[MAverick]

www.thehip.com

Thanks tips.

I've just about had it with these pre-sales. The link on the hip website, was programmed to synch with the clock on fans pc's so I am in Alberta.


Finally I changed the time on my computer to 10am EST, and VOILA worked like a charm. A HALF HOUR TOO LATE!!!

Well ...... that's my story.

Hip, please take a lesson from Pearl Jam.

No slight to MAv really, he's the guy stuck in the middle, perhaps he needs more resources available to him to produce a fool proof system.

Why couldn't we have been informed that the presale was programmed this way??

See my other post. My fault. Not a resource issue - I was improving performance and miscalculated one line of code which I comment out at the last minute to save the server from being hit by thousands of extra server requests from all the users clocks hitting the server every few seconds. . . and I said. Lesson learned.

MAv.

[chris]

Everything worked as planned for me. The timezone issue is a downer, but at least you have a second shot with the public on-sale.

My only comment/question/complaint is about what seats are actually available for the presale vs. public on-sale; are we getting access to all the seats or just some?

And with regards to the timing of 2 minutes to complete the form... how long does it really take to fill in your address and credit card info?

[MAverick]

[quote="chris"]My only comment/question/complaint is about what seats are actually available for the presale vs. public on-sale; are we getting access to all the seats or just some?
quote]

I am currently trying to get some information in this regard. Agreed, time zone issue was a bit of a downer for me as well, for different reasons. I like when things go perfectly, but trying to improve things sometimes one has to make mistakes. . . regretable, as they are . . .

[thompson girl]

I liked the clock countdown.

With that feature you didn't have to keep hitting refresh a million times and you didn't have to worry whether or not to go by your computer's clock, the clock on the wall, your phone's clock, etc., etc.!

[Escape@Hand]

Thanks Mav,
it's nice to have someone on the board who can answer all these questions and I appreciate all the work you must have to do for these types of things. There's always going to be some unforeseen technical issue, but overall I thought things were pretty good. The link came up right at 10, the server wasn't slow (at least for me), and while it would have been nice to have a few extra seconds for the forms, it was no big deal, and I have no real complaints about the presale.

I have to say, even though it worked out for me, there wasn't much time given to fill out the forms. I felt the pressure, and I feel for those who got screwed because of it. It would have been nice to have say 4-5 mins rather than 1:30, or 2 mins. I wonder why there was such a short time to fill everything out?

Ok, let me address the issues I can:

1. time zone issue. That was completely my fault. I built the new countdown clock to improve server preformance and to avoid people having to refresh.

Last night, I had a deep seated fear that we would have preformance issues on our servers, so I took out the time check on the server . . . obvioulsy, I didn't really think it through enough. THis is an easy fix for me and it won't happen again.

2. ticket selection: I went in and was bale to get floors numerous times within the first four minutes, in numerous sections, so I personally saw several floor sections in the course of my trials

3. time for filling out forms - I use autofill. One click of a button and the form is done. Didn't have that issue personaly

Anyway, my main reason for this post was to say the time zone issue was on my side. Lesson learned, though the effect that I was hoping for, improved server effeciencies worked like a charm . . .

[nohochin]

Thanks for the response MAv.

The unfortunate thing for me is that my work computer's clock can not be changed, so I still won't have a ticket link for another 2 minutes.

I think on Friday I might have to call in sick or something, hehe...

;-)

Nick

[farmerdan]

I liked the clock countdown.

With that feature you didn't have to keep hitting refresh a million times and you didn't have to worry whether or not to go by your computer's clock, the clock on the wall, your phone's clock, etc., etc.!

I like it as well :thumb:

[MAverick]

Thanks Mav,
it's nice to have someone on the board who can answer all these questions and I appreciate all the work you must have to do for these types of things. There's always going to be some unforeseen technical issue, but overall I thought things were pretty good. The link came up right at 10, the server wasn't slow (at least for me), and while it would have been nice to have a few extra seconds for the forms, it was no big deal, and I have no real complaints about the presale.

I have to say, even though it worked out for me, there wasn't much time given to fill out the forms. I felt the pressure, and I feel for those who got screwed because of it. It would have been nice to have say 4-5 mins rather than 1:30, or 2 mins. I wonder why there was such a short time to fill everything out?

