Veni, Vendini, Vidi

(Excuse the re-phrased classic quote. I didn't study Latin in school....)

The world of ticketing solutions is apparently quite competitive these days, which is why very few places publish their fees/ charges on their web site. So I'm here to expose them! Ha ha haaaaa!

Well, no. Of course, it would be a little misguided to base your decision purely on the cost - each service offers something a little different. And of course, we would recommend you call the company anyway to discuss the particular details you need to know for your particular situation.

So it goes with Vendini, a ticketing ASP that offers a couple of unique options (and lacks others) - possibly enough differentiation to be more important in the decision-making than small pricing differences.

Vendini offers the usual scope of ticketing services, but is really trying to push for complete box office service - including providing a system that can handle the box office work that typically happens in the office or theatre. However, you don't need to invest in the complete solution from the outset (or ever) - which sticks to my criteria of easy startup.

A quick rundown:

• All usual ticketing features
• Will only generate a will-call list; do not print or mail physical tickets (see box office solution)
• No outside merchant account required for simple solution
• Box office tie-in (see more below)
• Tickets are purchased "from your website"*
• Setup fee - because of the customization (see asterisk below); and the ability to include, share or add the service fee to the ticket price.
• Vendini does not handle phone orders - Vendini's box office solution is meant to accommodate the org itself handling phone reservations/ purchases
• Requires your own domain name (i.e. www.mytheatre.org, not www.hosting.com/mytheatre )

* Their description is technically inaccurate, but I'll chalk it up to sales-speak. When you click to purchase tickets, it pops up a Vendini (read: third party) window, that has been customized to the look and feel of your organization. That's actually how I found out about them - looking to purchase some tickets from a theatre, and I noticed the "www.vendini.com" in the corner. Essentially, their point is they don't punt you to a more generic page where you could see other gigs from other organizations (a la Ticketweb).

The additional "box office" solution is a web-based component that you access from any Internet-connected computer. It can help a performing arts organization handle phone reservations and purchases, and print tickets - with the purchase of a third party ticket printer. But you aren't required to invest in the ticket-printing hardware - many theatres work off of pre-generated reservation lists and proper identification. Another nice feature - email marketing tools with reporting to tell you how many people clicked through to your website (vs. how many unsubscribed as soon as they got the email).

There is a snag - if you want to implement this box office system, you are required to use Vendini's merchant account, as opposed to any that you might already have (at least until a Fall 2005 revision of the system).

Since it's Web-based, you can use it either directly at the box office, and/ or in the office - as long as their is an Internet connection. Producing venues could even install the system and offer it to renting companies as an additional benefit of the rental. And since it's Web-based, you can use the system on an PC or a Mac (but since I haven't seen it, I don't know if it relies on Microsoft-specific functionality which is sometimes kludgy on a Mac).

On last note as I point you to their FAQ - it's sometimes unclear to differentiate when they are talking about their TicketLine service (selling tickets through the web) and their TicketAgent service (the box office product). Keep that in mind as you peruse their wares.