How Alimentary Ideas Organized Canada's First "Food & Words" Festival

Alimentary Ideas, a one-day forum that brings together “people with a single- minded love of food and its vast universe.” “Alimentary Ideas,” as Mostad describes it, “gathers thinkers and doers in the food world who want to indulge their passion and share their excitement in all matters related to food and food culture.” Ticketbud - Alimentary IdeasFor Mostad, who also co-founded Rustik Magazine, organizing Canada’s first “food and words” festival was all about creating a unique platform for people to explore the ever-changing role of food in our lives. “Whether it’s health, climate, politics or economy, our food…is the increasing focus of corporations, governments, and communities large and small.” Bringing together the likes of Mark Singer, staff writer for The New Yorker and Scott DeSimon, Deputy Editor of Bon Appétit, the goal of Alimentary Ideas, as Mostad explains, is “to serve as an axis to bring together food thinkers, food lovers, food authors and chefs to discuss and explore these topics.” AIcollage To help achieve this goal for the first ever edition of the festival, Mostad needed an event ticketing site that his team could not only trust to support the event but also to build a relationship with. “[Halcon] gave us an excellent overall picture of what to expect and how Ticketbud would help support the smooth running of our event.” “We can only sum up the experience with Ticketbud with one word: superb. The team at Ticketbud understands the importance of customer support and relationship building, which are fundamental elements of building an online service-based business.” “We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship as Alimentary Ideas continues to grow.”  ]]]]> ]]>

Now You Can Sell Tickets on Facebook

Wait wait wait, I can sell tickets on Facebook pages?

Absolutely!

At Ticketbud, we are always striving to make the ticket purchasing process more accessible for attendees. We have always seen event organizers sharing the links to their event pages through their Facebook page but we knew there had to be a way to remove some steps from this process. After some research and some testing, we have come up with a process that will allow you to sell tickets on Facebook pages. This way your can leverage your Facebook audience to buy tickets to your event without having to leave Facebook 1st, Go to Facebook and search “HTML” and then click on Static HTML: iframe tabs. Once on the Static HTML: iframe tabs click on “Go to App”. Once you are on the app’s page, then click “Add Static HTML to a Page”. Choose the Facebook page that you would like to add this app to. Now that you have added the app to your Facebook page, go to the page and click “More” then “Manage Tabs” On manage tabs, click “Add or Remove Tabs”. That will take you to another page where you click “Edit settings” the Static HTML: iframe tabs. Here you can now change the name of the tab to “Buy Tickets” or “Register Here”. Now that you have added the app and changed the name of the tab you can go and embed your Ticketbud widget. Go back to your Facebook page and click the new tab. When on that tab click “Edit Tab”. Open up a new window, go to your events dashboard and copy the iframe code for the widget. Now that you have the iframe widget copied, go back to edit page for Static HTML: iframe tabs. Here, paste the iframe widget code into the html box and click “Save & Publish”. Go back to your Facebook page and click the new tab. There you can now see that you have the widget for your event directly embed into Facebook page. Now you are ready to sell tickets on Facebook! sell tickets on facebook]]]]> ]]>

aGLIFF: Educating & Supporting the LGBT Community Through Film

Ticketbud is all about bringing you quality tips, ideas and advice to host a better event. Our Organizer Spotlight’s shine a light on talented organizers selling tickets and packing the house using Ticketbud.

