The Un-Scripted Theater Company has been promoting at the Half-Price Ticket Booth for years and years and years, and many of us have even had jobs working inside the booth selling the tickets as well. Here are some tips from us to you on how to best work outside the booth handing out flyers for your show...
Probably the biggest change from flyering on the street is, unless Tix Bay Area is selling tickets for you, you aren't allowed anywhere near the ticket booth to hawk your wares. This gives you a nice safe zone away from homeless people and timeshare shucksters that, if they break, you can have them hauled away by security. This also means that you need to stay within your bubble of safety as well. No going out to the sidewalk and handing flyers to everyone who walks by. No going out to the people looking at the paintings in the middle of the square and stealing business from the artists. You stay by the ticket booth, and everyone else stays in their space. Fortunately, by the ticket booth is the best place to sell tickets for you anyway.
Second, you have to play nice. You can't be too aggressive and you can't interrupt customers from doing the business that they're already doing. This rule applies to everyone who promotes there. If someone is promoting like a loud, rude, obnoxious, jerk, please go tell the people in the booth and they will come out and help them play nice. If they don't play nice, their show will be pulled from the window and security will remove them. It never happens, but it's nice to know that it can if things get out of control. Just welcome people in and help them out. People shopping at the Tix Booth want to know about your show. That's why they're there. Talk about an easy job!
I think the best way to promote at the ticket booth is to think of yourself less as a salesman on a deadline, and more as a concierge without a desk. You're there to help people. The first thing I always do is I go up and see who else is handing out flyers, introduce my self, and find out what show they're promoting (while at the same time teaching them about my show). Then I go to the window and introduce myself and find out how many tickets they've sold for my show. And finally I go to the list and look over and see what other shows are playing. Then when people come up looking for shows, I can help them navigate a system that is different than what they're probably not used to and I can work WITH the other people promoting shows rather than against them. Working together is definitely the key! And the more everyone promoting at the booth knows about the booth the more help you can be and the better you'll be at getting the word out about your show.
Here are some facts that most visitors to the Tix Booth for the first time, usually don't know about the San Francisco ticket booth:
It's not just Day-Of, it's Week-Of. That means that you can buy tickets for any show going on up to a week in advance, starting Tuesday and ending on Sunday.
It's cash or credit, not just cash only.
The price you see in the window is the half-price price. This price has already has been marked down by half and includes the service charge that goes to Tix Bay Area (a non-profit organisation that promotes and supports the theater community in the San Francisco Bay Area).
All the shows hi-lighted in pink are theaters within walking distance from the Tix Booth.
Most of the shows on the list are smaller theaters between 50 to 150 seats. People may or may not know about the shows on the list, which is why there are little descriptions explaining a little about each show.
If both windows are open, there is only one line that feeds to whoever is the next available teller. The window closet to Powell Street has a Ticketmaster computer and the other one does not, so if they're wanting to buy a Ticketmaster show, they have to keep waiting for that window and the people behind them can move forward to the other window if they want a half-priced ticket or MUNI pass or something.
Most shows are available online as well as at the booth. They're the exact same price, so if they have access to the internet, tixbayarea.org could be helpful if getting down to the booth is hard for them.
Oh, and one last thing! You don't want EVERYONE to come see your show, you want people who would love your show to come see your show. If you're doing a comedy, you DON'T want people who would rather see a drama to come, and visa versa. You're there to help people find the shows they want to see. There are lots of people out there in the world. There are lots of them who want to see your show. Feel people out and help them find the show that's right for them. Happy audiences means more theater goers, and more theater goers means more business for you and your theater company!