Reviews


Mizel Center for Arts & Culture

Ticket Turtle is a remarkable product and a remarkable company.

Usually it's enough to be better *or* cheaper than the competition, but Ticket Turtle is both.  We selected Ticket Turtle after researching half a dozen providers for whom high fees and inflexibility verging on insensitivity were the norm.  I can only imagine what it must be like for their customers to try and get tech support.

Ticket Turtle's generous terms of service, unstinting support and continuous technological innovation have reinforced my initial opinion that we made the right decision for the Center's operations and for our customers.


Sincerely,
Eric Hübler
Former Marketing Director
Mizel Center for Arts & Culture
erichubler@earthlink.net
(Eric is open to contact.)


Steel Beam Theatre

This is just a quick note to tell you how impressed we are with the success we've had in using Ticket Turtle. As we fast approach our 2008-09 season, (our 8th season), we look forward to continued increase in sales, decrease in phone calls, and increase in donations, all as a direct result of offering tickets online through our website. The reports you offer are most thorough and helpful as we plan our budgets and write our grants for the coming season. We are so happy to have become a Ticket Turtle family member! It has truly been a boost to our success!


Sincerely,
Donna Steele
Executive Director
Steel Beam Theatre


Who Stole My Dead Husband?

Ticket Turtle has been a huge success for us and our clients love it. Our staff enjoys the ease of use and I appreciate the ability to track all of our sales numbers. 70% of our sales now go through the web, easing the strain on our box office greatly. Thanks TT, keep it up!


Loren Castillo, Executive Producer
Who Stole My Dead Husband?
loren@whostolemydeadhusband.com
(503) 998-4868
(Loren is open to contact.)


Portland Actor's Conservatory

So great to hear that your experience getting tickets was easy. We are great fans of Ticket Turtle. When you are running a small non profit it's great to have a company, like this, who has your back. Signing on with them was one of the smartest things we ever did. It cut some of our work load at the Conservatory in half. And you know that old saying.....Time is money.


Beth Harper
Artistic Director
Portland Actor's Conservatory
bethh@actorsconservatory.com
(503) 274-1717
(Beth is open to contact.)

I just want to let you know I think your online ticket sales system is terrific! Kudos to you and, I suppose, Ticket Turtle, whoever they are. Easy, quick straightforward. I've used Ticketmaster and other systems before and have been driven crazy by complexity, superfluous questions and marketing baloney. Well done.

Bill


Tapestry Theatre

It’s hard to believe that just a few short years ago we were doing all our show ticketing by hand. TicketTurtle propelled us a giant leap forward by giving our patrons the ability to choose their own seats and print out their own tickets. Not content to stand pat, the TT staff continually improve and upgrade the system. Their personal and friendly service is a hallmark that any company should be proud to emulate. Thanks TT!


Judy Straalsund
Tapestry Theatre Company
PO Box 19844
Portland OR 97280
503-245-6919
ttc.pdx@att.net
Tapestry Theatre
(Judy is open to contact.)


BendFilm

BendFilm celebrates the brave voice of independent cinema through films, lectures, and education.

We just finished our second festival using Ticket Turtle as our only ticket sales tool. The first season (2006) we utilized the scanning capabilities in addition to the basic ticket sales functions of Ticket Turtle to greatly increase our ability to gather real time performance attendance data.

This last season (2007) we utilized the multi-tiered pricing capabilities of Ticket Turtle to increase our ticket sales.  I can't say enough positive things about the customer support we received from the Ticket Turtle staff.  Since we are a festival, we do tend to forget some things about Ticket Turtle between festivals.   The staff has been so wonderful in taking the time to retrain us.  Having looked around at other ticketing systems Ticket Turtle really gives BendFilm the best value.


Paul D. Abbott
BendFilm Volunteer Ticketing Operations Manager
BendFilm
paulabbott9@hotmail.com
(Paul is open to contact.)


Olympic Heights High School Performing Arts Theater

Spike,

Thank you so much for all your help getting us started and keeping us going with Ticket Turtle. We are a High School and sell LOTS of tickets for our Drama productions. In the past, it has been a nightmare trying to keep track of ticket sales, and trying to balance our records for each show. What used to take me hours on end of frustration and hair-pulling, now takes 4 minutes (I know, I timed myself LOL). I pull up an End of Show Report, and can reconcile in record time. Also, we are in a heavily populated Senior area, and I get calls all the time concerning lost tickets. To be able to pull a patron's record and re-print the missing ticket is an invaluable tool for me. Thank you for all that you do. Did I mention the impeccable customer service?


