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How to Create a New General Admission or Reserved Seating Event

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How to Create a New General Admission or Reserved Seating Event: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/857725

This lesson will teach you how to create a new General Admission or Reserved Seating (Pick Your Own Seat) event in PatronManager from scratch. Most of the time, however, it's going to be easier for you to clone an existing event and make changes.

We'll show you how to create one Event Instance (performance) of an Event in this article, and then you can learn how to clone an event instance when you're done here.

If you're not familiar with how events in PatronManager are structured, read our article, "All About Events" before you dive in.

1. Before you start building your events, make sure your venues are squared away

Are you starting to build a new season in PatronManager?

It's incredibly important you make sure you've built any new venues or made any necessary edits to existing venues before you begin creating your Event Inventory.  New venues or new edits can only be used on newly created Event Instances - they can't be retroactively applied!

  • Learn more about how to create a General Admission venue
  • Learn more about how to create and edit a Reserved Seating venue

All set? Great - let's create some events!

2. Head to PatronTicket Hub and go to Event Inventory

Whether you build a General Admission or Reserved Seating event, it all starts in Event Inventory.

3. Click "New Ticketable Event"

1. Click "New Ticketable Event"

4. Fill out the Event Information

We'll highlight the most essential fields here.  To learn what every field does on the Ticketable Event, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

2. Fill out the Event Information (part 1)
  1. Name: The name of the Event. This will appear online, internally, and on tickets. It is required!
  2. Type: The two types of Events are "Tickets" and "Subscriptions." These event types define the event structure. For all single ticket events, select "Tickets".
  3. Event Category: Categorize the event - you can report on Event Categories with CRM Snapshots, and patrons can filter events on the Public Ticketing Site with the Event Category Filter
  4. Active: If you're still working on setting up your Event, don't check this box until you're finished. If this box is unchecked, the Event will not be purchasable online or internally
  5. Sort Order (optional): Enter a number here to control the order this Ticketable Event appears in from the Event Inventory tab and on your Public Ticketing Site
  6. Click "Save" when you're done

5. Time to make a choice!

We've reached a fork in the road, dear traveler. From here on out, the path to creating a new event diverges.  

Expand the section that corresponds to the seating type of the Event Instance you'll build.

Need to create a General Admission event?  Continue here

1. Scroll down to the bottom of the Ticketable Event and click "New"

4. Scroll down to right below the red line and click "New"

We'll only create one Event Instance right now -- when you're finished, you can clone it to create the remaining performances of the show.

2. Select the Content Format for your Event Instance

Select the Content Format for this Event Instance

3. Fill out the Event Instance information

We'll highlight the most essential fields here.  To learn what every field does on the Event Instance, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

5. Fill out the Event Instance information
  1. Name: This displays on the public ticketing site for patrons to select; enter the date and time of this performance.
    • If you're setting up a festival where each date is actually a different performance, put the title in this field in addition to the date: "Lysistrata -- Saturday, July 23, 8:00"
  2. Instance Date: The date and time of the performance. This tells the system when the performance is occurring.
    • Note that your event will no longer appear for sale on your Public Ticketing Site after the Instance Date.
  3. Sale Start Date: This date controls when your Event Instance sales begin online.
  4. Sale End Date: This date controls when your Event Instance sales end online.
    • We recommend setting the Sale End Date a couple of hours before the Instance Date so you can process all of your orders before the event begins.
  5. Venue: Click on the magnifying glass to select the venue for this performance.
  6. Seating Type: Event Instances can be either General Admission or Pick Your Own Seat
  7. Active: When the active box is not checked off, your Event Instance will not be available for sale online or at the box office. If the Event is already active but you don't want this performance to be on sale yet, uncheck this box
  8. Click "Save" when you're done

Now we're ready to create Allocations and Price Levels!

4. Click "New Ticket Allocation"

Start by clicking "New Ticket Allocation."

