Ticketing professionals from my past
26 March, 2026
After another successful Ticketing Professionals Conference, I found myself worrying about where the ticketing professionals of tomorrow are going to come from.
Digital Strategy
After nearly twenty years working in the arts, I have a lot of opinions about how the arts should work — particularly when it comes to ticketing and websites.
Sometimes I write about those opinions, sometimes I present them at industry conferences. Here's a selection.
What's New
Articles
Everyone's a creative problem-solver!
November 2025
Lots of consultants are keen to sell you on their special, proprietary frameworks for creative problem-solving, with the promise of unlocking wild new frontiers of innovation and efficiency. The truth is, most of these frameworks boil down to the same handful of basic strategies, which almost everyone probably does unconsciously sometimes anyway. Doing these things more consciously won't unlock wild new frontiers of innovation or efficiency — but they might help you the next time you're struggling with a difficult issue.
ReadEveryone's a creative problem-solver! (external link)
When is a website not just a website?
October 2025
For a lot of organisations, the website is just a place to stick information that somebody might resonably be interested in finding. But folks, it’s 2025. The world is more wired-up and digital than it ever has been. Your website can be so much more than a just-in-case reference for people searching for your phone number.
ReadWhen is a website not just a website? (external link)
Getting more from - or binning - your website's people pages
July 2025
Cultural organisations are shaped, driven, and improved immeasurably by the people behind them. But are website profiles the best place to highlight this?
ReadGetting more from - or binning - your website's people pages (external link)
How to make your website seating plan look like your actual seating plan
April 2025
The way your ticketing system shows your auditorium on a seating map might not be how your auditorium actually looks in real life (especially if, thoughts and prayers, your auditorium has a curve in it). So how do you bring the two a little closer together, and make life easier for your website users?
ReadHow to make your website seating plan look like your actual seating plan (external link)
Sharing box-office data publicly will improve creativity and diversity
The Stage
September 2024
Compared to other creative industries, people in theatre are very secretive about their sales figures. More openness will create more opportunities for everyone — but particularly small and independent players trying to break in for the first time.
Read Sharing box-office data publicly will improve creativity and diversity (external link)
Escaping the cult of content
September 2024
The idea that content is important for websites verges on dogma these days. So maybe it's time for some heresy, too.
ReadEscaping the cult of content (external link)
Automation without AI — a beginner's guide
July 2024
When you hear the word automation, these days your mind probably goes straight to AI. As more and more companies rush to incorporate AI into their digital products, it’s easy to feel like that’s the only way to innovate with technology, and like you’re falling behind if you’re not using AI for something. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to automate without using AI. In fact, some of the most effective automations might not even involve technology at all.
ReadAutomation without AI — a beginner's guide (external link)
What peanut butter packaging can teach you about user experience design
June 2024
Much like pasta, I am a total glutton for peanut butter. I eat it for breakfast almost every day. I also splurge on the fancy peanut butter that's made from just peanuts and salt, and one thing all the fancy peanut butters have in common, I've noticed, is their lid design, which is a beautiful example of a great UX thinking.
ReadWhat peanut butter packaging can teach you about user experience design (external link)
Four essential questions to ask about your ticketing system
April 2024
At the Ticketing Professionals Conference 2024, I put together a panel discussion about what a ticketing system is and what it should do for your organisation. there are a few things everyone agreed were critical. So if you have a ticketing system at your organisation, here are a few questions you should definitely be asking yourself about how well it's working for you.
ReadFour essential questions to ask about your ticketing system (external link)
How product thinking helped us build an interactive, self-guided tour for a cathedral, in less than two weeks
March 2024
In 2022, Durham Cathedral launched a brand new website. In 2024, they now have a brand new interactive, self-guided tour, too - thanks to a bit of clever content strategy and just two weeks of extra development.
ReadHow product thinking helped us build an interactive, self-guided tour for a cathedral, in less than two weeks (external link)
What pasta packaging can teach you about user experience design
January 2024
Fancy packaging design comes at a significant cost to the user experience of your pasta box. And if prioritising visual design over UX design can so brutally mess up the relatively simple user journey of pasta, you'd better believe it can do even more damage to the UX of your complicated website.
ReadWhat pasta packaging can teach you about user experience design (external link)
Five questions to ask before you automate something on your website
November 2023
The more advanced our computers get, the more tempting it is to streamline things that maybe shouldn't be streamlined to begin with. Here are five questions to help you decide whether your automation project is actually a good idea, or whether it's going to do more harm than good.
ReadFive questions to ask before you automate something on your website (external link)
What cathedrals can teach you about your venue's ticketing website
October 2022
Cathedral websites, it turns out, face a lot of the same challenges as theatre and other venue websites. But cathedrals have addressed those challenges in some original and often really innovative ways that you almost never see in the arts. So what can cathedrals teach you about your own arts website?
ReadWhat cathedrals can teach you about your venue's ticketing website (external link)
Why you should get rid of your What's On page
August 2022
Almost every (British) venue website you look at has a "What's On" page listed prominently in the site navigation. Here's why that might not be the best idea.