Celebrating its 27th year, aGLIFF (Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival) has seen unprecedented growth since it inception. Expanding from a small, four-day run of four films to a multifaceted non-profit running community programs year-round, the organization culminates with their annual film festival, which features over 100 films covering a wide range of issues from race and immigration status to religion and gender identity. So what does it take to organize a festival of this magnitude? We sat down with aGLIFF Executive Director Aaron Yeats for more on the festival, how it’s grown over 27 years and his tips for organizing your own event. __________________________________________________________________________________________ 0493c27Ticketbud: Tell us a little bit about the festival! Aaron Yeats: aGLIFF is the 4th oldest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in the country. This year aGLIFF celebrates 27 years. Excitingly – this year – we return to the all-new Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. We open this year with a special screening of “Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine” – with guests Judy and Dennis Shepard and the director of the film. Each evening a post evening party is hosted for festival badge holders and guests. This year, over the course of five days, we are showcasing more than 100 films, with four parties and unlimited air-conditioning! aGLIFF 2013 Badge Holders receive entry to all films, parties and special events. Badges start at $100 and   individual tickets are $5 before 5PM and $10 for screenings after 5PM. People can buy badges and individual tickets on aGLIFF.org. TB: How did you come to be involved with aGLIFF? AY: Personally, I became involved in 1997 as a freshman at The University of Texas at Austin. It was my first experience in gay culture. I was too young to visit bars and in 1997 very few young people were out and open regarding their sexuality. Over the last 18 years I’ve enjoyed hundreds of films, made countless friendships, all of which has driven me to volunteering and supporting the festival. TB: What are some your favorite parts/experiences of the festival? AY: Community. aGLIFF brings folks out of their various personal circles and into a single place where they can share a common experience. Enjoying a film is a simple way to create a bond  with other folks – whether sharing the ticket line or sitting next to a stranger and soon-to-be friend. agliff3 TB: In it’s more than 27 years of existence, aGLIFF has seen tremendous growth. Tell us more about that growth, the impact you’ve seen in the community and what the future looks like for   the festival. AY: aGLIFF started as a 10-day festival screening two films an evening. In the launch years of aGLIFF – most stories were those of HIV/AIDS. Over the last quarter century LGBT film and stories have become the story of friendship, love, family and community. agliff2 We are no longer a festival of queer community challenges – we are a festival for everyone – as we all have out and proud brothers, sisters, cousins, colleagues and friends. Queer culture has moved from the  underground to one of pride and cultural anchors for many cities. TB: What has organizing the festival been like? What advice would you offer to others organizing similar events? AY: Festival and event organization is never easy, but it is always fun! The gratifying experience of watching an event develops from the ground up and in the end seeing the laughter, smiles and developing friendships (and love). 999805_10153542227955433_986673141_n Festivals are born from long days and many hours – of course. Festival planning requires passion and dedication. My recommendation – you must love the experience you are creating. And in the end – it’s always worth it to see your audience experience your own passion and enjoyment. TB: Any other information you’d like to pass along for people interested in attending the fest? AY: The festival includes a badge-holder lounge sponsored by Deep Eddy Vodka. Between films, badge holders can mingle and enjoy cocktails before joining the line for their next film.  Individual tickets before 5PM are only $5 and after 5PM are $10. These prices are below the general admission prices for Alamo Drafthouse films, and for a very specific reason – this festival is about community just as much as it is about film. We are offering this festival experience to a many people as possible and cost.]]]]> ]]>

Giant Product Update (8/6)

It’s been a hot minute since our last Ticketbud product update. With some HUGE projects on the horizon, we wanted to highlight what we’ve released recently before our new stuff steals the limelight. At the end of this post, please throw us some feedback on what features you’d like to see from Ticketbud, we are always listening 🙂

Access Codes

Along with giving our promo code system a facelift, we’ve also added access code functionality. Access codes allow you to create ticket types that are only visible to certain attendees with a particular access code. Think of it as a secret password for your guests. How can this be used? You can create access codes under the Promote tab via your Event Dashboard. To setup, create the actual code, select the ticket types to hide, and schedule the time period for when the access code is valid for. Pretty similar to creating a promotional code. You can send attendees a link to the event page with the access code already entered in or give them the code directly.

Referral Codes

You can now track referrals through creating codes as well. This is a no-brainer when determining what marketing channels are bringing in the most money for your event. How can this be used? Once you have created your referral codes, Ticketbud’s platform will track ticket sales, number of tickets, clicks, and conversions for each individual referral code. This provides great insight into what campaigns are working and should allow you to adjust advertising spend accordingly.

Other Awesome Stuff

Updated Widgets + Text Link Generator

You can now embed either our iframe or Javascript widget. We like our Javascript widget as it’ll adjust automatically to your external site. We figured that by offering both, it’ll make it easy to integrate with web builders such as Squarespace or Wix. We also built a text link generator to easily create text links to use on your site. For the non-techies out there, this will help you create links to paste into your webpage without having to bother your web designer.