Sincerely,

Kim Murphy
Box officer
Olympic Heights High School
kemurphy@bellsouth.net
(Kim is open to contact.)


Northwest Children's Theatre

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to highly recommend Ticket Turtle. It has revolutionized the way we sell tickets, and our on-line ticket sales have doubled in this past year.

The system is so easy to use; training new employees on it is a breeze. We have had customers call us to say that the system is really simple to use. All they have to do is browse through the system, find their seats, finish the order, and have their tickets in hand without leaving home.

The other part that is great about the system is that it can be adapted to each individual ticket venue. The system can manage ticket packages, discounts, subscribers and one-time events as well as a full season of productions and performances.

Judy Kafoury
Managing Director
Northwest Children's Theatre and School
1819 NW Everett St.
Portland, Oregon 97209
503-222-2190
(Judy is open to contact.)


Astors' Beechwood Theatre Company

Ness,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say how slick that Meal Selections add-on is.  It is going to be a life saver come New Year's Eve!  Looking forward, we will be able to offer selections for all our shows and the ability to do multiple choices for meals and desserts and even drinks should we so desire (it would be nice to let them purchase bottles of champagne for their tables right through the reservation system) means less hassle for us and better customer service for our patrons.  Kudos to you and your crew!


Patrick Grimes
General Manager
580 Bellevue Ave
Newport, RI 02840
Astor's Beechwood Mansion
patrick@astorsbeechwood.com
(Patrick is open to contact.)


Grays Harbor College:  Bishop Performing Arts Center

Dear Ness,

I wanted you to know that our maiden voyage using Ticket Turtle was a complete success. The feedback from our patrons was very positive. They were thrilled to be able to select their own seats and take care of the their ticket purchases without traveling to the campus or one of our outlets. Everyone commented how easy it was to use.

However, the most enthusiasm by far came from Margo! She was thrilled with the amount of work it eliminated in our office, not to mention the paperwork reduction in the business office. The prompt and responsive support you provided was first rate. Your customer service was excellent!

We'd be pleased and proud to sing your praises to any other potential customers...just let us know. We're looking forward to having our entire next season with assigned seats using Ticket Turtle.

Sincerely,

Arlene Torgerson, Ed.D.
Vice President for Student Services
360-538-4066
Bishop Performing Arts Center
mhood@ghc.edu
(Margo is open to contact.)


Turf Valley Resort

Spike,

We just went live with Ticket Turtle today (about an hour ago, in fact) and I just wanted to take a moment to express what an absolute joy it has been to work with Jamie to get up and running.  I thank you for having a great product and phenomenal staff.  I look forward to a continued successful relationship with Ticket Turtle!


Andrea Bush
Web Manager/Database Maintenance Specialist
Turf Valley Resort
410-480-2422
410-465-1500 x2282
abush@turfvalley.com
(Andrea is open to contact.)

Hi Jamie,

I just wanted to give some feedback regarding our first show using TT. We had 90% of our guests print their tickets from their confirmation emails, which made my job a breeze!! The door list report was very helpful. I had a guest who had requested several seat exchanges and was confused the night of the show, luckily we had kept a log of each time she exchanged seats in TT and all those details printed out on the report, again making my job easier!! Just wanted to say everything went smoothly and I have enjoyed working with TT!


Dana
Box officer
Turf Valley Resort


Westchester Dance Theatre

We at West Chester Dance Theatre have been so happy with our decision to use Ticket Turtle as our ticket service. We are a small not for profit dance company, staffed entirely by volunteers. We have our Nutcracker performance December 16 and 17.

I chose Ticket Turtle after looking at several on-line ticketing services. I initially decided upon TT because all of your information was on your website. No submitting a request for quote and waiting to hear back from someone. No wondering what it will cost. It's all spelled out on the website. My decision was confirmed when I began communicating with you, first via e-mail and then via phone. All my questions were promptly answered. Because we had been doing everything with paper (the company didn't even own a computer), many of my questions were basic and you always answered them respectfully and often suggested solutions.

From start to finish, it took one week to get our system up and working. Your training was excellent but what was even more important was your availability after I was trained. As much as I thought I had absorbed it all during the training, as I began to set up our system, I had questions. Your on-line help is very good, but whenever I couldn't figure something out through help, you were just an e-mail or a phone call away.

I have to tell you that I was very nervous about opening day of ticket sales. We put tickets on sale to cast members' (over 100) families on Sunday, November 19 (the day before they went on sale to the general public). The day was a huge success. We sold 631 tickets, with more than half being sold on-line. We had 3 box office volunteers at computers taking ticket orders from those who needed to use a coupon or wanted to purchase in person.