ReadWhy you should get rid of your What's On page (external link)
Theatres must get used to social distancing — it's what audiences want
The Stage
October 2020
Audience surveys by Indigo, SOLT and YouGov couldn't be clearer - if theatres want audiences to return, they will need social distancing in place.
ReadTheatres must get used to social distancing — it's what audiences want (external link)
Theatre's attempts at online ticketing are Kafkaesque - it's time for smarter systems
The Stage
January 2020
Now that you can buy anything online with just a few clicks, why is booking tickets still so difficult?
ReadTheatre's attempts at online ticketing are Kafkaesque - it's time for smarter systems (external link)
Presentations
Where should we innovate in ticketing?
Ticketing Professionals Conference 2026
Conferences like TPC showcase the depth and richness of innovative thinking around ticketing today — from AI, to dynamic pricing, to improved CRM. But when was the last time you saw a session about improving the process of actually setting up a show, or selling a ticket? When was the last time a session challenged you to innovate… baskets? These basic ticketing functions are at the heart of what we do, day in and day out, and yet they’ve become a bit like the QWERTY keyboard: everyone just carries on using them the way they are, without ever stopping to think if a different approach would work better.
When “Yes, We Have an API” Isn’t Enough: Effectively Integrating Solutions
Ticketing Professionals Conference 2026
I was invited to participate as a panelist in this session, discussing the realities of system integration and exploring the challenge faced by every venue: fragmented systems that claim to connect, but don’t deliver on the promise. What does it really take to unify data flows across ticketing, marketing, and customer engagement? How can the sector can move toward more meaningful interoperability?
Everyone's a Creative Problem Solver! (Even if they don't know it)
Arts Marketing Association Digital Marketing Day 2025
Lots of consultants are keen to sell you on their special, proprietary frameworks for creative problem-solving, with the promise of unlocking wild new frontiers of innovation and efficiency. The truth is, most of these frameworks boil down to the same handful of basic strategies, which almost everyone probably does unconsciously sometimes anyway. Doing these things more consciously won't unlock wild new frontiers of innovation or efficiency — but it might help you the next time you're struggling with a difficult issue.
Related article: Everyone's a creative problem-solver!
Big ideas: Winner Reveal
Future of Theatre 2025
Presenting the award for the 2025 Big Ideas competition, alongside a brief update on the progress with my winning big idea from 2024.
Related article: Passing the baton
Think big, start small — how to incorporate automation into your work
Arts Marketing Association Conference 2024
As AI and smart devices spread into every area of our lives, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind if you’re not automating something. At the same time, automation often seems like a daunting technical undertaking, beyond the means of small arts teams stretched for time and money. Here are a few simple steps to help you dip your toe in the automation waters. By starting small, you can test the effectiveness of automating particular tasks in a lofi way. This will also help you identify where to best invest your digital development budget when you’re ready to turn your baby-steps into more serious strides.
Related article: Automation without AI — a beginner's guide
Big ideas: why theatres should publish their sales figures
Future of Theatre 2024
Why the theatre industry should build a shared, totally transparent repository of granular, week-by-week, up-to-date sales figures for every show and venue, that anyone can access.
What is a ticketing system?
Ticketing Professionals Conference 2024
You probably use a ticketing system every day, but if your life depended on it could you describe what a ticketing system actually is? "Something that sells tickets" covers everything from Taylor Swift selling her arena tour to the person running the raffle at the village fete, and omits features most modern ticketing systems boast as standard. Yet making the description more complicated raises more questions than it answers. Does a museum need to offer reserved seating? Does an arena need to offer timed entry slots? Does the village raffle need CRM? Does a ticketing system need to do any of this? More importantly, how are we supposed to build better ticketing systems if we can't even agree what a ticketing system is to begin with?
Related article: Four essential questions to ask about your ticketing system
Why are you automating that?
Arts Marketing Association Digital Marketing Day 2023
The more advanced our computers get, the more tempting it is to streamline things that maybe shouldn't be streamlined to begin with. Here are five questions to help you decide whether your automation project is actually a good idea, or whether it's going to do more harm than good.
Related article: Five questions to ask before you automate something on your website
Ticketing without a ticketing system
Ticketing Professionals Conference 2023
Ronnie Scott's, the iconic London jazz club, doesn't have a ticketing system. Yet they still manage to sell out almost every show, every night of the week. In this case study, you'll find out why a well-established venue would choose to work without a ticketing system - and what you can learn from their unusual approach.
Why you should get rid of your What's On page
Arts Marketing Association Conference 2022
Almost every (British) venue website you look at has a "What's On" page listed prominently in the site navigation. Here's why that might not be the best idea.
Related article: Why you should get rid of your What's On page
What cathedrals can teach you about your ticketing system
Ticketing Professionals Conference 2022
Like any venue, cathedrals regularly sell admission tickets and host ticketed performances - and the pandemic forced them to find new, digital solutions for doing so. As a result, in the past two years several cathedrals launched new websites that creatively tackle a number of common ticketing problems. This session will look at some of the best examples to draw valuable learnings that any venue or visitor attraction can apply to their own digital operations.
Related article: What cathedrals can teach you about your venue's ticketing website