Email Notifications For Ticket Sales

Checking ticket sales is one of the most habitual tasks done through Ticketbud. Seeing how many tickets have been sold to your event is strangely addicting. To feed your addiction, you can now setup email notifications for you and your organization. Via the Invite Collaborators tab, you can share daily sales emails to other email addresses as well as yourself. This will trigger a once-a-day email with daily and total ticket tallies. Via My Account, you can also choose to receive an email notification every time a ticket is sold.

Beautification of the event page

We hope to never run into the situation where all Ticketbud events look the same. That’s just plain boring. As a preventative measure, we’ve tweaked our CSS editor and added the ability to upload a background image. We immediately saw an uptick in great looking event sites once releasing background images. Through updating our CSS editor you can see the edits you make in real-time. Designing your event site on Ticketbud should be super efficient to do now.

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The Best Way To Check in Attendees at Any Event.

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Check-in Training Guide

 

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After months of stress, hard work and planning, your event is finally here! Check-in is your event’s first impression so, to help make it a good one, we’ve put together this nifty little guide.

This guide is designed for the person(s) in charge of managing and overseeing check-in at the event. Guides for volunteers and team members performing specific duties and actions are included below.

CONTENTS

What To Consider

Check-in Methods

Troubleshooting

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What To Consider

No matter the size of your event, there are a few key things to prepare for when setting up your event check-in.

Are you funneling all your attendees through one, single doorway? Are there multiple gates spread out around your event? It’s important to keep track of all your entrance points and ensure they are properly staffed.

We recommend having at least 3-4 people per entrance point. This number should increase the bigger your ratio of attendees to entrance points becomes.

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Setting up different lines is a great way to alleviate congestion and prevent your check-in from getting backed up. On the other hand, when poorly managed multiple lines can lead to more confusion.

Make sure your different lines are clearly marked and your check-in team directs attendees into the right line quickly and smoothly. Often times it is helpful to have team members with scanners move through the line scanning tickets so when they reach the entry point they can simply hand their ticket and enter.

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On-site sales are a great way to bring in some extra revenue at the event. It’s important, though, to make sure the line and wait for this does not interfere with the lines to get into your event.

Try to keep your on-site sales table or booth off to the side of the main lines and clearly mark where the line should wind to avoid mixing lines and confusing patrons.

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If you plan on allowing guests back in to your event, you need to consider 2 things:

  1. How will you signify they have bought a ticket?

  2. Which line will they use to get back in?

Stamps and wristbands are two of the most common ways to signify someone has already bought a ticket. You can do this upon purchasing a ticket or as they go to leave the event. Whatever you use, make sure it is not easy to replicate and can be easily identified by your staff.

Once your guests return to the event, it’s helpful to have a “re-entry” line specifically meant for returning guests. This makes entry easier to manage and avoids confusion.

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Check-in Methods

Ticketbud offers three primary methods of managing check-in at your event. You can successfully use one or all of these methods to check guests in; it’s entirely up to you and the needs of your event.

1. Ticketbud’s Scanner App

Ticketbud provides a free scanner app for iOS and Android devices. You can download these apps from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, respectively.

The app utilizes the camera functionality of your device to scan the barcodes on the tickets we send to your guests. The app also contains a list of your attendees who have bought a ticket and you can search for their name and check them in manually.

If you are granting app check-in access to team members, you can either provide them with your email and password or make them each a Collaborator for the event. Once they are a Collaborator, the team member will be prompted to create an account, which they can then use to login to the app and check-in guests for your event.

 

How To Access & Use The Scanner App

 

1. After downloading the app to your phone, locate the app and open it.

 

2. On the the login screen, enter the login credentials for the event. This will be either the email and password associated with the Ticketbud account or the email and password of a Collaborator (see above).

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3. Find the event and click on it.

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4. In your event, you will see details about the event and options to Scan Tickets and access the Attendee List.

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    1. Once scanned, you can easily click out of the pop up window and continue scanning.

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You can either scroll through the list to find an attendees name or search their name via the search bar at the top.

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    1. To check a guest in, simply press the green Check-in button to the right of their name. This will mark them as checked-in in our system.

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If you need to Uncheck-in a guest for any reason, simply press the black Uncheck-in button and it will turn back to the original green button.