5. Fill out the fields:

We'll highlight necessary fields here. To learn what every field does on the Allocation, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

Fill out the fields!
  1. Allocation Name: Give this Allocation an appropriate name
  2. Sale Status: The Sale Status determines the online visibility for those seats. Choose "Public" if you want the allocation to be available online.
    • "Private" Status will be available internally and to patrons with an Access Code
  3. Original Quantity: the number of seats in your house that you'll sell in this group. For General Admission events, this is usually the number of total seats in your house minus any seats reserved for a different allocation (like holds, or premium seats).
    • The Original Quantity cannot be adjusted once the allocation is saved
  4. Click "Save and Create Level"

6. Create Price Levels for the "General Admission" Allocation

We'll highlight the most essential fields here.  To learn what every field does on the Price Level, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

Create Price Levels
  1. Price Level: Name the Price Level
  2. Price: Set the per-ticket price
  3. Fee: Set a Fee that will apply based on the first Unit Fee in the Item Fee Setup Wizard
  4. Active: Make sure this is checked, otherwise the Price Level won't be available
  5. Visibility:
    • "Public" levels will be available for sale on your ticketing site
    • "Private" levels will be available internally and to patrons with an Access Code
    • "Subscription" levels are only available as part of a subscription package
  6. Sort Order: Determines the order that the Price Levels will appear in PatronManager Box Office (PMBO) and the Public Ticketing Site (PTS)
  7. PWYW: Short for "Pay What You Will," checking this box is optional. If this box is checked, then the Price you set will be the minimum price a patron can pay for the ticket, but they can also input a greater amount
    • A Price Level cannot be made PWYW or changed from PWYW to a regular Price Level after saving. In other words, once this box is checked, it cannot be unchecked. Likewise, if a Price Level is saved with this box unchecked, this box cannot be checked.
  8. Create Price Level: Click this to create more Price Levels within the Allocation
  9. Delete: If you click the Create Price Level button too many times, you can delete a Price Level

7. Will this event be part of a Subscription? If so, add Subscription price levels as needed

In this example, we added two Price Levels - "Fixed 5" and "Pick 4", which we'll later associate with a subscription package when we're ready to build subscriptions.

Since both these Price Levels have "Subscription" Visibility, they'll only appear as part of a subscription - they won't be available as single tickets.

Price Levels with a Visibility of "Subscription" cannot be marked as PWYW.

Subscription Price Levels

8. Create other Allocations and Price Levels as desired and click "Save"

You can always reallocate seats later if needed.

Create additional Allocations and Price Levels

9. Review everything and then clone the Event Instance (if necessary)

Your Event is created! Double check everything and make sure it looks good to you.

After confirming everything looks good, you can clone the Event Instance to create the rest of the performances (if there are multiple performances of this event).  

To look at your event on the public ticketing site, you might have to make a few temporary edits.

  1. If you unchecked the Active box on the Event or the Event Instance, you should make sure it is now checked
  2. You might also need to edit the Sale Start Date if you had set it to a date in the future
  3. Both the Event and the Event Instance include URLs. If you'd like to set up your organization's site to link directly to events or performances (instead of using the "All Events" page on your ticketing site), use these links.
Need to create a new Reserved Seating event?  Continue here

1. Scroll down to the bottom section and click "New"

Remember, we're only going to create one Event Instance right now -- when we're finished, we can clone it to create the rest of the run of the show.

