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Building Your Venue Maps: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1253672
In order to enable you to sell tickets to an event with a reserved seating map, our team will need to create an interactive seating map. This article will cover:
Submitting your materials
To kick off the venue build, you will need to upload your venue map through our Venue Creation or Update Request form.
The ideal format for your venue map is a PDF with a transparent background. If you do not have a PDF with a transparent background, send us the venue files you do have. Any PDF, JPEG, or even an Excel spreadsheet should work.
To submit your materials, fill out this survey.
Please select yes for the billing question and "New Venue Build" as your project type. Also, make sure you complete one survey for every distinct venue that you need built.
Venue Basics
There are some specific PatronManager terms that you'll need to be familiar with when providing your venue information to us:
An Allocation is a group of seats that share common visibility and pricing options. Each Allocation is designated by a different color.
Since prices are set at the Allocation level, if seats are sold at different prices, they need to be associated with different Allocations.
Similarly, since visibility is set at the Allocation level, if certain seats are held and not regularly available for public sale, those seats will need to be in a separate Allocation.
Below is an example of a venue with 6 separate Allocations:
Seats associated with the Tier 1-4 Allocations have a Public visibility, meaning the seats in that Allocation can be sold internally AND publicly online.
Seats associated with the "Producer Holds" Allocation (pink seats) have a Private visibility, meaning the seats in that Allocation can only be sold internally and are NOT available publicly online.
Seats associated with the "Not For Sale" Allocation (dark gray seats) have a Not For Sale visibility, meaning the seats in that Allocation CANNOT be sold at all.
Internal Seat Map:
Public Online Seat Map:
Important note: while we create your default Allocations during the initial venue build, the seats in your venue can be manually reallocated on an event-by-event basis.
Please provide your default or most popular configuration during the venue building process.
A Section contains one or more Allocations and is determined by the location of the seats in your venue, not by the price of their seats.
Unlike Allocations, the Section will appear on the ticket itself to help patrons find their seat.
Here's an example of a Section Selection page for our Example Venue with 6 different Sections:
By default, Seats in each Section appear on their own screen; however, multiple Sections can be combined into Section Groups to display together on the same screen.
Here's an example of a Section Group in our example venue made up of 3 different Sections (Orchestra Left, Orchestra Center, and Orchestra Right):
Here is the same venue, with no Section groups. When each Section is selected, only that Section appears on the screen.
Let us know on the survey if you'd prefer certain Sections to be grouped together. We can always make an adjustment during the review process.
It's important to ensure that Seats and Rows are labeled accurately and that the total number of Seats in the map that you've provided is correct.
We recommend visiting your venue and physically confirming each Seat and Row, counting the total number of Seats in your venue before submitting your materials.
If there are boxes, tables, or other configurations, please make sure those are clearly labeled and identifiable.
Important note: we are not able to build steps, railings, pillars, venue exits, sound booths, etc. into your seating maps. If this is important to you, please upvote this Product Idea in the Client Community.
Seat Notes are short text descriptions that can be used to notify your patrons of particular characteristics of certain Seats in your venue.
They are made up of two parts: Acknowledgments and Notes.
An Acknowledgment is a pop-up message that appears on-screen when a patron selects a specific Seat on your Public Ticketing Site. The Acknowledgment must be confirmed by the purchaser in order to add that Seat to their cart.
Below is an example of an Acknowledgment that appears when a patron selects a Seat with a Wheelchair Space Seat Note.
Our standard Acknowledgment texts are below and may be edited slightly for your specific venue:
"You have requested seating in a wheelchair-accessible location. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that a member of your party requires the use of the accessible features of this location."
"This is a space for a wheelchair. There is no seat here. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that a member of your party requires the use of the accessible features of this location."
"You have requested seating in a wheelchair companion location. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that a member of your party requires the use of the accessible features of an adjoining wheelchair location."
"This seat location has an obstructed view. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
"You have requested seating in a standing room only section. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
"This seat is on a riser and is only reachable by stairs. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
"This seat is a bar stool. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
"These seats are box seats that are not located on the main floor. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
"These seats are box seats that are not located on the main floor, and this seat location has an obstructed view. Please confirm (by clicking 'OK') that you are aware of this."
