Live Nation's Ticketmaster yesterday bigged up various tools it has been developing to help venues and promoters more easily manage shows while COVID social distancing rules are still in place.
Some event organisers are already employing the tools for their socially distanced shows. However, the tools will likely become all the more important as and when the more severe COVID restrictions start to lift, and more venues and promoters start staging shows again, even though some social distancing rules will still be in place.
The tools come together under the banner SmartEvent. Among them is the Social Distance Seating Tool which uses "custom algorithms" to allow event organisers to work out the most efficient way to distribute audience members in a venue, so to maximise capacity while adhering to social distancing rules.
A Timed Entry Tool makes it easier to give ticket-buyers a specific arrival time to help with crowd control before a show, while another tool on offer facilities the sending of real-time updates to ticket-buyers directing them to entrances with the smallest queues and crowds.
Existing digital ticketing innovations are also being utilised or ramped up. That includes the increased use of contactless scanners at entrances to reduce physical interaction between staff and audience members, and the functionality that allows whoever buys a ticket to easily transfer it into the name of the person actually attending, thus helping with COVID track and trace.
Commenting on all this, Ticketmaster President Mark Yovich says: "We know that fans around the world are eager to return to live events and SmartEvent gives event organisers an array of solutions to help make that possible. SmartEvent brings together our advanced technology platform and industry-leading venue and seating insights, putting Ticketmaster in the unique position to facilitate paths back to live".
Although some of these tools are specifically linked to COVID restrictions, others will be useful beyond the pandemic and its impact on live entertainment. Which is something Yovich also notes.
"While initially intended to help fans and organisers get back to live, some of these innovations will long outlast COVID-19, streamlining processes and providing endless opportunity to modernise the event experience", he adds. "We have every confidence that the industry will prevail, and that our cutting-edge technology, local expertise, global reach and fan insights will lead the way".