 

2. Online Check-in

Ticketbud also provides a page online within your account to check guests in. This page is best accessed via a laptop or a tablet and is most commonly used at a booth or check-in table.

How To Access & Use The Check-in Guests Page

 

  1. To begin, login to your account on Ticketbud, click My Events from the top navigation bar and then click Manage.  Next, click Check-in Guests towards the bottom of the toolbar on the left side.

   

  1. On the Check-in Guests page, you will see the # of guests checked in so far and how many guests have yet to show up. Below that you will see a search bar where you can enter any part of a person’s name. Typing a name will bring up guests with that name.

  2. Click the Check-In button next to the ticket holder’s name to mark them as checked in. The button will then change to show UnCheck-In.  You can always click again to uncheck-in the attendee.

 

3. Guest List

As a final check-in option, we also provide a printed Guest List for you to manually check people in at your event. The list sorts your attendees alphabetically to make check-in quick and easy.

 

  1. To begin, login to your account on Ticketbud, click My Events from the top navigation bar and then click Manage.  Next, click Check-in Guests towards the bottom of the toolbar on the left side.

 

  1. On the Check In Guests page, click the Print button at the top right.  This will export a list of your attendees into a .pdf file.​ You can chose to print a list of all of your ticket purchasers or select a list of just a specific ticket type (VIP, GA, etc).

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  1. To print, open the file and click File then Print to print out your list of attendees.

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Troubleshooting

The Ticketbud platform has been optimized to run smoothly and check guests in efficiently. However, if you do run into an issue during check-in here are a few troubleshoot options to relay to your team.

If the internet connection is weak or the network being accessed is also being used by others, the app may load more slowly. If a scan or guest list is taking unusually long, you can cancel the action by returning to the main app page and then going back into the feature.

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If you search for an attendee through the app or on Ticketbud and there name does not appear, here are a few troubleshooting questions you can ask:

a. What name did the person who bought the ticket use?

– Many times the purchaser of a ticket uses their own name for the ticket holder as well. Ask the attendee if someone else purchased their ticket and, if so, what his or her name is.

b. What is the email associated with the ticket purchase?

– If you cannot locate a person by name, try entering the email associated with the purchase. This is especially useful if you have multiple attendees with the same name.

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If you have any additional questions about your event check-in, shoot us an email at cs@ticketbud.com or call us at 512-215-8069!

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Credit Card Processing For International Events (UK, Ireland, Canada & Australia)

host your event for free on Ticketbud! Using our Stripe integration, you can now let your attendees pay a small processing fee on their tickets, allowing you to manage your ticket & registration for free and freeing up your budget for more important parts of your event. If you’re an event outside the US, here are a few quick steps to get your payment processing setup and your event activated: In your Event Dashboard, select either button to setup your payment information. On the Payment Page, select the “I’d like to use my own payment processor like PayPal”

Select Stripe from the processor options

Choose the Currency you’d like to support and then Connect with Stripe.

A window will appear and in the top right corner of the window, click Sign Up.  Fill out the necessary information on the next page to setup your account. If you already have a Stripe account, simply input your email and password to sign in.

Once all required fields have been filled, click Authorize access to this account.You will be redirected back to Ticketbud with your Stripe account integrated.

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Click Get Started and you will now be able to select green Pay Nothing button at the top to host your event for free and pass a long the fees to your attendees!

After choosing Pay Nothing, click Activate Now! and you’re all set!

If you have any question about using Credit Card processing for your international events, shoot us an email at cs@ticketbud.com!

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What Organizers Need To Know About Our New Event Dashboard

Event Dashboard was becoming crowded. Having a constantly growing set of tools for you and your attendees is awesome but we needed to reorganize a few things to keep the event process as simple and seamless as it’s always been. Rather than just reorder a few things, we decided to reimagine the way you setup your event and discover the features to help. What we’ve come up with is an intuitive design that will:

Here’s a look at what you will see on your new event dashboard:

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What’s New

Screen Shot 2014-06-13 at 9.38.05 AMStreamlined Setup

What’s new right off the bat is a faster, more stream-lined process for setting up your event. Rather than guess what you should do next, the dashboard clearly shows you the next step that you need to complete in order to make sure all your event organizing bases are covered. Add My First Ticket comes first. Once that is completed, more steps will open up and you will be able to set your payment info and so on through 5 simple steps.

