Film
More troubles for TIFF as online ticket sales are overloaded
TIFF 2010 is off to a shaky start. First it was a (false) bed bugs scare that reached epic proportions, then last night workers at the Hyatt Regency (the main hotel for the festival) walked out, and now online ticket sales via their shopping cart feature have been suspended due to "unprecidented [sic] load on [their] Online Box Office." Those trying to buy tickets directly from the online box office have also reported troubles with the system.
blogTO reader (and sometimes contributor) David G. Tran happened to take in the ensuing line up early this morning, and offered us the following observations.
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Last night, eager TIFF-goers lined up at the corner of King St. and Blue Jays Way in anticipation of getting first crack at single-screening ticket sales this morning at 7 a.m. Many passers-by likely thought that with the ubiquity of the online marketplace this phenomenon was a thing of the past. But nevertheless, at 7 a.m. the lineup spanned the entire block all the way past Blue Jays Way and Wellington, amidst the noise of the Hyatt Regency Hotel strikers.
Those who thought they could beat the line-up were surely disappointed, as they were met with the frustration of overloaded TIFF.net servers. At 9 a.m., two hours after ticket sales went live, TIFF.net closed their online ticket portal due to the overwhelming traffic, asking those who were interested in attending the festival to call (the phone have been jammed since 7 a.m. as well) or visit the box office in person.
Now in it's 35th year of operation, TIFF claims to have "a vision of leading the world in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image," but they clearly haven't tweaked their vision to follow the rest of the world in online preparedness for mass ticket distribution.
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Intro by Derek Flack. Primary writing and images by David G. Tran.
Discussion
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There's no excuse or "sorry" that makes sense here as TIFF organizers know this happens every year.
In 2010 after the Haiti earthquake we watched many charity web sites securely process hundreds of thousands of individual transactions in a 72hr period, equaling millions of dollars from donors. There's no technology reason that prevents TIFF Group from anticipating and fixing this ongoing issue for customers.
We can only conclude TIFF prefers festival goers to stand in the line & generate buzz for the event. This feels like lack of respect for non-industry, non-donor attendees.
- the Hyatt walkout is billed as a "one-day strike"; I don't get the impression this will impact the festival
- online ticket sales have *not* been suspended. They turned off a feature where you could add tickets to a shopping cart and then proceed to the online box office. Apparently that feature was just adding more strain. As far as I know, you can still purchase tickets (even your screenshot shows "go directly to our online box office"). Of course, that part of the site is hammered and the vast majority of people are having no luck after hours of trying!
and the screen above that tell you that the ticket sales have been suspended leads you to another page that has MaxWeb Error... only once have I been on a page that let me choose the movie and # of tickets... only to be bumped back to the error message when trying to pay..
Please understand, I'm not technologically impaired. I work in web development. If someone like me had difficulty navigating that site, I can't imagine how brutal it was for other people.
Been online since 7, impossible.
Went to King and Peter... Refugees don't wait in lines that long.
Too bad Torontonians love waiting in line so much, otherwise more people would tell tiff to shove it. Instead they continue with they dysfunctional processes while people throw money at them.
after trying by phone & online since 7am, both my husband and I managed to make separate purchases via the online box office.
good luck! (and if there's something you REALLY want to see, stop by the venue box office the morning of the screening- sometimes tickets get returned by sponsors or whomever and become available to the public)
"Veterans" are rewarded for their loyalty with increased complications each year...And, of course, a direct mail piece asking them to become a donor to get special privileges --- Oh dear, no thanks!
TIFF Group, you have a database, you know who buys tickets and in what way... How about a loyalty program for previous years' attendees? I'm looking for anything to indicate your "people's festival" message is more than lip-service in a press release.
you have to try a few times, but it beats waiting in that god forsaken line.
and it's embarrassing, that they can't figure it out.
I've been trying all morning, phones still not working.
I wouldn't be surprised if all the tickets were gone by the time this was fixed.
thanks for the tip. i just went online and was able to order tickets. like many others here, i spent a good amount of time this morning trying to get beyond the max web error with little success. this time, i was able to actually successfully order. suggestion to those frustrated to give it a shot now.
it is a pain in the ass that the site is like this every year. and the site has been pretty slow even before today. would be nice if they could fix but i suspect that the costs of investing in infrastructure required to handle the 1 day of furious activity only to be mostly unused the rest of the year vs. forcing people to the box office and line ups that create a buzz amongst media and blogs mean this won't happen soon. too bad, as it's a great event with films that you just don't get to see at any other time of the year, with a chance to see and hear from actual directors and actors in the q&a sessions after the films.
I've been going to TIFF every year since 2001 (and have been a volunteer in the past) and the ticket issues happen EVERY YEAR. You wold think that with the advances in technology (such as the ability "print your own tickets from home" used by many theatres, concert and sports venues), the fact that some of their main sponsors (Bell and BlackBerry) are technology/communications-related (could they not offer some IT help?), and the fact that this happens every single year... that they would have figured it out by now.
How is it that all those small film festivals that we have throughout the year are able to sell tickets? Why does one of the leading film festivals in the world, in the year where they're launching their new facility (the Bell Lightbox), still not have their act together? I understand that there is high demand, but it's not like there are millions of people around the world clamouring for tickets. And it's not like the demand is a surpise: it happens every year.
Of all the improvements in the festival (and I am, indeed, looking forward to the opening of the Bell Lightbox), the ticketing situation is one area where TIFF has not improved and has seriously fallen behind in the technology and the customer service departments.
The only way to get in, is to line up at the box office from 3am, or wait in Rush line on the day of the show.
"Allotment is not large enough at this time.
Please try again later or contact the box office"
What the heck is that about?
Not that TIFF cares, but after an hour of trying to order online, they just lost my money.
No on seemed to know anything, and couldn't answer any questions because they were in the dark too. Staff and volunteers were not given right info or updated info, so total chaos.
What the hell happened? - really a total mess not seen in quite a few years!!!!
Who waits in an "express" pick up line for over an hour and 15 min, only to see the people waiting in the exchange lines moving faster. All other years, it was maybe 15 min - in and out!
Please look into all the problems this year, Have gone many years and other than one year before - this year takes the cake. Many, many unhappy people in lineups.
Get with technology! Update your website software!
With scalpers selling $40 tickets for $300 bucks a piece - it's just not fair!
I'm going to save my TIFF ticket money this year and break the piggy bank in May for Hot Docs - now THAT is everything a film festival should be.
Девочки, что это может быть: вчера ночью начало болеть (вернее, как говорят, драть) горло, очень сильно, но как-то с одной стороны. За день чуть уменьшились досадные чувства, но распространились по всему горлу. Насморка нет, голова не болит. Ощущение, будто есть температура, но ее нет (36,7). Горло красное, тем более за правой миндалиной. Что это такое и чем лечить? Заранее спасибо!