site branding offer includes:

Initial branding of the ticketing engine
Up to 2 re-brands or adjustments per year
Custom e-ticket design

Visit our site for more details and examples.

New Features and Enhancements

In our last release, we've enhanced many parts of the Virtual Box Office system, as well as launched a few new features.

New - Merchandise / Product options - sell your merchandise online along side tickets
Enhanced - Streamlined merchant account approval - most applications approved within 2 business days
Enhanced - Additional 1300 services - enhanced reporting and call management
Expanded - SMS capabilities expanded to other regions.
Special Offer - For the months of March, April and May 2012, Virtual Box Office will be offering a free site branding package for all new clients. This service allows organisations to style the ticketing engine to meet their own web site's layout and colours.
Updated - Social Networking bookmarks updated to let your customers 'like' you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more

Many more features are planned for the next release - please let us know if you have any specific requests or requirements.

What's coming up?

We have some exciting new technologies launching in 2012 - including Online Seating Allocation, apps for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone, and a new Build-Your-Own-IVR for telephone bookings and event announcements.

Keep an eye on future newsletters for more information.

Sunset Boulevard on sale today

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000

CLOC proudly announces the Victorian non-professional premiere of this spectacular, larger-than-life tale of a faded and deluded movie star and the fantasy world she creates around her as she prepares for her triumphant screen comeback (or as Norma says “I hate that word – it’s a return”).

Tickets for Sunset Boulevard go on sale today.

In 1950, Billy Wilder wrote and directed what is now regarded as one of the finest movies ever made – Sunset Boulevard, starring silent screen legend Gloria Swanson as silent screen legend Norma Desmond. A biting, incisive insight into the star system of the ‘old’ Hollywood, set in the era when talkies had overtaken silent movies, Sunset Boulevard became an instant smash hit, a multi-award winning success (nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 3), an all-time classic and is regularly featured on the ‘top ten’ lists of best movies ever made.

Friday May 4	Open 8pm
Saturday May 5	Show 8pm
Sunday May 6	Show 2pm (Matinee)
Wednesday May 9	Show 8pm
Thursday May 10	Show 8pm
Friday May 11	Show 8pm
Saturday May 12	Show 8pm
Sunday May 13	Show 2pm (Matinee)
Wednesday May 16	Show 8pm
Thursday May 17	Show 8pm
Friday May 18	Show 8pm
Saturday May 19	Show 8pm FINAL

February 2012 Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:55:00 +0000

Latest News and Annoucements

In January 2012 we achieved a milestone - just over 100 organisations are now using Virtual Box Office, with more coming onboard every week. Whilst we're focusing on community and non-professional organisations, it's delightful to see professional (paying!) groups making use of our system.

New Features and Enhancements

In our last release, we've enhanced many parts of the Virtual Box Office system, as well as launched a few new features.

Updated - Customer fields editing - create your own drop down values
New - Image lightbox/gallery for events and performances
New - 7 additional e-ticket templates and upload-your-own-template facility
New - Reseller program for agents and referral partners
Updated - Enhanced text editor with HTML and Multimedia features
Updated - Customers are now prompted automatically after each performance for their reviews
New - To Do List added, providing handy updates and hints on new features
Updated - Event Listing now includes alerts when settings are missing or need reviewing
Updated - Social Networking bookmarks updated to let your customers 'like' you on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more

Many more features are planned for the next release - please let us know if you have any specific requests or requirements.

Featured Client - CLOC Musical Theatre

In 1950, Billy Wilder wrote and directed what is now regarded as one of the finest movies ever made – Sunset Boulevard, starring silent screen legend Gloria Swanson as silent screen legend Norma Desmond. A biting, incisive insight into the star system of the ‘old’ Hollywood, set in the era when talkies had overtaken silent movies, Sunset Boulevard became an instant smash hit, a multi-award winning success (nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 3), an all-time classic and is regularly featured on the ‘top ten’ lists of best movies ever made.

Tickets for CLOC's Victorian non-professional premiere of this spectacular event go on sale Monday 20th February. Click here for more information.

Featured Partner - Shows for Schools

Shows for Schools is the only national database of events for schools, providing an easy way of connecting performing arts companies and schools all around Australia. Shows for Schools opens the door to schools and teachers alike, increasing exposure to new and existing presenters. Shows for Schools has developed a unique service allowing for instant on line booking. Click here for more information or to see the shows they have available.

What's coming up?

New design launched!

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:08:00 +0000

After numerous discussions with clients and focus group reviews of the site, we have decided to redesign our customer portal to support new mobile and HTML5 technologies.

