Contemporary American Theater Festival

IN BRIEF

• It's easier to support VIP patrons with ticket requests and changes, thanks to the marriage of ticketing and development functions, and the ease of processing transactions within Spektrix.

• Events can be configured and tested to meet the needs of patrons and festival teams using intuitive box office tools.

• Personalized communications, automated discounts and accurate measures of success are driven by reports and segmentation based on zip code, status and purchase history.

About Contemporary American Theater Festival:

• Named as one of the top theater festivals in the world

• Produces six new plays each season in rotating repertory

CATF, based at Shepherd University, were introduced to Spektrix in 2019 by TRG Arts when they sought a system that would bring together ticketing and development tools. With an adventurous annual program managed by just six permanent staff, and ambitious fundraising targets, it’s vital to make the most of every relationship, from first time visitors through to major sponsors.

Connect with donors

Vicki Willman has been Director of Development at CATF for seven years, and much of her focus has been on creating a more professional, formalized development program. With responsibility for the festival’s relationship with every donor, from $5 gifts to $1000 pledges, she’s also the point of contact for major sponsors and senior stakeholders who play a vital role in the festival’s success. With so many relationships to manage, Spektrix helps her to keep highly personalized records for every individual.

The marriage of ticketing and development functions, and the ease of processing transactions within Spektrix, has helped Vicki support VIP patrons directly with ticket requests and changes. For the first time, she’s confident enough using the system to make bookings directly, rather than running over to the box office for every change.

What’s more, it’s simple to hold tickets in the system and restrict access to certain users so there are always seats available if a major donor calls; and it’s easy to guide them towards the best seats with no risk of overbooking.

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Personal connections

As Public Relations Manager, Gabrielle Tokach has responsibility for setting up and selling CATF’s events. She finds Spektrix so easy to use that it’s possible to build and test different versions to find the best approach for both patrons and colleagues.

Meanwhile, both Gabrielle and Vicki use reports and segmentation in Spektrix to manage more personalized communications, automate discounts based on memberships, zip code and purchase history, and accurately measure success.

This means that customers tagged with Access needs can now easily view and select accessible seats online, helping CATF meet ADA recommendations and improving the experience for every patron. Front of house teams also receive a bespoke attendance report flagging access customers and VIP visitors, which helps seasonal team members to welcome patrons on a more personal level.

In just two years, the switch to Spektrix has already brought CATF huge benefits, by uniting ticketing and fundraising data, improving patron experience, and providing better reporting for staff and funders. Gabrielle’s determined not to stop there - she’s been attending regular online training sessions, open to every Spektrix user at no extra cost, which are designed to help organizations get the very best value from the system.