The feedback from those ordering on-line was extremely positive. They loved being able to select their seats and complete their ticket order without leaving home! The people who came to the box office were very happy with the system, too. We were able to process orders quite quickly. In the past, the family presale day would have been long and exhausting. This year, it was easy.

Since then, we've staffed the box office for 3 hours a day and have relied upon the majority of our patrons to purchase tickets on-line. They have been doing so. With the Thanksgiving holiday, we were closed from Wednesday through Sunday. How nice to know that we weren't losing sales over the holiday and that we won't return on Monday to an overflowing voice mail box.

Please feel free to share my experience with anyone considering Ticket Turtle. Thank you for all that you did to get us up and running in time for our Nutcracker.

Sincerely,

Deb T
Westchester Dance Theatre
wcdt@therockschool.net
(Deb is open to contact.)


Spotlighter's Theatre

The letter below was sent as an email by Fuzz Roark, addressing concerns a colleague had about using Ticket Turtle for their theatre, (names have been removed for anonymity, Fuzz Roark's comments are preceded by  >>>).

-I’m concerned about the expense of the operating costs. $612 is a lot of money for______.

>>> The cost per ticket is $0.65 - and that is a per ticket cost. It includes all tickets, those purchased on line as well as those purchased at the box office. This is the fee for offering online prepaid tickets as well as having the patron management. I can't say enough about the patron management - you can set up subscriptions on line - set up donor passes - offer special targeted marketing discounts with ads - send targeted emails to folks who attended a specific show announcing a similar show coming up --- just a lot of GREAT stuff to grow and maintain your audience.

There is only one transaction fee (3.5% for MC and Visa and 5% for Discover and Amex, and you can opt out of taking Discover and Amex cards if you wish) -- I don't know if you currently have credit card merchant services - but this is a great deal! And it can be used online or at the box office. A great deal - and really great for donations.

>>>Also - you have the option of passing the cost of ticketing to the online customer --- Spots decided to absorb the cost of the tickets -- but we did raise ticket prices -- but the amazing thing. Pre-TT we were selling tickets at $15 and $12, with an average ticket price (after comps and promos) just under $11. We raised our tickets to $18 and $15 --- and now we are seeing an average ticket price of over $14 - almost $15. And our Ticket Turtle Online average ticket is closer to $17. So it is actually paying for itself.

-I’m hip to the lessening the burden argument, but we have not had a burden to lessen.

>>> I am not familiar with your box office process -- and will tell you that there is a learning curve - about 3 weeks! So advance training and practice is very needed. But - someone can learn to operate TT in a couple of sessions!! Even folks that are computer-phobic! The burden that was lessened was two-fold:

--- 1, If we had a mad rush of 30 people coming in at 10 til curtain, we weren't holding the show to process all their tickets. We were able to just hand tickets to the ones that had pre-paid and move them into the theatre. Plus, we have a REALTIME idea of how many people are still "on their way" ---- and we have strong idea 24 hours or more what the house will be like so we can decide to paper the house if needed.

--- 2, No one had to spend time putting info into a data base so we could manage our patrons. Suddenly I could email 90% of our 2400 patrons about an upcoming event -- or send them a monthly newsletter. And all it took was the time to compose the email.

I could also include special Members Only discounts! And then I could print labels or do a Word Merge letter to the patrons without email. (Just as comparison ---- the Constant Contact type of email services --- which allow you to manage a patron list -- run about $25-$75 a month depending upon the level of service and the number of emails allowed. Plus, TT tracks Bad email addresses --- if an email bounces back - you get a message and you can correct the problem or delete the email if needed.

-I love the cool toys that come with it. Those are definitely a plus.

>>> The cool toys are great !!!! The reports alone are fantastic! The patron management component is fantastic!! I did a winter email only donation request -- and we gained about $2000 in donations! And then you have the constant option of the Add-On donation! Anytime a patron has their credit card out making a ticket purchase, ask for a donation -- they may only give you $4 (two tickets at $18 = $36, so they round it up to $40) --- well guess what, 2 tickets (1.30 TT Fee and CC Fee $2, using the 5% rate) cost you $3.30 -- you still made $.70 on the transaction!

Plus, there is a notes screen for each patron -- that you can enter great info --- like, needs hearing assist unit, remind them about "SHOW" , you can also include personal info --- ask about her cat --- whatever -- it just makes the customer have a stronger link to your theatre and allows all your box office staff to be able to connect and serve your patrons better.

