over half a million tickets online by 2005. In the following year, a Half Price
Ticket Tent was added in association with Metro, offering special ticket prices
for different shows each day, selling 45,000 tickets in its first year.
Several venues use
their own ticketing systems; this is partly due to
issues of commissions and how
ticket revenue is distributed,
and was
reinforced by the 2008 failure of the main box office.
In 2008 the Fringe faced the biggest crisis in its history when the
computerised ticketing system failed. The director of the Fringe resigned and
the Board decided that the post of "Director" (invented in 1992 after years of
being called "Fringe Administrator") would be abolished and replaced by a
Chief Executive, thus reinforcing the Fringe chief's
basic administrative
function. A report into the failure was commissioned from accountancy firm
Scott-Moncrieff.
The events surrounding the failed box office software led to the
resignation of Fringe Director Jon Morgan after only one full year in post.
The resultant financial loss suffered by the Fringe Society has been estimated
at £300,000 which it was forced to meet from its reserves.These events
attracted much comment from the UK and world media. More debts emerged
as
the year went on, and an independent report criticised the Board and the
current and previous Fringe Directors for a failure
of management and an
inability to provide the basic service.
To make matters worse, Fringe Sunday – a vast free showcase of events
held on the Meadows – was cancelled as a sponsor could not be secured.
After an interim period, when Tim Hawkins from Brighton held the reins,
established Edinburgh Book Festival and Fringe manager Kath Mainland was
appointed in February 2009 to stabilise the situation, and became the Fringe's
first Chief Executive.
Достарыңызбен бөлісу: