Project Proposal Prepared for: SUNY Plattsburgh Field House Prepared by: Taylor Manor, Project/Service Management Intern May 7, 2015 !

!

SUNY PLATTSBURGH

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Objective The primary objective of this project is to develop strategies that will ensure a successful transition to a fully online ticketing system. This will be accomplished by analyzing the current ticket purchasing process and providing recommendations based upon this analysis. Enhancing ticketing functionality will:!

• shorten and simplify the process of purchasing tickets for Plattsburgh State hockey games;

• reduce the workload of the box office;

• increase customer satisfaction;

• ensure authenticity;!

• and simplify game day operations.!

Environmental Scan • SUNY Plattsburgh students currently have the ability to purchase and print/electronically download their tickets

online via University Tickets

• Last season’s scanners lease is up at the end of August

• Online tickets for general admission through University Tickets is set to launch in the 2015-16 season

Key Result Areas (factors of success)

• Increase of number of customers who purchase their ticket online

• Decrease in the line at the box office before the game (if there is a box office)

• Ensure authenticity by having scanners to prevent fraud and duplicate tickets

• Increased level of customer satisfaction as measured by attendee satisfaction surveys

Next Actions The primary challenge of this project is not the implementation but the transition. For this project to be successful in the years to come the following steps needs to be taken:

• Creating a method of outreach promoting online tickets to your fan base

• Providing loyalty to your season ticket holders with easy access to games and playoffs

• Establishing a user friendly system of purchasing tickets

• Defining a process for game day that anticipates the upcoming service changes

!!

SITUATION ANALYSIS !Waiting Line Model Box Office Assumptions

1. Poisson Probability Distribution (reasonable approximation of arrival distribution)

2. Exponential Probability Distribution (reasonable approximation of service time)

3. Arrival rate is based upon the number of customers served not upon the number of tickets sold

!!

!

!!!After observing the line and service at the box office, I determined a mean time per service of 37.89 seconds. Relative to that mean (37.89 seconds) each server can serve 47.5 customers per 30 minutes. Two servers at the box office allows you to serve 95 people in 30 minutes.

!

Inputs

Unit of time 30 min

Arrival Rate (lambda) 84 customers per 30 min

Service Rate (mu) 47.5 customers per 30 min

Number of ‘identical’ servers 2 servers

Outputs

Mean time between arrivals 0.012 21.43 seconds

Mean time per service 0.021 37.89 seconds

!SITUATION ANALYSIS !Waiting Line Model Box Office

!This waiting line model is based upon the assumption of Poisson Probability Distribution which is a reasonable approximation of arrival distribution. This model shows the approximate number of fans waiting if customers continuously arrived as opposed to lining up and waiting an hour before the box office opens. If customers did show up continuously there would be on average 6.34 customers waiting in line and 8.11 customers in the system (waiting in line and being served). The average waiting time in line is 2.26 minutes and the average time in the system (waiting in line and being served) is 2.89 minutes. There is only a 6.15 percent chance that there are no customers in the system and 83% of the time both of the servers are busy. Online tickets and scanners would help to eliminate the long waiting lines before the game. Once all ticket holders buy online, arrival to the game would be more continuous as opposed to all at once.

!!

Summary Measures

Utilization rate of server 88.4%

Average number of customers waiting in line 6.33722 customers

Average number of customers in the system 8.10564 customers

Average time waiting in line 2.26 minutes

Average time in the system 2.89 minutes

Probability of no customers in the system 6.15%

Probability that all servers are busy 83%

DISTRIBUTION OF NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS IN THE SYSTEM

Prob

abilit

y

0%

2.75%

5.5%

8.25%

11%

(n) customers in the system1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SITUATION ANALYSIS !Shows how the current processes of the box office at Stafford Arena are operating through a process flow diagram

!

!!!

SITUATION ANALYSIS !Shows how the current processes of the box office at Stafford Arena are operating through a service blueprint diagram

!

!!!!

SITUATION ANALYSIS !Shows how the current online ticket processes at Stafford Arena are operating through a process flow diagram

!!!

!!!!!