-I love the donations angle. Wonder if we’ll get $612 worth? Perhaps this is an item for ___ board discussion – asking for donations. We have not done that of late.

>>> STARTING ASKING FOR MONEY! You are a 501-c-3 --- a PUBLIC CHARITY, if you have filed your MD COR92- -- then you have the legal right in MD to ask for and solicit funds from individuals! Your patrons will be your greatest backers --- and if you begin to ask them on a routine basis --- they will begin to give you money!!!! I do four MAJOR campaigns each year --- Pre-Season (July/Aug) with our new season mailing --- and to the surprise of our Marketing Consultant - who thought that this was pre-mature --- we get about $5000 in pre-season donations!

I do a winter plea -- usually right before Thanksgiving - when folks are in that holiday warm & fuzzy mood -- plus realizing that they need a tax deduction! I do one in March/April as we prepare for the Young Actors Academy and the summer, and then one as the season ends in May/June. And I keep the info for making a donation in our program (so everyone that comes to a show can see who has given and how easy it is to give!) and I verbally talk about donations during curtain speech. Plus it is on our website ---- and the ticketing site!

Gee --- it sounds like I am working for Ticket Turtle -- but, can't say enough GREAT things about it! It has made my busy life less busy, with monotonous detail stuff --- so I can focus on the important stuff --- but it has also made my life busier --- in that we have more traffic due to TT and I am able to do more with my patrons!

FUZZ Roark, Executive Director
SPOTLIGHTERS Theatre
817 Saint Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21202-2472
www.spotlighters.org
410-752-1225
410-752-1299 FAX
443-540-3134 Cell
(Fuzz is open to contact).

Stray Cat Theatre

We moved to Ticket Turtle mid-season last year (06-07) after becoming fatally fed up with the non-flexibility and poor customer service response of our previous online box office provider, with whom we were going on in our third year. That company has a fine product for where we were in the past, but I was sick of the customer service issues, and our company had reached a point where we needed more flexibility and additional functionality in the front-end, back-end, and customer contact/patron management areas of our operations or else we were going to have to start shelling out money to other service providers. Toward the end of our second-to-last show in the 06-07 season I finally got the nudge I needed from our old provider to say- no more.

So. We used TT for our season-closer last season, and we recently went live on TT for the 07-08 Season.

We are just about to start marketing efforts for season Flex Pass sales.

Cause guess what? TT can actually DO Flex Passes.

Although I had initial concerns about TT seeming home grown compared to the slick look and feel of our previous provider and some of the other alternatives we had considered, Jennifer, with backup from Ness and Spike, engaged me with an extensive, no holds barred, back-and-forth email discussion of what TT has to offer, and how it stacks up against some of their competitors (including our previous provider). I admittedly left the exchange undecided, but when yet another customer service issue with our current provider removed all uncertainty about our need to make a change, I took another look at TT and found that everything the TT folks had said is true- it has all the core functionality we need, and several nice to have features that were previously lacking. I really wasn't sure about the patron interface at first, but everyone loves it. When I set up a demo account to have my partners and friends check out the patron interface, the positive feedback was unanimous. And I didn't get any of the patron complaints I routinely had to deal with on the other system.

I was excited by the prospect of being able to manage all box office activity and inventory including comps and cash sales from walkup traffic with a single system. We have struggled for years with trying to sell Flex Pass packages through our previous two systems, and in looking for alternatives, TT had the first product that really seemed to have a good solution for the whole Flex Pass deal. It may take some getting used to for both us and our patrons as we implement TT Flex Pass sales in 07-08, but it will not only give us an easy way to efficiently market and sell Flex Passes and also to accurately track Flex Pass usage, but the TT functionality caters to a common patron request we've received more and more: a self-serve, online means of redeeming Flex Passes to reserve seats. That makes our patrons happy, and it reduces our overhead in fulfilling Flex Pass reservations (and TT makes it plenty easy for us to handle phone or email requests when a patron for one reason or another does not wish to take the online self-serve route).

Back to my initial impression that TT has a home grown feel for a moment... I still think the term fits, but only because it speaks to the roots of the company's mission and its people, and not because they are peddling a kludgy retail/inventory tracking database system that was half-adapted to selling theatre tickets. TT has grown a really useful, flexible, and patron-friendly system built from the ground up to do exactly what it says it does: it makes it easy for a small-ish theatre organization (especially a non-profit one that wants to accept online donations and integrate patron management with donor management) to sell tickets online and at the door (with a little practice we will be able to enter cash sales into the system almost as easily as we can check off an advance reservation, and yes, we can really take credit cards on the fly now, with a line out the door, without feeling like time is standing still... No more hours of inventory reconciliation at the end of the night!).

