Subscription seat map
The Subscription Buy path, accessed either via the box office subscription screens, or via the subscription public page, sells tickets based on a choice of package, and then performance series (such as the first Saturday of each shows run, etc).
This path has an added feature of recording and storing the patron's choice of seats in each venue by series as their "subscription seats", so that if they exchange tickets for individual performances, the record is still retained of what subscriber seats they owned at the beginning of the season.
This way the system will know what seats they own going into the next season, separately from any exchanges they might have done on individual performances.
This tool will enable us to expand on this functionality in the future toward subscription renewal rollover from one season to the next. Please talk to us about what capabilities we have at this time to help you with this process. We are able to pre-build subscription reservations for you as renewal orders.
You can then view the subscription seat map from a patron's subscription order, change their subscriber seats independent of their individual performance seats, and view the subscription seat map by series and venue, and then drill down into a seat to the patron's subscription order and subscriber seats.
How It Works
When a subscription order is built via the subscription buy path, the patron or box officer chooses the package and # of each person type, then chooses a performance series that contains a set of specific performances, then chooses the subscription seats from one or more assigned seating venues.
The choice of these seats is recorded not only as seats for the individual performances, but also as their "subscriber seats" that they will own.
If individual performance seats are exchanged moving forward, the subscription seat map, visible from the subscription buy path, will still show their subscriber seats as "taken", EVEN IF all individual performance seats are exchanged.
In the event that ALL individual performance seats are exchanged, the subscription seat map will change the seat from yellow block with black figure to a yellow block with white figure, and if you hover over that seat the system will pop up a display of "seat number: Sub map entry (unticketed): [patron name]" to indicate that the seat is available for the individual performances in the series, but not as a subscriber seat.
Subscription Seat Map Access
To access the subscription seat map tools, to view or changes a patrons subscription seats, you must first turn it on on you Global Settings setup screen. Click "Turn on view of subscription seat map in box office?" Checkbox under the ticketing area, and save at the bottom.
The subscription seat map can be accessed in two ways:
1. Lookup a patron in box office view, and click the Subscription Seat Map link on the sub menu at the top. You can then select the Season > GO, select the Series > GO, select the Venue > GO. NOTE That accessing the sub seat map this way gives you VIEW access only. You cannot change the patron's subscribers seats in this view.
2. Lookup a season ticket patron, click the view link into their existing subscription order to access the Order Details screen, and then use the "subscriber seats" button on the order ticket rows to go to the subscription seat map related to the venue/series that the performances is in. This is the method to use if you need to remove or change the patrons' subscriber seats. Remember that this affects their ownership of their subscriber seats and what we can roll over into a new subscriber order for next year.
From the subscription seat map view accessed via #2 above, you can un-check their current seats, and then choose different seats that you want to be their subscription seats. NOTE, this does not change their seats for their existing performances on the package. This changes the subscription seats only that can be referenced for next season purchase. Likewise, exchanging seats on individual performances does not affect the subscription seat map seats.
OF NOTE
1) Remember that subscriber seats are assigned only by using the subscription buy path. If you compile a subscription order one show at a time, no subscriber seats are assigned.
2) If you release and entire subscription order prior to applying payment (using the "release all" button), the subscriber seats are released as well. If you release seats one at a time this will NOT release subscriber seats - you will need to release them from the subscriber seat map instead.
3) If the order is paid, the subscriber seats are locked, even if you later go in and release the entire order. The subscriber seats will need to be released as a separate step at that point, from the order purchase details screen and the "Subscriber Seats" button.
SEE ALSO: Box Office - Sell a Subscription for details on how the subscription buy path is used.
How are the Subscriber Seats Used to build future orders
Now that you have the patron's subscriber seats recorded, this information can be used the next year to have us build reservation orders for your subscription renewal. This is often referred to as "rollover" of subscription orders.
We have you fill out a subscription rollover conversion chart, detailing for us what packages, performance series, person types and pricing apply to the next year order, based on what they had last year. Then our data technicians will build the new orders for you. From there can can provide a mail merge file for you to build order forms from, or we can send out emails to these patrons to renew their orders online.
Contact us early so we can plan with you for this process and assist you with the setup.