As the on-playa face of the Ticketing Department, the Box Office had to withstand all of the aforementioned change. Planning got off to a rough start as a result of the upper management change mid-season. We were fortunate to have our four long-standing Co-Managers to help see us through the transition. With everything up in the air for a couple of months, we had the good fortune of having the opportunity to reevaluate how we do things. A bunch of new approaches were implemented, and while there is certainly room for refinement, on the whole they were incredibly successful. Some examples are changing our shift schedule to synch up with the Gate so that we could share the new staff shuttle that serviced the Gate, revisiting Co-Manager roles and responsibilities, and having an official Box Office camp for the first time. Challenges came in the forms of our new registers and shift change procedures, staff scheduling resulting in an inefficient use of our most experienced crew, not having a large enough set-up and tear-down crew, and working with the Airport satellite Box Office, to name a few.
In summary, 2009 was a big year for both the year-round Ticketing Department and the on-playa Box Office. It wasn’t always easy, but with a lot of hard work we came through it with a fresh perspective, some lessons learned, and on the whole flying colors. Many thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!
Submitted by,
Rebecca Throne and Frog Gilmore