2. Select the Content Format for your Event Instance

Select the Content Format for this Event Instance

3. Fill out the Event Instance information

We'll highlight the most essential fields here.  To learn about every field on the Event Instance, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

  1. Name: This displays on the public ticketing site for patrons to select; enter the date and time of this performance.
    • If you're setting up a festival where each date is actually a different performance, put the title in this field in addition to the date: "Lysistrata -- Saturday, July 23, 8:00"
  2. Instance Date:The date and time of the performance. This tells the system when the performance is occurring.
    • Note that your event will no longer appear for sale on your Public Ticketing Site after the Instance Date.
  3. Sale Start Date: This date controls when your Event Instance sales begin online.
  4. Sale End Date: This date controls when your Event Instance sales end online.
    • We recommend setting the Sale End Date a couple of hours before the Instance Date so you can process all of your orders before the event begins.
  5. Venue: Click on the magnifying glass to select the venue for this performance.
    • We recommend double checking that you select the correct Venue! After you save your Event Instance, you won't be able to adjust the Venue and will need to build a new Event Instance from scratch if you selected the wrong Venue.
  6. Seating Type: Event Instances can be either General Admission or Pick Your Own Seat.
  7. Active: When the active box is not checked off, your Event Instance will not be available for sale online or at the box office. If the Event is already active but you don't want this performance to be on sale yet, uncheck this box.
  8. Click "Save" when you're done

4. Check out your Allocations

"Pick Your Own Seats" venues create Allocations automatically when the Event Instance is created, so now we have a bunch of Allocations in our Instance.

You can always reallocate seats later if needed.

5. Click "Expand All" to create Price Levels for each Allocation

6. Click "Create Price Level"

7. Create your Price Levels for each Allocation

We'll highlight the essential fields here.  To learn about every field on the Price Level, check out our Event Inventory Glossary.

Create Price Levels
  1. Price Level: Name the Price Level
  2. Price: Set the per-ticket price
  3. Fee: Set a Fee that will apply based on the first Unit Fee in the Item Fee Setup Wizard
  4. Active: Make sure this is checked, otherwise the Price Level won't be available
  5. Visibility:
    • "Public" levels will be available for sale on your ticketing site
    • "Private" levels will be available internally and to patrons with an Access Code
    • "Subscription" levels are only available as part of a subscription package
  6. Sort Order: Determines the order that the Price Levels will appear in PatronManager Box Office (PMBO) and the Public Ticketing Site (PTS)
  7. PWYW: Short for "Pay What You Will," checking this box is optional. If this box is checked, then the Price you set will be the minimum price a patron can pay for the ticket, but they can also input a greater amount
    • A Price Level cannot be made PWYW or changed from PWYW to a regular Price Level after saving. In other words, once this box is checked, it cannot be unchecked. Likewise, if a Price Level is saved with this box unchecked, this box cannot be checked.
  8. Create Price Level: Click this to create more Price Levels within the Allocation
  9. Delete: If you click the Create Price Level button too many times, you can delete a Price Level

8. Will this event be part of a Subscription? If so, add Subscription Price Levels as needed

In this example, we added two Price Levels - "Fixed 5" and "Pick 4" to our Allocations, which we'll later associate with subscription packages when we're ready to build subscriptions.

Since both these Price Levels have "Subscription" Visibility, they'll only appear as part of a subscription - they won't be available as single tickets.

Price Levels with a Visibility of "Subscription" cannot be marked as PWYW.

Create Subscription Price Levels

9. Review everything and then clone the Event Instance (if necessary)

Your Event is created! Double check everything and make sure it looks good to you.

After confirming everything looks good, you can clone the Event Instance to create the rest of the performances (if there are multiple performances of this event).  

To look at your event on the public ticketing site, you might have to make a few temporary edits.

  1. If you unchecked the Active box on the Event or the Event Instance, you should make sure it is now checked
  2. You might also need to edit the Sale Start Date if you had set it to a date in the future
  3. Both the Event and the Event Instance include URLs. If you'd like to set up your organization's site to link directly to events or performances (instead of using the "All Events" page on your ticketing site), use these links.

What's next?

Previous Article How to Set Up Post to Facebook / Meta
Next Article How to Clone Event Instances

Box Office: Admins

Box Office Administration 10
Your Public Ticketing Site 21
Creating and Editing Events 21
Confirmation Emails 6
Automated Communications 8
Configuring Tickets 9
Managing Subscriptions 21
Fees 6
Venues 9
Virtual Events 15
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