Students trying to secure fall concert tickets should encounter less difficulty than last semester's Spring Weekend attendees, said Brown Concert Agency Booking Chair Abigail Schreiber '11.
BCA contracts its online ticket sales to TouchNet, a software company independent of the University. Problems purchasing Spring Weekend tickets online last year arose when the unexpectedly large volume of hits to the website at the start of sales caused TouchNet to mistakenly detect a security threat, Schreiber said. "They did not anticipate how many students would log on," she said.
For the upcoming Big Boi ticket sales, BCA has already warned the company that "they need to be prepared for 10,000 people at a time," she added.
The concert agency also reworked its selling schedule to "give students with varying schedules as much access to ticket sales as possible" and minimize lines, Schreiber said. Distribution is staggered so that 200 tickets will be available online starting Wednesday at 8 a.m., and then 200 more will be released Sept. 9 at the same time.
More of the $13 tickets will be sold the week of the concert if it can be held outside on Lincoln Field on Sept. 18, as planned. Before weather predictions are assessed on Sept. 15, only 400 spots will be sold because Alumnae Hall — the rain location — only accommodates that many people.
Another change to previous years' policies, in response to complaints about Spring Weekend sales, is that each student with a Brown ID may purchase only one ticket.
Those who buy tickets online can pick them up starting Monday, Sept. 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center information desk.
