ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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Brian,

Hi from St. Louis. I worked with the IT Director at the St. Louis Science 
Center several years ago (when I worked there) in implementing the new 
ticketing system. I am writing with things I wish someone had told me before 
we started. :-)

We implemented the VISTA system, but at that time the two brothers who 
developed  it were still doing the training. They were great, but it has 
since been sold. Making sure you get a company that has worked with other 
museums is critical--you have specific needs some companies don't 
understand. Training is key to making it work well for your museum. One 
thing to look for, particularly in a smaller museum is one system that can 
handle both member and ticketing--trying to write over information betweeen 
two systems is tricky--if you get two systems ask for a site where someone 
has it working and make sure possible is practical and reliable. The biggest 
hurdle is defining what options and definitions go into the system as you 
implement. I really would recommend narrowing your choice down to two of 
three systems and then getting on the phone and talking to other museums 
about the quality of the support in set-up, training, and ongoing 
maintenance that they have experienced with the company. Also, we had 
tension with the front line staff about how much information to collect with 
the ticket sale (I was audience research and evaluation director--that's why 
I was involved--I DID overdo it at first. Keep it simple). Just consistently 
getting a zip code with a ticket sale gives you an enormous amount of 
information about who you are serving and what markets your are reaching. If 
you make distinctions between school groups and casual visitors in ticketing 
that can also provide good info on who is visiting and what times of year 
and day. If you know what type of information want out of the system, then 
the company can make sure you have an ongoing report that suits your needs. 
The report facility is a very important part of the system--both for 
accounting and producing useful information for managers.

You will probably get more up-to-date info on specific systems from other 
people, but I learned so much in that process, I wanted to pass some of it 
along.. We listed criteria of things we needed a system to do before we had 
people come into do demos. That allowed us to ask very specific questions, 
and make certain the functions were really there, not just on paper. That 
was a great help in making a good decision. It also allow people responsible 
for different areas to present a criteria and explain why it was needed. 
That prevented tensions later in the process in chosing between 
systems--everybody was on the same page. Terri Edney, the IT Director at the 
St. Louis Science Center would be a great person to call.

Best Regards,

Carey

Carey E. Tisdal
Tisdal Consulting
4475 West Pine Blvd., #1705
St. Louis, MO 63108
Phone: 314-531-9766
Cell: 314-496-9097
Email: [log in to unmask]



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Hostetler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 2:20 PM
Subject: Ticketing and Membership


I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for good sof
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related 
institutions.
*****************************************************************************

Howdy list-

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for good software systems for 
Ticketing and Membership Data bases.  The YouZeum is a small (Approx 15000 
Sq feet of exhibit space) museum set to open in 2007.  We are investigating 
programs for printing and scheduling tickets as well as keeping track of 
membership, mailings, benefits, etc...
Any responses on or off list would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Brian Hostetler
Exhibits and Programs Coordinator
The YouZeum
Columbia, MO
[log in to unmask]



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