Adding Events, Ticket Sales, Marketing Tools, and Planning on bloomingtonArts.info: The Details

Take a quick look around the site. Seeing bloomingtonArts.info as users see it will help you communicate with this audience.

An organization must set up a user account to update its profile, list events, sell tickets online, post press releases, and use the planning calendar.

1.      Email Ed Vande Sande (ed@artlives.org) the name, address and phone # of your organization, your email address, and your desired password.

2.     BAAC will email you a confirmation that you are registered and will send you your login information.

To log in and enter your organization’s information and events, click on the “Log In” text at the top of the main page or go to:

http://www.bloomingtonarts.info/Login/Login.asp and enter your email address and password.

Enter Profile Information for your organization.  Upload an image (see the following section for additional details) or logo to appear with your organization in the Site Directory.  If you plan to see tickets on bloomingtonArts.info, your revenue check for ticket sales will be sent to the contact/address listed, so check for accuracy.

To enter events, log in and click on  “Add a new event” on your organization’s navigation panel (left-hand side of screen).

1.  Entering Basic Information
Enter your basic event information – a description of your activity.  Please follow these basic guidelines:
·        Think “guest friendly” – short, concise, uncluttered.

·        All events must fit into one of our categories. Categories may change over time depending on usage and demand.

·        All published events must be open to the public. If not free, the ticket prices should be posted, as well as how to obtain tickets.

·        Collaborative events should not be duplicated on the calendar by each organization.

·        Titles should be kept short, and the use of all caps is discouraged except for acronyms (considered “shouting” on the web).

·        Include a brief description of your event or activity (2 to 3 lines) for the summary listing.  Radio announcers may use them as public service announcements. More words can be used for the detailed event description.

2.      Uploading an Image

Would an image make your event or activity more interesting to your audience?  Uploading an image to illustrate your event is encouraged, but not necessary.  Images will appear on the page detailing this event and will rotate on other pages throughout the site.

·        First, be sure that the image(s) you are going to upload are a web-friendly 72 dpi (dots per inch) and that your image size is relatively small -- 150 to 400 pixels wide is ideal.

·        Click the “open” button on the dialogue box. The box will close and you will see a thumbnail of the image on the screen.

·        Repeat the actions above. You can upload up to three different images for your event or organization.

·        Click on the "Upload these images now" button at the bottom of the page.  A dialogue box will open and indicate that the upload was successful.

Note: Some users have had trouble uploading images using Mozilla.  If this happens to you, save the information you have entered thus far and try again using Internet Explorer.

3.      Entering Event Dates and Location
Defining your event dates and location is essential!  If your venue is not already listed on the site, please contact the site administrator with venue name, address, and any other pertinent information, and we'll add the venue to our listings.

4.      Ticketing Information
Is your event free? Are you selling tickets? If so, you have the option to sell on-line or in a manner of your own choosing.  Select the "Ticketing" tab and fill in the appropriate information.

Online ticketing is also offered on bloomingtonArts.info in conjunction with the Buskirk-Chumley Theater's Sunrise Box Office.  Fees to your patrons are lower than those on Ticketmaster, and there are no direct fees to your organization.  If you are interesting in selling tickets in this way, follow these steps:

5.      Review and Confirm
Please review and confirm your event information before you “publish” it for the public calendar component.

Step-by-step instructions are provided on the Help panel at the right side of the screen.

You can always correct your information by clicking on the “Edit an existing event” link on your navigation panel.

It is very important that you enter all confirmed events into the calendar. Part of the usefulness of bloomingtonArts.info is its long timeline which allows organizations and individuals to make long-term plans.

Be sure to enter your events according to Basic Guidelines.

After you have entered your event, you may send press releases, public service announcements, or post general information about your organization in the Media Room. These will be available on the public site under “Media Room.” The public and the media organizations will be trained to access this press information on bloomingtonArts.info.

You may not edit your release once it has been published. You may view it or delete it. If details are not yet confirmed, you may click the “Not ready to be published” radio button at the bottom of the form.

To send your release to the media or to your patrons, click the “publish” radio button at the bottom of the form. The database will send your press releases or public service announcement via email to your selected media list or your marketing list.

To build a personalized list, click on the “Manage media contacts” or “Manage my marketing list” links on the left and carefully follow the help instructions.

6.  Get a Report of Your Ticket Sales

Any organization selling tickets online through bloomingtonArts.info may review an itemized report of your ticket sales anytime prior to your organization’s events or performances. To do so:

·        First click on "By Transaction" in the blue tool bar on the left-hand side of the screen. 

·        Enter in the date you posted the ticketing information in the first box, and today's date in the second box.  Click on "currently being sold," and then "search."

·        Click the name of the performance or the date of the performance for which you want ticket information, then click "generate report."  This report can then be imported into an Excel spreadsheet. 

It is suggested that you bring this list of ticket sales to your venue for the day o f your activity to use as your "will-call" list.  Keep in mind, however, that tickets will be available for sale online until 6 hours prior to your event; the most updated information will be available at that time.

The Planning Calendar module can be very useful. Here are several ways you might take advantage of its features:

1.      Check what venues are already booked on a specific date.

2.      Determine whether another organization is planning a similar event in your preferred date range – and avoid a possible conflict.

3.      View planned event dates posted by other organizations and explore options for collaboration.

4.      Post your event as “pending” to hold a specific date and confirm it later.

You can use the “Search for events” function on the organization side of the site to search for listed events or activities in three ways or by combining the options:

1.      You may search by date range.

2.      You may search events listed by all organizations or by a specific organization.

3.  You may search for events by keyword or "string."