The Note is a message that appears in a patron's cart during the checkout process as well as in their confirmation email. The Note serves as a reminder of the Acknowledgment that the patron already confirmed when they added the ticket to their cart.
Below is an example of multiple Seats with Seat Notes and how they appear in the cart and email confirmation.
The standard Seat Note texts are below and may be edited slightly for your specific venue:
"This is a wheelchair location. If you have questions or need assistance with accessible seating, please contact our box office."
"This is a space for a wheelchair. There is no seat here. If you have questions or need assistance with accessible seating, please contact our box office."
"This is a companion seat for a wheelchair location. If you have questions or need assistance with accessible seating, please contact our box office."
"This seat location may have an obstructed view."
"This is a Standing Room Ticket, there is no seat or assigned position associated with this ticket."
"This seat is on a riser and is only reachable by stairs."
"Please be aware that this seat is a bar stool."
"Please be aware that these seats are box seats that are not located on the main floor."
"Please be aware that these seats are box seats that are not located on the main floor. This seat location has an obstructed view."
A Ticket Note is a short message that appears on the ticket itself. This should only be used for information a patron needs to find their way before reaching an usher, such as aisle or entry door.
See examples on both the Mobile Ticket and Point-Of-Sale ticket below:
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice updated regulations regarding accommodation of ADA seating in live event venues. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the law by visiting ADA Requirements: Ticket Sales and directing any questions you may have to a lawyer.
For more information, see "How to Handle ADA (Accessible and Companion) Seating in your Venue."
Revisions and Approval
Our Venue Builder will create your venue map(s) from the materials you provide and will submit a venue draft to your team to review along with a report that includes every seat.
It's crucial that your team thoroughly review both the test venue and report for accuracy, as any changes needed after you've given approval will be subject to a fee. Follow our steps below to review your venue.
Pro-tip: we recommend previewing the test venue on multiple types of devices (desktop, mobile, tablet, etc.) As you preview the venue, think about your patrons' ticket-buying experience. For example, when looking at the venue on a mobile device, are you able to easily view and select seats?
This is the source of truth for your venue! Every Seat is listed along with it's Section, Row, default Allocation, and any Seat Note or Ticket Note associated with it.
Keep this spreadsheet open and reference it while you review your venue draft on our test site.
If you have any corrections or edits, please use the "Notes for Venue Builder" column in the spreadsheet to note them! Please be as descriptive as possible.
Please do not delete or manipulate any data from the other columns in this report!
This is the most important piece of the review process! Sections, Rows, and Seats CANNOT be changed in any way after the venue is approved and loaded into your PatronManager account. For that reason, it's essential that you ensure that every Section, Row, and Seat is correct!
When you first open the link to your test venue, you'll see the Section Selection page. To view the Seats, select the Section name in the list or the Section graphic directly.
Note that during this review process, the prices will all appear as $0. In the future, they'll display the range of available public Price Levels for each Section.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Are all Sections correctly displayed on the Section Selection page?
- Do the colors match your branding? Or would you prefer different colors?
Send any requests about the Section Selection Page directly to your venue builder in your email response.
Section/Section Group Review
When you select the Section, if it says "Selected Group" at the top of the venue instead of "Selected Section," that means multiple Sections have been combined into a Section Group. More information can be found here.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Are all Seats assigned to the correct Section?
- Are your Sections grouped as you'd like?
- Can you access all Seats with minimal scrolling? Remember, we recommend testing on a phone, tablet, and computer.
- If you have large Sections, you may want to consider breaking them down into smaller Sections (e.g. Balcony becomes Balcony Left, Balcony Center, and Balcony Right)
Use the "Notes for Venue Builder" column of the venue report spreadsheet to note any requested changes.
After selecting your Section or Section Group, view all Rows and Seats.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Are all Rows accounted for and arranged accurately?
- Are all Seats accounted for and arranged accurately?
- If you hover over each seat, a box will appear showing the Row and Seat number.