Oh, and the built-in email list management and HTML mailer capabilities are very cool. We love being able to create our own HTML email layouts any way we want, and being able to generate custom patron email lists based on all sorts of criteria with no hassle (not just for marketing purposes- on a couple of occasions, we were able to use a custom mailing list to notify patrons about traffic restrictions that would have made them LATE) -- the email message data merge options are pretty extensive too.

Anyway- if you are looking for a company that has a slick marketing website to promote their product, you may well come to the same conclusion that I did at first, but if you stop there you'll be missing out. Since we signed up, I have come to regard being 'home grown' as a good thing- TT is a small outfit, and they really are still growing... and fast, by the sound of it. But they seem to be putting their resources into important things like added functionality, ongoing improvements, and responsive customer service rather than marketing flash (or Flash, for that matter!).

In a complete 180 from the other online solutions we looked at, the TT system is extremely configurable and mostly transparent (if you know what you are looking at), so with a little time and invention, we have been able to and shall continue to add all the flash and slickness to our custom TT pages that we could ever hope for. As a serious geek and general perfectionist, I feel like I have put TT customer service through its paces (along with several aspects of the TT system itself) both in terms of trying to get myself trained to get the most out of the system, and in terms of identifying opportunities to improve the system- sometimes just for our particular needs, and often in ways that will hopefully benefit many other TT customers. Access to such dedicated and friendly customer service, along with the feeling that we have a significant stake in the ongoing development of the product, both on the back-end and in the patron interface, has been invaluable to us and it gives me confidence in the continued growth of TT.

Benjamin Monrad
Managing Director
Stray Cat Theatre
bmonrad@straycattheatre.org
(Benjamin is open to contact.)


St. George's Academy

Good day Ness and Spike,

I've completed a few test trials on the website with the final changes made, and everything seems to be working very well.  I just wanted to thank you both for your hard work.  I am really pleased to have a service where the customer service IS great, and solutions to any challenges are delivered so quickly.

Spike, you are very patient, available any time, and are always able to rectify any problems I'm having. You truly are what customer service is.  Ness and Spike, I really appreciate all the time you have put in to make both payment options available for our school and school community (even though this is not what any other theatre is doing).  It truly will make all of the difference to the success of our ticket sales.  I will be in touch about the scanning option as we approach performance days.  Just wanted to let you know I appreciate all of your help.


Tanya Tourout
Box Office Manager
St. George's Academy
Vancouver, BC


Bergen County Players

You guys are doing a great job.

The system is working to the point where we're probably going to start using one-person shifts, at least for our more proficient box office volunteers. Raising our ticket price by $1 for our Mainstage productions has essentially paid for the entire system, including our Bank Discount fees. And nearly 60% of our tickets are being purchased online, which is fantastic.


Theatre Manager
The Bergen County Players


Blue Monkey Theatre

Thanks Ness, I've really enjoyed getting to know you and Spike.  You guys have been endlessly patient with my lack of tech savvy.  We are very lucky to have a resource like Ticket Turtle in our own backyard.


Patty Blodgett
Former Office Manager
Blue Monkey Theatre
PO Box 82065
Portland OR 97202


Dave Monnie

(Dave has used the Ticket Turtle system as a patron of a number of performing arts organizations)

You guys have put together a great, efficient, affordable system. As an event consumer, I've found my purchases through Ticket Turtle to be a refreshing change in a world where so many events nail you with an unadvertised "convenience" charge on each ticket, often making the total cost up to 50% more than the advertised ticket price. (I've decided to stop going to events where everyone is forced to buy tickets through such greedy sources!). Ticket Turtle is the way convenience and efficiency in ticketing are supposed to work!


Dave Monnie
Happy Theatre Patron
(Sorry if this sounds too rant-like against Ticketmaster and their ilk - but those guys are just so wrong!)


First Folio Shakespeare Festival

I can't believe how much easier TicketTurtle has made my job right from day one.  Ticket sales are a breeze both online and in our box office, and with just a couple of clicks I can call forth all the data I need from sales info to donor info to mailing lists.  My bookkeeping has gone from being a time-consuming monster to a minor part of my day.  Not sure what I'm going to do with all the time I'm saving---but I sure look forward to figuring it out!


David Rice
Producer
First Folio Shakespeare Festival
146 Juliet Ct.
Clarendon Hills, IL 60514