Barker College, NSW

Barker College in NSW has the largest school music program in the Southern Hemisphere. They used TryBooking to run one of their most popular events.

Background

Barker College in New South Wales has the largest school music program in the Southern Hemisphere. With almost 1,000 students involved in the music department, there are a lot of opportunities for the local community to enjoy the talents of their student musicians. Every week the music department puts on a recital and throughout the school year, they present 25 large performances. Concerts are eagerly anticipated and frequently sold out.

One of their most popular events, Symphony Under the Stars, pulls a crowd of 3,500 people. In 2009, however, attendance had to be restricted due to a nearby building site. 

"This is usually an open event, but this year we had the capacity for only 1,200 people," said Vivian Paynter, Barker College Music Secretary. "We didn't want to turn away 1,000 people on the night." 

The change

"Fortunately, TryBooking provided an easy solution to what could have been a tricky problem." Vivian advertised that entry was limited and tickets were essential to attend the performance. People were directed to the school website to book tickets. "A few people showed up without tickets, but it was so few that it was insignificant," continued Vivian. "We planned for a certain number of non-ticketed guests and easily had enough space."

Initially, Vivian frequently logged into her TryBooking account to see how ticket sales were going. "I used the reports to see how tickets were moving and how many tickets we had left. I soon realised it was going to work just fine." 

Reassured that the concert attendance would be gracefully limited, Vivian was able to reallocate her time to other aspects of the performance.

The results

"I was very happy with the entire experience. I found it pretty flawless!"

Vivian found the transition to online booking very easy: "Out of more than 900 people who bought tickets, only two people had trouble as they were from an older generation and didn't have much computer experience. I talked one person through it on the phone and for the other person I just logged into TryBooking and booked her ticket for her while she was on the phone. Then I simply emailed the ticket to her. Otherwise, everyone booked their tickets without a problem."

Vivian continued, "I'm not terribly aux fais with computers, but I actually found it pretty easy. I spoke with Delma once and got a few tips."

"I was very happy with the entire experience. I found it pretty flawless!"

Vivian Paynter
Music Secretary
Barker College