Brown Lecture Board is introducing a “complete overhaul” of its ticketing system, starting with the ticketing process for former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s lecture on campus Tuesday, said Rahim Makani ’14, Lecture Board president. Under the new system, Brown IDs now act as tickets. Half the tickets for events are available online, and the other half are distributed in person, Makani said.
“I’ve been wanting to implement online ticketing for a long time,” Makani said. Makani said he wanted to ensure there would not be a “giant crash” on the website dispensing tickets. But the Brown Card Office assured Makani this would not happen, he said.
For the Ron Paul event, Lecture Board is using Eventbrite to collect student ID card information and distribute online tickets, he said. Because of this online option, Lecture Board is switching to a policy of one Brown ID per person on the in-person distribution days, Makani said. Previously, one student could get tickets for two IDs.
Many students said they were happy with the change.
Waiting in line discourages students from acquiring a ticket at all, said Lauren Behgam ’15. “It’s always during the worst times,” she added.
“I’d like the system to be all online,” Behgam said. “It’s ineffective in person.”
Under the in-person ticketing system, people are “not accountable and cut the line a lot,” said Nicole Salvador ’15. “It’s also a fire hazard,” she said, referring to past instances of ticket lines overcrowding J. Walter Wilson.
Lecture Board is also eliminating physical tickets. Tickets are now credited to the Brown ID, either by entering Banner ID and Brown ID information online or by swiping the ID in person, according to the Facebook event page for the Ron Paul speech. Lecture Board will email students accredited with tickets before the event as a reminder, Makani said. At the event itself, the Brown ID serves as a ticket, and ushers will be present with guest lists, he added.
Lecture Board has “access(ed) a feature of the (ID) card that has never been utilized before,” including by any other student group, Makani said. The inspiration for this change came from wanting to improve the “clunky” iPhone scanning system used at last year’s Spring Weekend, he said.
“I’ve heard horror stories” about Lecture Board’s old ticket distribution system, said Mia Stange ’14. “Initiating a new system is good.”
The new system is more “equitable,” especially for those whose schedules do not line up with distribution times, Stange said, but offers no reward to those who would wait in person for tickets.
ADVERTISEMENT
