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Vendini helps sponsors make the sale
Oakland Tribune
June 30, 2003
Section: Business News
Francine Brevetti, BUSINESS WRITER
Lee Clancy of San Francisco merely wanted to buy a ticket online to see a performance at the Fillmore Auditorium. But when he logged on to the theater's site, www.thefillmore.com, he was channeled to the Web site of the online ticketing vendor, Ticketfast of Ticketmaster.com.
He had to click through more Web pages to search for The Fillmore Auditorium once more; and then again for the group he desired before he could make his selection of date and seat.
"Then they charged me $7 per ticket for the 'convenience fee,' and it was only a $25 ticket," he fumed.
But when he wanted to buy a ticket to a performance of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, he was able to buy a ticket on the symphony's own site, www.berkeleysymphony.org, in a couple of strokes. And they charged him $1 for the privilege.
The difference was Vendini, a small Belmont-based company that provides the software so the sponsors of events can sell tickets on their own sites and at a low fee for both the performing group and the audience member.
With no aspiration to challenge Ticketmaster, Vendini's founder, Mark Tacchi, said he wants to be "the Pepsi Cola of the ticketing industry." The company he started from his own pocket with no other investors now serves 400 venues, mostly theaters, with the greatest concentration in the Bay Area.
He feels Vendini's sweet spot is the 100,000 theater groups in this country that want to streamline their box office operations while keeping costs down. Not to mention the two rodeos that already use the service.
He's also looking hard at night clubs, business networking groups and amateur sports teams.
Vendini asks no set-up nor maintenance fees to get their ticketing software on the site of the venue.
"Our commission on tickets is on a sliding scale" depending on the services they require, the founder said. Vendini allows performing groups the ability to offer coupons and special prices targeted to corporations.
Jennifer A. Easton found Vendini when she was trying to buy a ticket from Shotgun Players in Berkeley. She logged onto www.shotgunplayers.org and saw the ticketing facility.
"Hey, this system looks pretty good," Easton thought. Since she's the director of development and marketing of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, it wasn't long before Vendini powered the symphony's sales as well.
Her concern was ease of use and low cost -- for the symphony as well as the patrons, she said, and she's been satisfied.
Tacchi's solution solved another challenge for small groups: "Many of our customers do not have their own theaters; they move around," he said. They can rely on Vendini's help to design and mount a new seating chart online when they move venues.
Berkeley Symphony's Easton said this has been important since the symphony uses Zellerbach Hall, Roda Theatre and sometimes a third venue for special events.
Patrick Dooley, artistic director of Shotgun Players, said the online ticketing function has saved him and his staff a lot of time. Now they don't have to sell all tickets manually or constantly man the box office.
"Twenty percent of our sales come online. (On a recent) Saturday, for a 99-seat theater, 55 tickets sold online for that performance and I didn't have to take all those calls," he said.
Tacchi's company also helps its clients do some market research. The Belmont outfit sends Shotgun Players' e-mails to its patrons, four e-mails during a six-week run as well as reviews.
"We get a report saying how many opened the e-mail, how many clicked through and how many opted out," said Dixon. "We're small, very hands-on with our patrons. I wanted to go with a company I thought would have that same feel."
The online ticketing market for music, theater and sporting events (movies are another story) will chalk up $2.6 billion in sales this year, according to Jupiter Research. Ticketmaster is the dominant player.
On average, online ticketing firms charge between $3 and $10 per ticket sold online. Patrons do resent the mark-up, allowed Jupiter analyst Juliana Deeks.
"But they are willing to pay for the convenience," as evidenced by the 14 percent of event tickets sold online, she said.
Francine Brevetti can be reached at (510) 208-6416 and fbrevetti@angnewspapers.com . (c) 2003 The Oakland Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
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