Managing Social Distancing using Spektrix

Our sector is starting to consider early plans for reopening. In some places planning for events, including outdoor shows and cinema screenings, is underway. We’ve been listening closely to the Spektrix community to address the new conditions which we’re all adjusting to, and adapting our tools to match what our users will need in the coming months.

Recently we asked all Spektrix users how they’re planning to manage social distancing in their organizations and about the impact this is likely to have on their seating plans and capacities.

The response made it clear that the priorities for all of us in the sector are:

• managing social distancing whilst maximizing capacity and revenue
• giving the best customer experience possible 
• minimizing the amount of staff administration time required

Keeping these priorities in mind, we’re working to make the process of managing social distancing easier. Organizations of all different shapes and sizes use Spektrix, and many of those are now thinking creatively about new ways to use their spaces. Taking the thoughtful input from our users across the UK & Ireland, we’re working to ensure we have suitable options for a wide variety of spaces. 

Here’s what’s available:

As a direct result of the conversations we’ve had with our community, we added two tools to Spektrix.

Strict bubble seating mode: This allows seats to be organized in separate groups, or ‘bubbles’, of predetermined sizes. Customers can only select a complete bubble of seats rather than just one or two of them, meaning users can sell the maximum number of socially distanced seats and be sure of appropriate gaps in the auditorium. This approach means both the venue and its customers can see where they are sitting in advance and the gaps between them and other parties. 

Auto distancing: This automatically spaces bookings across seating plans, helping users to maximize their revenue and make sure that seats are used in the most efficient way.

Other options to support ticketing of socially distanced events include: 

• Switching to using unreserved seating plans instead of letting audiences pick their own seats. When audiences arrive, staff direct customers to seats, leaving an appropriate social distancing gap from other parties.
• In an auditorium with different areas (for example, stalls and balcony), offering a range of price tiers and then guiding audiences to the approximate location of their seat by using a multi-area unreserved seating plan.
• Seating allocation after purchase: This option means that audiences book tickets from an unreserved plan and receive a temporary ‘placeholder’ confirmation ticket. Before an event takes place, a member of staff allocates specific seats to each booking and then sends e-tickets to customers.
• Consider Cabaret or ‘pitch’ seating plans for auditoria that use fixed table seating, or will be sold to fixed groups (such as a car of four people at a drive-in cinema screening).

There are pros and cons to each of these options and venues using Spektrix are welcome to get in touch with our Support and Training team to explore which of them might be appropriate. 

It’s still early days. We want our users to be confident and comfortable with their options.

If you’d like to find out more about socially distanced seating, watch our introductory video which explains the options in Spektrix in more detail. Our interactive flowchart is also a great starting point for users to find out which option may work for them.

Which tools will you be using when you’re planning to reopen, and how do your venue, seating configuration and capacities influence this?

Join the conversation

Richard Bates is Director of Product at Spektrix