Solving the Freeman Arts Pavilion’s High Volume Ticketing Onsales Problems
A ticket sales system that couldn't keep up with demand
Each summer, the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation welcomes more than 100,000 guests to the Freeman Arts Pavilion – an outdoor performance venue that brings top talent to the region along with local showcases and family events. In addition, the venue serves around 30,000 patrons and students through year‑round arts programming. However, the venue was struggling because its ticket sales system created an overly complex process for high volume ticketing onsales, preventing sales and causing frustration for patrons and staff.
The majority of tickets are sold during the first onsale in February, determining the overall ticket volume and revenue for the year.
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51,546
tickets sold in the first onsale with Spektrix
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4,774
patrons booked during the first week
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400%
in donation income
„The big question is always: how many tickets can we sell on opening day?“, said Chelsea Turner, Marketing Director at the foundation.
With their previous ticketing provider, the Freeman Arts Pavilion experienced persistent problems with system crashes and patrons not being able to add tickets to their baskets during big onsales. This led to restrictions on their team and patrons:
- No more than 200 people could browse their website at one time.
- Patrons could not pick their seats and had to use „best available“ seating.
- There was no built‑in queuing agent to put patrons in a virtual waiting room.
Because they were so limited by their ticket sales system’s capabilities, the team could not put more than a few events on sale at a time. The resulting process risked lost revenue and eroded patron confidence, which is especially harmful for a seasonal venue.
The team was forced to stretch their busy summer onsales over two days to accommodate their provider’s issues and try to avoid a website crash. One particularly bad crash in 2022 meant they had to run rolling onsales and limit how many shows patrons could buy at one time.
You only have one chance to make a big, eye‑catching (and wallet‑opening) announcement. When you make it complex, you are losing ticket sales.Chelsea Turner, Marketing Dircetor
Simple, reliable high volume ticketing onsales with the Spektrix platform
By switching to Spektrix, the Freeman Arts team removed the technological barriers that were holding them back and created a smooth onsale process that made patrons take note, joining hundreds of organisations managing major onsales through Spektrix.
In February 2025, the Freeman Arts Pavilion launched its first major onsale with Spektrix, announcing the first batch of summer shows in a single‑day onsale for the general public. There were no system crashes, no limitations on how many shows they could put on sale, and no complications for patrons.
In the first week of the Freeman Arts Pavilion’s first onsale with Spektrix, 4,774 patrons booked tickets, with 51,546 tickets sold and $253,368 donated.
The experience was social media‑worthy, as dozens of ticket buyers shared their delight across the internet. Meanwhile, new functionality in the Spektrix platform allowed the foundation to adjust their business model and open up new pathways for revenue growth.
With the powerful, true‑cloud technology of Spektrix and expert support included as part of the solution, the Freeman Arts team can confidently put shows on sale and deliver an excellent ticket‑buying experience to their patrons.
A better patron experience for onsale day
Previously their site couldn’t handle more than 200 customers at once; now the team has seen upwards of 3,000 visitors at a time for their big onsale day. That shift turned high volume ticketing onsales from a point of risk into a smooth, reliable experience for both patrons and the team.
Visitors to their site now have an excellent user experience:
- Shorter waits, quicker sales – Because Spektrix can handle a high number of sessions, patrons can start adding tickets to their basket with minimal delay. In their big February onsale, the virtual queue was cleared in 15 minutes.
- Easy, user‑friendly queuing – A queuing agent is built into Spektrix, so patrons are smoothly moved through the process with no extra effort from the team.
- Ticket buyers can select their own seats – they no longer have to rely on „best available.“
- Checkout is simple – audiences can select smooth, integrated payment processing and features like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
As part of the included support model, the Spektrix team set up a dedicated Slack channel with a focused cohort of specialists on hand to answer questions and monitor stats during the Freeman Arts Pavilion’s big onsales. The Freeman Arts team has particularly valued receiving a detailed outline of what is going to happen during each onsale, which helps overall strategic planning and ensures that everyone knows what to expect.
An intuitive ticket sales system patrons could use right away
Like many arts, culture, & live experience organisations, the Freeman Arts Pavilion’s audience has a large contingency of older patrons, for whom digital change can be intimidating and frustrating. The team was aware of the risk that anxiety about a new process could cause lower ticket sales and damage their brand reputation.
Instead of running a big campaign about their new ticket sales system, they „soft‑launched“ it, mentioning the change only as a „by the way“ in their newsletter.
This approach proved effective, and marketing director Chelsea Turner would recommend it to other organisations switching to Spektrix.
When questions did arise, the Freeman Arts team appreciated that Spektrix was available across multiple communication channels to help them meet patrons’ needs and address questions in real time.
Why did that work? Because Spektrix is so intuitive that there was no need to pre‑educate patrons on how to use it. Customers simply went to the website and bought their tickets with ease – no fear, just a pleasant surprise.Chelsea Turner
Increased cart value and repeat visits
Spektrix data insights revealed a boost in audience members adding tickets for multiple shows into a single cart, increasing cart value and deepening relationships with loyal patrons.
Because the Freeman Arts team was finally able to release the entire seasonal lineup at once, patrons intending to buy tickets for one show were frequently enticed into purchasing tickets for multiple shows, compounding revenue and providing an early look into upcoming show popularity.
In addition, because there is no limit to how many events their site can support at once, they have made a change to their business model so that the moment an artist signs, they can get that show onto their website as soon as possible.
With the ability for tickets to be on sale earlier and longer, the foundation brings that revenue in sooner, has access to valuable data insights, and can give their marketing campaigns room for strategy and growth.
Hands‑free fundraising that makes an impact
The benefits of a powerful, intuitive CRM go beyond ticket sales. As part of their improved patron experience, the foundation’s development team has unlocked major successes.
VIPs easily get the access they need
The Joshua M. Freeman Foundation has a tiered membership program that is a core part of their revenue model – bringing clear value to their members is critical.
Serving those needs is simple with Spektrix. The Freeman Arts team uses audience segmentation to let members know when shows are going on sale and give them early access to buy tickets. From there, members can self‑serve to take full advantage of this benefit.
Higher‑value donations quadrupled their donation income
With Spektrix, patrons can add a donation or even a membership right from their cart, creating an effortless pathway to turn casual ticket buyers into loyal supporters.
When comparing this year’s streamlined February onsale with the previous year’s, the average donation from patrons has increased by seven times, resulting in nearly a 400 percent increase in donation income.
The smooth experience on their website and purchase pathway drove this success, with 97 percent of those donations made online.
Part of what makes this feature so effective is that organizations can pre‑set specific amounts in their donation ask – during the week of this onsale, the foundation received 760 donations of $10, their default amount.
When making a donation is just a click of a button, those contributions quickly add up.
First‑time donors became repeat contributors
342 donors from the February onsale were contributing to the foundation for the first time. Of that group, 41 donated again within eight months, demonstrating a strong loyalty pipeline that not only attracts donors but builds a relationship with them for sustainable revenue.
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$3,246,016
gross ticket revenue
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$253,368
received through donations
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7x
increase in the size of individual donations
The team at the Freeman Arts Pavilion has turned high volume ticketing onsales from a massive headache into a smooth, streamlined revenue generator. With reliable technology, intuitive tools for patrons and staff, and hands‑on support from the Spektrix team, they now approach each season launch with confidence instead of concern. Their experience shows how a purpose‑built ticket sales system and CRM can unlock long‑term value from the moments when demand is highest, building deeper relationships with patrons and driving sustainable revenue growth.