Ok, let me address the issues I can:

1. time zone issue. That was completely my fault. I built the new countdown clock to improve server preformance and to avoid people having to refresh.

Last night, I had a deep seated fear that we would have preformance issues on our servers, so I took out the time check on the server . . . obvioulsy, I didn't really think it through enough. THis is an easy fix for me and it won't happen again.

2. ticket selection: I went in and was bale to get floors numerous times within the first four minutes, in numerous sections, so I personally saw several floor sections in the course of my trials

3. time for filling out forms - I use autofill. One click of a button and the form is done. Didn't have that issue personaly

Anyway, my main reason for this post was to say the time zone issue was on my side. Lesson learned, though the effect that I was hoping for, improved server effeciencies worked like a charm . . .

Thanks, that is exactly the point of the countdown clock and honestly, for some reason I only thought of it yesterday afternoon walking back from getting acoffee. I've been trying to find a way to avoid the refresh etc. and I think this is the long term solution. Load on the servers was greatly reduced as a result.

Normally, a clock like this gets updated by the server - the base time, and counts down from there. In an ideal world, it checks the time on the computer every few moments and syncs up the time, so all times are equal. this is the part I took out at the last minute and I will put it back in and work on making it perfect for next time. Again, a small, but important oversite on my side - I outsmarted myself a little bit - retrospectively - as I made the decision to eliminate this extra load on the servers as well. Next time, I'll have it check the server - less frequently than I originally had it set to, so a compromise will be made.

Anyway, I think it will be an improvement long term and I think it worked out for most people quite well . . .

[hotmetal401]

Great experience for me. Flr 5, row three, seats 6&7. You cannot understand how happy I am to be going to this show.

So, where's the pre show gonna be?

Cheers,

Pat

[edgoffin]

Great experience for me, too. Likely the best pre-sale I have seen (on time, worked seamless for me), with the caveat that I did get 6th row seats in the end.

I did go through a few selections before I got 6th row. Middle foors, a few sections at the end of the rink, and then fourth try these showed up. So looked like there were seats spread throughout. I imagine that with the rink only holding 6,000, and all the people who will be getting tickets as it's the rink's grand opening, there are not a lot of seats available to the general public.

Thanks MAverick and the band for the opportunity for another great show.

[MAverick]

Great experience for me, too. Likely the best pre-sale I have seen (on time, worked seamless for me), with the caveat that I did get 6th row seats in the end.

Thanks MAverick and the band for the opportunity for another great show.

My goal, so everyone knows, which is probably obvious, but I'll state it anyway, is to keep imrpoving the way ticket sales are done on our end, and I think that we're almost there . . . not quite, but almost

So I am pleased to see that for the most part, this was a pretty seemless exercise. Ticket distribution is obvioulsy not on my side, so if I can get you there easily and fairly with few hassles, then I have accomplished what I have set out to do.

MAv.

[sean.bonner]

The improvements to the ticketing, not just for this show, but for the entire 06/07 tour are obvious.
The good far outweighs the bad.

[Patrick Quinn]

Long time reader, just registered today.

Thanks to Mav, the presale was flawless for me. Watched the clock tick for 20 minutes, link came up, when through, only my slow hands prevented me from being closer to the front. Got six tickets floors 5, row 5, so in the middle about 21 rows back. Really excited for this show, jealous of you floors 2 people. See you all in Kingston in February!

[edgoffin]

I think it was a huge improvement over the Canada winter tour pre-sale (though I did get great tickets for the Ottawa show, was a more stressful experience).

Guess about 12 years ago I was buying tickets for the Memorial Centre show...skipping out of work, standing outside in the cold and snow, in a line that took a few hours to get to the ticket window. Ticket purchasing has come a long way!

[MAverick]

Long time reader, just registered today.

Thanks to Mav, the presale was flawless for me. Watched the clock tick for 20 minutes, link came up, when through, only my slow hands prevented me from being closer to the front. Got six tickets floors 5, row 5, so in the middle about 21 rows back. Really excited for this show, jealous of you floors 2 people. See you all in Kingston in February!

Welcome to the base. . . see you in Ktown.