Originally the customer portal was designed with a fixed menu structure that was persistent throughout the user experience. This proved very successful, albeit possibly regarded as very 90's.

THe menu allowed users to access various administration tools simply and quickly without having to scroll through endless menus.

However, after being live for 8 months and with over 100 organisations and companies using the system on a daily basis, we found that 90% of the menu options were not being used frequently.

And so, to free up valuable screen space, we have redesigned the site to support a fast, small, drop down menu structure, listing only those top 10% items that our user expect. All the options are still available, simply under a 'More...' option at the bottom of each menu.

The site is now dramatically faster, and has left the 90's!

This is free? Are we mad? How does this help Performing Arts Companies and Venues?

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 07:08:00 +0000

es, in a way we are mad! Mad at other ticketing agencies and providers reaping excessive profits by double-dipping on booking fees.
Most other agencies charge at least two sets of fees - and often three or more. Here's an example:

Example Ticketing Agency

The Fee	What it is?	Who is charged?	Who gets the fee?	Does the customer know?
"Inside Fee"	This is the "service" fee charged to the promoter, theatre company or organisation for the privilege to use the software.	The organsier	The agency	No
"Credit Card Fee"*	This is the merchant fee charged to the promoter to pay for Credit Card processing costs	The organsier	The agency	No
"Outside Fee" or "Booking Fee"	This is the "fee" charged to the customer, for the privilege to use the software.	The customer	The agency	Yes
"eTicket/Ticket Fee" or "eTicket Printing Fee"	This is the "fee" charged to the customer, for the privilege downloading a PDF that they can "print at home"	The customer	The agency	Yes

*Some friendly agencies allow organizers to provide their own Merchant Account (credit card processing facility), but they are few and far between!

How are we any different?

We have two, simple, models.

Model 1 - Amateur, Non/Semi-Professional, Educational - Free!
For these types of organisations, who chose to use their own merchant facility (which they have to pay for anyway!), we do not charge a cent!
For organisations that don't have their own merchant facility, we can provide one, by passing on our merchant facility costs.

Model 2 - Commercial - single, simple fee.
A simple, per-ticket fee is charged - we believe this fee is reasonable, and pays our costs for hosting this system.
For commercial organisations that don't have their own merchant facility, we can provide one with a competitive merchant facility fee.

How do we offer a free service to non-commercial organisations?

Simply! We apply a small margin to our commercial client rates, which covers the cost of providing the service to our free clients. Like any business, we exist to be profitable, but profitable only on our customers who can afford normal fees.

Why are we doing this?

There are many reasons, but to summarize our position:

Non-commercial organisations, in particular schools and amateur performing arts companies, are being charged exorbitant ticketing rates by the industry
We want to see non-commercial organisations grow - and this is our way of helping!
This is a great opportunity to put something back into the community!
These services help non-commercial organisations promote their shows and events to a much wider audience by reducing operational costs.
It reduces the budgeting need of non-commercial organisation - the same fee applies for 1 ticket or 1,000 tickets - nothing!
We're sick of the hidden fees that have become "standard" within the global ticketing industry.
We hope to make a difference - particular in forcing our larger competitors to be more community spirited!

How does this help Venues?

Venues can also use Virtual Box Office for all the same reasons!

New Help Site & User Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:09:00 +0000

Finally our Help System and User Guides are live - check it out here.
The guide include:

General Information
Troubleshooting
Frequently Asked Questions

Email Marketing Tools are Live

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:09:00 +0000

Today we launched our Email Marketing and Broadcast tools, providing a low cost delivery tool, with full image, delivery and link tracking capabilities.
Full features include:

Database de-duplication
HTML and Text message editor
Template Management
Bounce-back tracking
Click-through and link tracking
Delivery Tracking

The only winning move is not to play!

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Finally, Virtual Box Office is no longer in beta and is officially live! 2011 is looking to be a very exciting year, with many new features coming online in the next few months:

Seating Allocation
Email Broadcast Services
IVR Call Centre Support

Our mission

noreply@blogger.com (Matthew) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:07:00 +0000

Virtual Box Office's aims are to provide a high-quality, always-available, cost-effective online ticketing solution. With a focus on small, amateur and semi-professional markets, Virtual Box Office is free for many organisations, helping grow non-professional entertainment around the world.

There are many organisations and groups out there who need ticketing or booking software, but simply can't afford traditional services. Virtual Box Office was created to cater to those markets, as we dont believe they should they miss out!

These markets include, but aren't limited to:

Amateur performance companies
Schools and educational groups*
Not-for-Profit, Charity or NGO groups
Semi-professional companies in start-up mode