London's ticketing platforms & box offices should make Pay-It-Forward schemes possible. It'll make arts both more resilient and accessible
Photo by Thomas Charters on Unsplash
Our friends Mary Valiakis and Christine Charitonos of culture agency, What Does Not, bring us a culture-driven social intervention. This one is about “peer-to-peer philanthropy” Mary tells us. “Entertainment as community weaving and resilience building at the 'I' stage, and on the way to 'WE / WORLD'.”
It’s a petition, aimed at the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), urging them to start a scheme that can help those buying seats in London’s arts theatres donate tickets to others, with fees waived on those donated tickets. Enabling and incentivising “pay it forward” behaviour.
The wider context from the Greater London Authority is to encourage local spending in the arts sector, which still suffers an audience reduction from the Covid years. Improving the arts sector’s resilience in the face of future shocks is the aim.
Should you be charged fees when you want to do good and help another out? We didn't think so either. What's that got to do with saving London's culture & entertainment scene and restoring faith in humanity? We're glad you asked.
If the covid crisis taught us anything, with its songs flowing from balconies and its clapping for carers, it's that joy and fun are a key part of creating resilient communities – and sustaining us through tough times. Here’s why some digital fixes could unleash a kindness contagion...
What we're asking
We've done extensive, end-to-end research on the pressures of the entertainment & culture scene. And, drawing on our professional backgrounds in digital product development and entertainment, we are asking The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) and UK-based ticketing platforms to:
Commit to our kindness contagion campaign
Include a pay-it-forward ticketing option so individuals who can afford to, purchase additional tickets for those without means.
Make the necessary design changes so kindness and generosity can be seamlessly facilitated from both the customer and the promoter point of view.
Waive all fees for pay-it-forward tickets.
STAR has been at the forefront of cross-industry initiatives to improve consumer confidence, make ticket buying safer and combat ticket fraud.
Launching our petition in step with the Mayor of London's, London for Everyone campaign, we want to invite STAR and their members from across, music, theatre, and ticketing to innovate in consumer agency and DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) – allowing purchasing power to have a direct effect on another human (whether audience member, or creator).
In the process, we can show the world that while some want to sow the seeds of division, Londoners prefer to water the seeds of a society where it's plain to see good humans still exist, and are looking out for each other.
The backstory
Christine created an independent social enterprise and culture agency to support underdogs from all walks of life – and to redefine entertainment as a soul-enriching experience. A brand borne of personal and professional experience. After running several events across London, Christine noticed that when it came to supporting emerging musicians and audiences that want to attend events, but can't afford to, ticketing platforms became a digital barrier to helping out.
Christine and her team are veterans of the entertainment, creative and digital industries – and see a huge opportunity here for ticketing platforms to facilitate generosity – and unleash a chain reaction of kindness – in a time when society desperately needs hope, and good news.
We know the digital solution, we have the service design knowledge to make it happen. Now, we are launching a campaign, starting with this petition – and would like your support to show the world the beautiful side of human nature – and make culture accessible to all.
The problem we want to solve
In an accelerating era where Rest & Recreation is deeply needed, audiences are increasingly limited in their leisure options due to the cost of living crisis, venue running costs, and, therefore, increased ticket prices.
We want to create resilient communities through easily available access to cultural events. But why should, culture, music and art matter in a time when people are struggling to pay bills and buy groceries?
The lack of accessibility to cultural events can have detrimental effects on social mobility. According to a report by the Sutton Trust (2018), participation in cultural activities is directly related to better educational performance, and success in the workplace.
But it also matters, because "joy, collected over time, fuels resilience – ensuring we'll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen," says author Brené Brown. And because kindness is contagious. Implementing our proposed changes will help unleash a chain reaction of the good stuff.
A mini case study
With so much wealth in London, why not get those who have more, to contribute and buy tickets for those with little to no means? We took it upon ourselves to adapt the functionality of a leading ticketing platform so we could invite contributions as pay-it-forward donations. These covered the ticket costs of someone in need.
We were told by the ticketing platform that we were the first ever brand to do this. They didn't know how to accommodate what we were asking – and couldn't provide the necessary functionality for this to be a smooth customer experience. We launched it anyway, only to discover the ticketing platform was still charging the customer fees and also taking a cut from people's donations.
This is what real financial inclusion and DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) looks like in the entertainment and events industry. Getting into the trenches of the digital experience, so there can be culture, theatre, music and art for all during the cost of living crisis.
Believe in a better society? Please sign
By implementing these changes, we can unleash a chain reaction of kindness – and make London the entertainment capital of a world where philanthropy for the masses is cool, fun, and easy to take part in. While Londoners can restore people's faith in humanity.
The impact of unlocking access to culture for audiences and creatives can boost mental wellbeing on the individual level, and catalyse the kind of creative cross-pollination that will keep the London culture, music, and events scene, innovative and vibrant.