Think of it as your personal yellow brick road to created your event.

Updated Sidebar

Another feature is the updated organization of the tools on the left side of the event dashboard. The dozen or so buttons involving ticket sales, custom emails and ticket widgets etc. are now organized by category: Get Started, My Audience, Promote and Ticketing. As a result, you can easily find each feature and utilize them to further improve your event and ultimately, sell more tickets.

Activity Feed

One of the coolest new features of the event dashboard is the activity feed. Located below the event title, the activity feed allows you to see a chronological up-to-date news feed of any changes that you make to your event. This eliminates any confusion you have with changes made to your event in real-time.

Why

So, the question remains, why are we making these changes to the Event Dashboard? While conventional wisdom says “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, our thought process was if isn’t broke, improve it. If you liked the old dashboard…great! We designed the new interface to look and feel like the old one so you don’t have to relearn or rediscover anything. If you didn’t…that’s even better! The new dashboard anticipates your needs and presents you with the necessary information and tools when you need them. It also guides you through a faster setup while also introducing features that you might not have discovered on the previous iteration. This new setup makes ticketing, promotion and attendee management easier than ever so you focus on the important stuff like actually planning your event.  ]]]]> ]]>

How Greg David Photography Shared Their Passion Using Ticketbud

For National Geographic Creative Photographer Greg Davis, sharing his unique and vivid experiences at India’s Kumba Mela, the world’s largest spiritual gathering, was all about connecting people using a very universal emotion: empathy. “The message [of my event] is to live with faith, devotion and purpose in your own life,” Davis explained, “and to remind you that you are part of something much bigger than yourself. ” Greg’s event was “India’s Kumbh Mela – Photographic Exhibition and Short Film Premiere“, a visual display of his journey to photograph and film this famous holy event half away across the world. The event, which premiered at the Museum of the Southwest in late 2013, needed a seamless and simple ticketing page that made it easy for patrons to learn about Greg and his journey and buy tickets.On top of that, he needed a page that was easy to customize and could reflect the beauty and emotion of the art in his exhibit. To meet these needs, Greg chose Ticketbud to help him take care of his ticketing and attendee management so he could focus on what really mattered: sharing his passion with the people at his event.10340006_10152482307679508_7876218011434930507_n “I feel that the event touched each person in so many different ways;  sights, tastes, spirit and sounds of India, all together in one cohesive exhibit,” Davis recalled. “The goal was to raise awareness for this mythical and legendary cultural event in India…I have been very pleased with the feedback thus far.” “I would recommend [Ticketbud] and will almost certainly use it for my next event.”]]]]> ]]>

How Rock 4A Reason Raised Thousands for Medical Research Using Ticketbud

Rock 4A Reasons For the second year in row, Rock 4A Reason has rocked the stage at their annual benefit concert featuring Minneapolis’ best rock bands all while raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  100% of the proceeds from the concert and silent auctions go towards cutting-edge pediatric medical research. The masterminds behind the event, Elizabeth Squire r4arand Jyme Butterfass say that the idea for the concert was born from their mutual love for the local music scene and charitable giving. “We came up with the idea of Rock 4A Reason after joining the St. Jude Heroes Program…We thought it would be more fun and rewarding to host a benefit concert than to simply ask people to donate to our fundraising efforts.  Our first Rock 4A Reason benefit concert in 2013 was a much bigger success than we had imagined!” says Squire. After a larger-than-anticipated turnout for their inaugural concert last year, they blew their fundraising goals out of the water with a whopping $1400! As a result, they wanted to take their next year’s concert to the next level and soon decided that online ticketing was the best way to do that.  After some exploring and tinkering with Ticketbud, they were hooked. “We had nothing short of a stellar experience with Ticketbud.  The event creation process was very streamlined.  Integration of Ticketbud into our website was very simple and looked very professional, and managing ticket sales online could not have been easier.  Ticket purchasers received their tickets very quickly, and many people commented on how simple it was to pay for their tickets online.” And it turns out, Ticketbud was exactly what they needed. Rock 4A Reason 2014 raised upwards of $2,000! Let’s continue to see such incredible growth next year! ” We will definitely be using Ticketbud for Rock 4A Reason 2015, and I would highly recommend Ticketbud to anyone looking for online ticketing!” To learn more about this rockin’ philanthropic event, check out http://rock4areason.weebly.com/.]]]]> ]]>

How To Manage On-site Social Media At Your Event

How To Manage On-site Social Media At Your Event From keeping your speakers happy to making sure the food layout is just right, there are an endless number of things for an event organizer to worry about the day of the event. With so much going on, it’s easy to neglect one of the most important pieces of your event: the on-site social media! Lets talk about how to mange on-site social media at your event. Whether you’re hosting a conference, fundraiser, concert or anything in between, on-site social media is a crucial piece of promotion and attendee engagement, both of which are vital to the overall experience of your event. To help you manage your on-site social media, we offer a few recommendations to ensure your online social interaction runs smoothly without distracting you from keeping your event on track. ______________________________________________________

1. Hand off social media duties

Managing the on-site social media for an event demands your complete attention. Since your attention will, rightfully, be focused on ensuring a smooth event, leave the social media duties to a member of your team and make sure that that is their only responsibility for the event. Days before the event, be sure to go over a social media strategy with this team member and make sure you’re both on the same page as far as what is okay and not okay to post. If there are specific parts of the event you want highlighted in your social media coverage, make sure your helper knows where to be and when to cover those highlights.

2. Interact constantly

Managing an event’s social media demands complete attention because it requires constant interaction and conversation with your attendees, speakers, vendors and anybody else involved with or interested in the event. Your social media manager should always be on the look out for people talking about the event using keywords, hashtags and other identifiers. If the conversation is slow, it’s your manager’s job to ask questions, post interesting photos and more to spark engagement. Showing strong and constant g interest in your attendees via social media engenders trust and loyalty and leads to a better overall event experience.

3. Designate an official #hashtag & monitor it

Since Twitter is so widely used and one of the easiest social mediums to interact instantly on, I recommend you make it one of the main platforms you operate on. One of the best aspects of Twitter is the hashtag functionality, which lets you categorize tweets by a keyword of your choosing. Before you set up your marketing for your event, designate a catchy hashtag for your event (examples: #PartyCon2014, #GoLocalFest, etc) and encourage people to tweet using that hashtag. This will make it easy for your guests to talk online and painless for your manager to find tweets about the event and interact with fans and followers on the day of the event.

4. Encourage speakers, bands, etc to do the same

If you have other attractions at your event, it’s often helpful to provide a hashtag from each of those as well. That way, when people talk on Twitter, their tweets can stay relevant to a specific topic instead of falling into a giant pool of general tweets about the event. Having hashtags for “events within the event” also help your social media manager separate and categorize the various conversations going on. Rather than have to sort through a thousand tweets with a generic hashtag, he or she can target tweets and engage with only a particular segment of your attendees, ensuring a more relevant and engaging conversation.

5. Seek feedback & mind manners

Don’t be afraid to ask people on social media for their feedback on your event! While some might argue this is an easy way to open yourself up to criticism, a savvy organizer will see this as an opportunity to improve the event and create an even better experience. Your attendees will be impressed that you cared to ask for their opinion and even more impressed you actually did something with it. Along with seeking feedback, social media managers should be sure to say thank you to attendees, speakers and vendors when the event ends. This is great way to garner some goodwill and put a nice cap on your event. Feel free to include photos, albums, quotes and more in your thank you tweets and posts as well to increase the odds of them getting shared. ______________________________________________________ These are just a few of the countless ways to stay on top of your social media during your event. More than anything, the conversations and interactions online should begin before your event and extend well beyond. This is the best way to create a sense of loyalty and community amongst your fans and keep them constantly coming back for more.  ]]]]> ]]>

Announcing Ticketbud's New Access Code Feature

access to a ticket as a promotion, rather than just a code with an associated discount? Now, thanks to Ticketbud’s new Access Code feature, you can! Along with our promo code feature, event organizers now have a powerful new tool to manage their tickets and market their event.

