Ticketing 2022/23

[Rick]

I think you missed the point Chris.

[Chris_N]

I think you missed the point Chris.

I think I could easily argue you missed the point Rick.

For the one or two non-computer folks who really don't know anybody who can help them purchase a ticket - well, I don't know of any. I personally help three non-computer Hitchin fans to purchase tickets as a personal friend - that's enough for me on a personal basis, but there are others around who can help.

Is the counter argument just trying to put up obstacles I wonder? Nobody has actually yet come back with an answer to my 2:58 turnstile question. (I would like to add that that had I answered my own question, my answer would be exactly the same as Jacqueline's )

[Rick]

What do you mean by putting up obstacles?

[Neil]

There are two issues here, cashless stadium and the facility of being able to buy a ticket on the day or on an ad-hoc basis. The first is quite clear, if it suits the club from a logistical and security aspect, then ok. Cashless has its benefits. But the real issue as I see it is having the chance to stroll up and get in on the day. To me, it is ludicrous not to have that option. This is nothing to do with technophobia or obstacles, it is the removal of an obstacle. You can go to most stadiums and get in on the day, I’ve done it many times. You can even charge more for folk who want to stroll up on the day, and it can be done cashless. The club either reaches out to the community or it doesn’t. This is surely a storm in a tea cup?

[Chris_N]

What do you mean by putting up obstacles?

Looking first and foremost at and highlighting the challenges for the one or two percent who may have a challenge in getting a ticket rather than look firstly at the 98% that have adapted ? Wherever we have identified these from the 1 or 2%, we have done our very best to accommodate.

There are two issues here, cashless stadium and the facility of being able to buy a ticket on the day or on an ad-hoc basis. The first is quite clear, if it suits the club from a logistical and security aspect, then ok. Cashless has its benefits. But the real issue as I see it is having the chance to stroll up and get in on the day. To me, it is ludicrous not to have that option. This is nothing to do with technophobia or obstacles, it is the removal of an obstacle. You can go to most stadiums and get in on the day, I’ve done it many times. You can even charge more for folk who want to stroll up on the day, and it can be done cashless. The club either reaches out to the community or it doesn’t. This is surely a storm in a tea cup?

Perhaps you'll understand more than most Neil, that it has never been an easy task to persuade more volunteers on a regular basis. There has been more than one "reach out" during pre-season to the "community" trying to encourage more help, seemingly with no response. So you are left with the small band of dedicated volunteers who quite simply, cannot spread themselves any more thinly on a match day. What we are doing is what we are able to do with what we have to work with. Quite possibly at places you have been where you have been that accepts cash payments - well maybe they have the resources and the infrastructure freely available to accommodate it. Stourbridge for example, have the benefit of space, accommodation and personnel to accommodate. We don't - so we have to do the best we can. We are where we are.

So as Brian Gray has suggested, pre-sales go down online, queues go up because purchases aren't made in advance, and the same very few volunteers are just expected to accommodate. Taken for granted. It's where we're at Neil - clubs offering cashless payments at the turnstile will either have a low fanbase or the volunteers and infrastructure to accommodate.

The end result is always simple - consideration of all the factors to get there are often just taken for granted or passed over. My response is based on what I know. Our whole policy is based on what we know, not on don't knows and/or what ifs. We have already sold over 450 tickets for the Luton game, that's without any season ticket holders who might wish to come to the game. All tickets purchased with no quibble.

We might not achieve some folks expectations - but with the few of us we are doing our very best. We've done to death the challenges we face - people either accept them or they don't. At the end of the day, people have choices.

[Neil]

Nobody is going to quibble who has bought online, Chris. That’s not the issue. Ok, I understand lack of volunteers, if that’s a problem. I stilll believe nonleague benefits from adhoc support and Hitchin are missing a trick. Obviously, the club is comfortable with this, and crowds are very decent, so good luck with it. It is a ludicrous situation, in my opinion.

[Chris_N]

Thanks for opinion Neil. Ludicrous situation? As I have said, everyone is entitled to an opinion. But how much are opinions based on reality and what is really so?

I've really tried hard here to tell it the way it is . I am sure most accept, some will not like it, and some will just gloss over that which they don't want to hear.

I've offered as much explanation as I can. But I'll say it again: It is what it is. That is not a comfort zone, but it is as comfortable as we can effectively operate with the resources available.

I can't add any more to what I have already said.

[Kate Deller]

Chris

Thank you for explaining it all so well.

I will reiterate. There is absolutely nothing more I can or any other volunteer can do on a match day. I miss most first half of matches, not what I signed up for! I get sworn at and moaned at on the turnstile. I can take it to a certain extent.

I have put posters up and given shout outs. No more volunteers forthcoming.

So the situation remains as it is. Your help and support would be appreciated. I love volunteering for Hitchin Town FC I love the ground and the people. We all do our best to make things better than they have ever been and no doubt we shall all continue to do so.

Thank you all for ensuring a safe and happy Turnstile.

Looking forward to welcoming you all back through soon.

[RST]

I can see valid points on both sides of this debate, but short of seeing the different options play out in parallel universes - accept cash, accept cards, accept only on-line ticketing - it is impossible to see how attendances would vary with the different options at the same game.

However, how many spectators does the club really lose out on if people are unable/unwilling to book on-line even on the day of the game? I would have thought it must be a pretty small number who would decide to go at the very last minute so would not have the time to get a ticket via a friend if they are not users of technology themselves.

On the flip side, if you could pay by cash/credit card on the gate, how many spectators would the club lose out on if the weather for a game turns unexpectedly bad on the day of the game and people stayed away? A potential 500 gate could quite possibly see 100 fewer if it turns out to be a soaking wet or miserably cold day.

Under the current system, clearly a fair number of people book tickets on the morning of the game, so will take the weather into account and may not book on a grotty day, but there is clearly more incentive for people to come out in the wet/cold if they have already bought tickets.

My hunch is that overall you would lose less spectators under the current system than if pay on the gate was an option. Whilst you could consider that less "community club friendly" by thinking more about the bottom line, at the end of the day the club is a business and needs to maximise their income.

Have to say that I am more outraged by Rick's example of the car park that requires the use of an App rather than cash or card than by the club's stance on ticketing.

[Neil]

I agree with Kate that TF is a better place to visit, but I think it might be worth doing some research around volunteering and why folk are not willing to come forward. It’s something I suggested some years back and nobody wanted to ask the question, but now that the club is struggling to get them, the question has to be why? Especially in a time when there’s good momentum and crowds are on the rise. Has volunteering gone out of fashion? I think many nonleague clubs have this problem