SITUATION ANALYSIS !Shows how the current online ticket processes at Stafford Area are operating through a service blueprint diagram

!

!!!!

!PROJECT PERFORMANCE !Key Performance Indicators

!

!!!!LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Target: 1000

First Game

NUMBER OF TICKETS PURCHASED ONLINE

Mid-Season

Target: 2000

Last Game

Target: 1500

OVERALL SATISFACTION PURCHASING ONLINE

TICKETS THROUGH PLATTSBURGH.EDU

9%

21%

40%

20%

11%

UnsatisfiedIndifferentSatisfiedExtremely SatisfiedNot Applicable

TARGET LEVEL OF OVERALL CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION PURCHASING ONLINE

TICKETS THROUGH PLATTSBURGH.EDU

24%

59%

12%6%

Source of survey: Campus Event Ticketing Student Evaluation

RISKS AND ISSUES !1. Risks associated with scanner malfunction

2. Limited battery life

3. Possibility of network failure affecting scanners and University Tickets

4. Accidental scanner damage

CONTINGENCY/MITIGATION PLAN !• Have a clear and defined back up plan to go to a paper system at the box office if necessary

• Optimize use of the extra scanners by having them charged at all times in the event a scanner dies

• On special events, such as all day tournaments, consider signing out the two extra scanners from the Center for Student Involvement

• Purchase lanyards for your scanners to minimize accidents

• Have a list of technical contacts and phone numbers available to event staff so they know who to contact in the event of a network failure

Prob

abilit

y

Risk

Scanner Damage

Network Failure

Battery Life

Scanner Malfunction

RECOMMENDATIONS !1. Investment in at least 5 or potentially 6 scanners to ensure use of all four doors at games and provide backups

in case of emergency.

• Scanners are 850 dollars to buy and 300 dollars annually for updates

• Scanners are 750 dollars to rent for one year including updates

• In the long run choosing to buy versus lease is in your best interest. Although you suffer an initial loss of 2000 dollars the first year, by year 5 you save 7000.

• The major concern with buying as opposed to leasing is if University Tickets required an iPhone update within the next 5 years.

!2. Create a method of outreach promoting online tickets to your fan base by considering the following:

• Develop a partnership with an area company promoting online tickets or use an existing sponsorship to do so.

• Take opportunities to promote online tickets during exciting ice times like goals, power plays, and penalty kills.

• Utilize social media outlets such as twitter and Facebook as much as possible to promote and provide the link for online tickets.

!3. Provide loyalty incentives to your season ticket holders and easy game access by:

• Offering them wearable credentials that can be scanned in at each event and that allows them to easily adds playoff games.

• The ability to hold and roll over seats for existing customers season to season eliminates costly ticket books.

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total

Lease (5) 3750 3750 3750 3750 3750 18750

Buy (5) 5750 1500 1500 1500 1500 11750

If you chose to buy vs lease

-2000 250 2500 4750 7000

• Provide easy game access and eliminate line waiting by having a season ticket holder only line.

4. Establish a user friendly system of purchasing tickets by:

• Making necessary changes to the Cardinals Athletics homepage that provides easy to see and fast links to buy online tickets. One link should be placed at the top of the page where the Men’s Sports, Women’s Sports, Inside Athletics, and Cardinal Traditions links are located. Having a link here makes it more noticeable and promotes other athletic teams that will be using online tickets such as basketball.

• Providing an easy to see link on the Cardinals Hockey homepage to buy tickets online, ideally placed on the upper half of the page above the link to donate.

• Using social media to share the link to online tickets.

!5. Define a process for game day that anticipates the upcoming service changes by:

• Ensuring all employees and staff of the field house are properly trained and informed on new procedures for game day. Example (scanner use, potential for malfunction, line direction, and knowledge of University Tickets).

• Clearly identifying each line by student, general admission, and season ticket holders. Prevent confusion as much as possible. The signs need to be large and moveable, so you might consider crowd control lines and stanchions that allow for signage and that can be elevated for visibility

• Have a back up plan for customers who come to the game and did not purchase their tickets online

• Have a back up plan in the event of network or scanner failure.