How It Works

To start creating your access code, first select the “Promotional Codes” tab on the toolbar on the left. On the “Promotional Codes” page, click the “Make Access Code” button on the right: Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 3.13.14 PM After clicking the access code button, you can begin customizing your promotion. First, enter the code your guests will enter to gain access to the ticket(s): Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 2.49.52 PM From there, click continue and follow the instructions for the remaining tabs, including selecting the tickets you’d like the code to take effect for, the amount of codes that can be used and how long they code is good for. Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 2.51.02 PM Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 2.51.14 PM Screen Shot 2014-05-07 at 2.51.52 PM Once you have finished customized and activated your promotion, you will see the ticket you selected is no longer visible on your event page. Only when you enter the access code you chose will that ticket be revealed and available for purchase! accesscodescolalge  ]]]]> ]]>

Meet The Organizer: Rachael Bubbs, Bootcamp To Fight MS

Rachael Bubbs When it comes to setting a goal and achieving it, there is no stopping Rachael Bubbs. What started out as walkMS to support her sister-in-law who has MS turned into nearly $60,000 in donations raised for bikeMS and an award as a National Champion in the New England Chapter. We emailed Rachael to discuss her riding team, Team Velox Rota, her upcoming event, Bootcamp to Fight MS, and her advice for like-minded, passionate organizers looking to plan their own fundraising events. ____________________________________________________________________ 1476552_710037532251_609163799_nTicketbud: How did you come to be involved with Team Velox Rota and the events and rides they host and participate in?   Rachael Bubbs: TVR participates in bikeMS rides. The largest ride – the Cape Cod Getaway – has a Facebook page, and I posted in that page when I decided to register for my first bikeMS – 150 mile ride for  my sister-in-law who has MS. Michael Augustine, team founder and captain, recruited me to join the team. This is now my 4th year on TVR, and I am now the “branch” captain for Connecticut. TB: What are some your favorite parts/experiences of being on the team?  RB: The fun, the Cape Cod Getaway and ferry ride home. Different fundraisers. The similarities that we all share as a team. The new friends I’ve made. TB: You are also very active in the fight against MS outside of the team too. Tell us a little more about your personal goals and experiences in the fight against MS.   RB: They are one in the same for me. My sister-in-law has MS, and as a family we used to do the walk in NYC. I wanted to take it a bit further for myself personally and registered for the ride. Team Velox Rota is just as important to the entire picture for me. I have an amazing support system with TVR, in Michael and Melissa McEvoy, and so many others. I’ve been the top fundraiser on the team since my first year back in 2011, and in the top 100 in Greater New England chapter. Last year, 2013, I was awarded as a National Champion in the New England Chapter – as 7th top fundraiser! So far I have raised almost $60k in the last 3 ½ years for MS. 1780876_721321668751_281237886_nTB: In addition to being a rider you are also the event organizer for the BootCamp to Fight MS. What has organizing that event been like? What tips and tricks have you learned from planning, managing and executing an event like this?  RB: I had my own business in event planning for 7 years, so I had a hand up. Many TVR members come to me to help setting up fundraisers or giving them ideas. I have had a lot of help preparing for the event with my mom, who is my right hand in fundraising. I’m very lucky in many regards to have the extra hands and support, but when it comes to family, family comes first! Because I do have an abundance amount of direct personal feelings invested into this event, much of it has been a breeze from friends support and almost 95% of everything being donated to me. I’ve had to stay on top of some vendors and those helping to put on the event, but no more than would be normal for any event! TB: We often talk to organizers who think organizing their own event is too daunting of a task. What advice would you offer to others interested but reluctant to host their own fundraiser for their cause?  RB: There should be no thoughts or feeling about your own event being too daunting of a task. Don’t ever feel reluctant to put it on. If you do, then don’t invest your time. It does take a good deal of patience and persistence. But if you want to be successful and have the joy of doing for others, take on the challenge at full speed and don’t look back! It is quite rewarding at the end! You can donate to Rachael through the National MS Society, Greater New England Chapter through her direct donation page and learn more about Ticketbud’s sponsorship of Team Velox Rota on our blog! ___________________________________________________________________

About the Greater New England Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society

The Greater New England Chapter strives to provide knowledge and assistance to help people with MS and their families maintain the highest possible quality of life. These goals are achieved through vital national and local programs.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
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