The case against waiting last minute to buy tickets

(Artists striking their own show after Alcina REVAMPED. The only way these things happen is when everyone comes together. It isn't magic. It is HARD work!)

Did you know that behind every small arts organization, there is an Artistic Director/General Manager checking ticket sales each morning and biting their nails?

I get it. Inflation is hitting everyone hard. It can make prioritizing groceries, rent, and other crucial miscellaneous costs much more important than purchasing a ticket ahead of time for an event you haven't decided that you'll go to yet, for sure.

We live in an era of "maybe" and "if I feel like it" and "if I'm not too tired" because the pandemic made all of our activities not really stop, but actually bottleneck into this extremely tight stream that we're all paying for now, and we're all overworked.

I reflect on the events I know are important to me (that I do want to attend) when I think about how good it feels to see ticket sales roll into my own inbox. Maybe I owe it to those artists to just buy a ticket upfront and show my support? If I know I want the same for my organization.

I think that in the case of live art, we need to lean in and attend these things. Why? BECAUSE it is hard to get out of our houses. And, I am not just saying this because I want to encourage my own ticket sales.

Small arts organizations are dying and withdrawing because the amount of bandwidth it to takes to organize these things, not to mention an attempt at paying people a fair wage, is all-consuming, and deeply exhausting.

We have to look around and ask ourselves: what do we value being open? staying afloat? continuing? what do we not value? The things we don't value can leave us and we won't miss them. Our dollars do the voting.

But, if there is something you care about about there and you keep thinking to yourself, "I really should go," "I really want to go," "I should really buy my ticket", then the time is now, friend. The time is now, because by the time you get around to being able to buy that ticket or show support, the organization may not be there anymore.

Even if you end up not being able to come, buy a ticket and show your support if you CARE about the thing being around next time. It is the only way we can keep doing what we're doing.

I cannot emphasize how much seeing ticket sales means from not only a financial standpoint, but truly, an emotional one. Burnout is real, but hopefully not inevitable.

Your local tiny Artistic Director thanks you. :)