You are responsible for hovering over every seat to ensure the numbering and lettering are correct!
Note any inaccuracies in the "Notes for Venue Builder" column of the venue report spreadsheet.
If any seats are missing, create a new row in the spreadsheet and highlight it in yellow with a note. You may need to provide a new seat map in order for us to know where to place the missing seats.
Unlike Sections, Rows, and Seats, your venue's Allocations can be manually reallocated on an event-by-event, ad-hoc basis in the future.
During this review period, make sure that your default Allocations used most often in your venue are accurately mapped.
Remember that Allocations control both visibility and pricing. Read more about Allocations here.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Are all of your various price zones represented as different Allocations?
- Are all seats associated with the appropriate default Allocation?
- Do you have seats that are always held that should be associated with a default "Hold" Allocation?
- Do you have seats that are always not available for sale and should be associated with a default "Not For Sale" Allocation?
If seats are allocated incorrectly, use the "Notes for Venue Builder" column of the venue report spreadsheet to note corrections.
Note that Allocation visbility cannot be built into the venue itself.
By default, all Allocations are set to "Public" Sale Status when you build an event from scratch. To help with your review process, we have kept all Allocations as the default "Public" Sale Status, so all seats can be viewed on our test PTS.
Seat Notes can be manually created or removed on an event-by-event, ad-hoc basis in the future.
During this review period, make sure that all seats that consistently require additional information have an appropriate Seat Note associated with them.
Remember that Seat Notes are made up of an Acknowledgment (PTS pop-up) and a Note (PTS cart and email confirmation message). Read more about Seat Notes here.
We recommend that you review the spreadsheet and view them in action in the venue draft on the test ticketing site.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Do all of your ADA and obstructed seats have a Seat Note?
- Does the message in the Acknowledgment make sense as a pop-up on the PTS?
- Does the message in the Note make sense as a reminder in the cart and on the email confirmation?
If Seat Notes need edits, use the "Notes for Venue Builder" column of the venue report spreadsheet to note corrections.
By default, all default seat notes will be built into your venue, even if seats aren't associated with them. This will make it easier for you to manually associate ad-hoc Seat Notes in the future if needed.
Ticket Notes can also be manually created or removed on an event-by-event, ad-hoc basis in the future.
During this review period, make sure that all seats that consistently require a ticket note to direct patrons to their seats have one.
Remember that Ticket Notes only appear as short text on the Mobile Ticket and Point-Of-Sale Ticket. The message should be short and sweet to help patrons access their seats in your venue. Read more about Ticket Notes here.
Questions to ask during your review:
- Do all seats with a Ticket Note have them?
- Are the Aisle or Door numbers accurate?
- Is the message short and sweet, to ensure it fits on both the Mobile Ticket and POS ticket?
If Ticket Notes need adjustments, use the "Notes for Venue Builder" column of the venue report spreadsheet to note corrections.
Respond to your venue builder via email
Once you've thoroughly reviewed your venue, please respond to your venue builder directly via email using your open venue case.
Make sure to attach your revised venue report spreadsheet if you made detailed notes.
Include any other information or general questions regarding your venue (see FAQ's below).
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, we are not able to build steps, railings, pillars, venue exits, sound booths, etc., into your seating maps. You'll need to utilize Seat Notes to make ticket buyers aware of things like obstructed views and seat accessibility.
If this feature is important to you, please upvote this Product Idea in the Client Community!
By default, we will always create a "Not For Sale" Allocation and "Hold" Allocation, even if seats are not allocated to them. This will make it easier for you to reallocate seats in the future for kill seats and holds if needed.
If you'd rather not have these placeholder Allocations in your venue, please let your venue builder know during the review process.
On the Seat Selection page, the stage arrow placement is limited. It can point up or down in the center or corners of the screen. It can also be removed completely. Let your venue builder know if you'd like the stage arrow removed.
If you'd like the stage location to be clearer on the Seat Selection page, please upvote this Product Idea in the Client Community!
That said, the stage location should be accurately depicted on the Section Selection page! If it's not, let your venue builder know and work with them to make it as accurate as possible.