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> Khoo: We’ve run the numbers behind this, and even with a hundred pickup stations, it would take between 2-3 hours on Friday morning to pick up a badge [for Ph

by ulucs 6y ago

> Khoo: We’ve run the numbers behind this, and even with a hundred pickup stations, it would take between 2-3 hours on Friday morning to pick up a badge [for Photo ID verification] I think they're missing out on the fact that the alternative is having to check PAX ticket availability for all eternity. Scalping is apparently a huge enough problem that they're subjecting people to this instead of announcing ticket sale times or doing a lottery (which are kind of mechanically the same) but hey, other people's time is free. Also funny: "PAX Prime prices hit a record high as organizers eliminate all-weekend passes" which means they have raised prices while also trying to disguise it.

rriepe 6y ago
You want something that's fair and also selects for good con-goers. It "costs" more to line up hours in advance for a midnight movie showing too, but that's the kind of person you want at your con. The system they're using now gives a leg up to obsessive groups of friends who all really want to go together. Switch to something "fair" and next year it'll be all the boring 9-5 people with no friends.
- michaelt 6y ago
  To an extent - but random releases of tickets tend to benefit people with desk jobs and soft-touch supervision. My boss doesn't mind if I'm keeping an eye on a festival website when my code's compiling, and I take 15 minutes to book a ticket when they go on sale. But a call centre worker or a doctor or a teacher or a production line worker isn't in the same position.
  - lmm 6y ago
    Sounds like that's selecting for "good con-goers" as well. You want enthusiasm, but you also want people who can afford to buy things that are being sold there and drink in the hotel bar.
    - gambiting 6y ago
      A doctor can absolutely afford to do those things, but they probably can't buy the tickets due to the nature of their work.
- SiempreViernes 6y ago
  Then just sell only to the people what went last year first if this is your explicit goal? You could also use some sort of sponsor system if you want to preserve some sort nerd purity; it just seems more honest than using an onerous ticket buying process to reach that same goal of preserving the visitor mix.
- ulucs 6y ago
  I'm just taking them at their word that they want a fair ticketing system for the everynerd. If we want to optimize for obsesiveness, a much better solution would be letting people line up at the convention venue and letting only a number of people in while collecting payments at entrance.
prepend 6y ago
Their reasoning against this is that they didn’t want to inconvenience 100% of congoers to prevent 1% of scalpers. First, I doubt scalping is only 1%. But by not announcing, they are inconveniencing 500-1000% of congoers to benefit someone. This interview is funny because it comes down to “here’s how we do it, we don’t feel like changing and haven’t thought about stuff too deeply because we don’t care because we sell all our tickets anyway”
KMnO4 6y ago
I would do a hybrid approach. Buy tickets on your phone and they’re linked to both your photo ID AND that exact specific device you purchased them on and can’t be transferred. On the day of you can scan the unique code on your phone (generated that day, and ideally OTP) to pick up your tickets. If you lost that device, go to Gate B for ID verifications. Now you’ve solved the issue of A) enforcing verification that the ticket buyer is the one attending and B) not having to spend hours checking IDs.

by ulucs 6y ago

rriepe 6y ago

You want something that's fair and also selects for good con-goers. It "costs" more to line up hours in advance for a midnight movie showing too, but that's the kind of person you want at your con. The system they're using now gives a leg up to obsessive groups of friends who all really want to go together. Switch to something "fair" and next year it'll be all the boring 9-5 people with no friends.

michaelt 6y ago
To an extent - but random releases of tickets tend to benefit people with desk jobs and soft-touch supervision. My boss doesn't mind if I'm keeping an eye on a festival website when my code's compiling, and I take 15 minutes to book a ticket when they go on sale. But a call centre worker or a doctor or a teacher or a production line worker isn't in the same position.
- lmm 6y ago
  Sounds like that's selecting for "good con-goers" as well. You want enthusiasm, but you also want people who can afford to buy things that are being sold there and drink in the hotel bar.
  - gambiting 6y ago
    A doctor can absolutely afford to do those things, but they probably can't buy the tickets due to the nature of their work.
SiempreViernes 6y ago
Then just sell only to the people what went last year first if this is your explicit goal? You could also use some sort of sponsor system if you want to preserve some sort nerd purity; it just seems more honest than using an onerous ticket buying process to reach that same goal of preserving the visitor mix.
ulucs 6y ago
I'm just taking them at their word that they want a fair ticketing system for the everynerd. If we want to optimize for obsesiveness, a much better solution would be letting people line up at the convention venue and letting only a number of people in while collecting payments at entrance.

prepend 6y ago

Their reasoning against this is that they didn’t want to inconvenience 100% of congoers to prevent 1% of scalpers. First, I doubt scalping is only 1%. But by not announcing, they are inconveniencing 500-1000% of congoers to benefit someone. This interview is funny because it comes down to “here’s how we do it, we don’t feel like changing and haven’t thought about stuff too deeply because we don’t care because we sell all our tickets anyway”

KMnO4 6y ago

I would do a hybrid approach. Buy tickets on your phone and they’re linked to both your photo ID AND that exact specific device you purchased them on and can’t be transferred. On the day of you can scan the unique code on your phone (generated that day, and ideally OTP) to pick up your tickets. If you lost that device, go to Gate B for ID verifications. Now you’ve solved the issue of A) enforcing verification that the ticket buyer is the one attending and B) not having to spend hours checking IDs.