This article was in today's Greensboro News and Record. North Carolina?
Want tickets? Fans just can't win
BY TONY HICKS Knight Ridder News Service
CONCORD, Calif. - Jon Mealley exhaled and mouthed a quiet obscenity. It was 10:10 a.m. Sunday morning at Concord's Tower Records. Mealley had been a much happier man at 10, strolling toward the Ticketmaster counter, the first in line for what he hoped would be great seats at two Tom Petty concerts. Ten minutes later, here's what he had: Last-row seats for one show, lawn seats for the other. * "(Expletive) lawn seats," muttered the Concord resident. "I was the first guy in line. At 10:02 they said there were no more (reserved) seats. At 10:07 a guy walked up and said, `We're sold out.' Out of, what, 30 people here, probably only 10 got tickets." Concertgoers' No. 1 beef used to be ticket prices. These days, they're happy if they can get tickets at all. Concert promoters and entertainment industry officials point to reasons for this. There's the proliferation of ticket brokers, companies that often use highpowered technology and special software allowing them to buy large quantities of tickets in a short time. Add to this the tickets committed to "presales" offered to fan club members and to radio promotions, and the general public gets fewer chances to get out of nosebleed seats. "You can't even be the first guy in line and get good seats," Mealley said. Ticket-selling outlets such as Ticketmaster, Tickets.com and TicketWeb have sought to make buying tickets more convenient in the past decade, with increased outlets, Internet service and phone access. But these improvements have proved a boon to ticket brokers, which can snatch up tickets and then sell them for hefty profits, despite Ticketmaster's best attempts. Days after Mealley stood in line for two hours and paid $41 to $59 each for seats to a Tom Petty concert, online ticket broker sites such as ShowMeTickets.com offered front-row seats for the same concert. For $715. "It's a cat-and-mouse game to stay ahead of them," said Bonnie Poindexter, a Ticketmaster spokeswoman. Back when physical presence was required to buy tickets, brokers paid people to line up early. The 21st-century version is getting employees on computers every Sunday morning. It's perfectly legal in California. It's called capitalism in any other business, said Paul Cobbe, co-owner of Bay Tickets in Walnut Creek, Calif. He realizes music fans who can't pay $700 to sit in the first row take it very personally. "The ticket business is easy to pick on," said Cobbe, who defends his business as a way for fans to avoid hassle. "People love their music. It's the only area I know of in the free-market system that people complain about." Cobbe's agency doesn't use software to get around Ticketmaster's security devices, which include an optical password system supposedly impervious to computer intrusion. (Tickets.com has a similar system using sequences of num-bers.) But there is expensive software out there that can do it, allowing users rapidly and repeatedly to enter a site to buy as many tickets as possible. "I tried every application out there," Cobbe said. "By and large, they're garbage. It's a waste of time and money." Still, ticket brokers are finding ways to frustrate fans, ticket agencies and, as a result, performers. And some of those performers are kicking back. Bruce Springsteen played the relatively small Paramount Theatre in Oakland recently and tried to make it as tough as possible for scalpers. Buyers could purchase only two tickets at a time and had to pick them up at the theater's box office. After standing in long lines, they were ushered directly into the theater, cutting off scalping opportunities. "We'll see more of that - various artists caring more about getting that ticket into the fans' hands," Ticketmaster's Poindexter said. But that creates even more inconvenience, forcing people to arrive early and stand in long will-call lines. "That's the only method that's been proven to (keep tickets from scalpers)," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine Pollstar. "It's draconian, though, and it could never work in an arena." Some states crack down on brokers by outlawing selling tickets for more than twice face value. Under North Carolina law, people can resell tickets to sporting and entertainment events for no more than $3 more than face value. Although brokers may help elevate prices, they are by no means the only reason tickets are so hard to get for big shows. Artists and concert promoters control the ticket inventory, and usually the venue determines which agency will sell the tickets. Various radio stations get blocks of tickets, either to give away or presell to listeners. Fan clubs are making a bigger impact, as more artists offer up to 10 percent of a venue's tickets to club members before they go on sale. It's a way for artists to reward fans and bypass ticket agencies altogether. But there's no way to prevent scalpers from joining fan clubs, nor are there any guarantees. U2, which charges members $40 annual membership fees, had problems earlier this year getting tickets to some of those very fans who joined to avoid dealing with Ticketmaster. Even with all these factors in play, technology, ironically, seems to be the biggest culprit. In the late 1970s and early '80s, Concord's Jeff Nelson bought from the venues when it was still first come, first served. He camped out for Springsteen tickets at San Francisco's Winterland in 1978. In contrast, getting Springsteen tickets in 2005 meant Nelson had to start punching a computer with one hand at 9:58 on a Sunday morning while dialing a cell phone with the other. He struck out, missing Thursday's show. "Now, you just know that's the way it is," Nelson said. "I don't go to many big-name shows anymore, and that's part of it."
ok, if your into reality tv then check this out: Rob and Amber- they got engaged on Survivor - They were recently on the Amazing Race together, NOW they are getting married on tv on May 24th --- WoW~ I am sure they got their wedding paid for and extra $$$ -good Survivor stragedy to still win something in the end.
ok so I am watching the end of Survivor and they mention the new spot for the next show and the Maya Empire ....um, it could be that way but I thought it was the Mayan Empire ---so I Google it... first site it brings up: hahahaha figures
 as to the ticketmaster thing...channel 11 had an extra on that and basically what they said was the best place to buy your tickets is at the venue(e.g. the excel) than at an outlet..as to survivor i didnt see i was watching the simpsons and family guy and remember....NO PRAYING TO THE CONDIMENTS! ..i wish i could remember homers syrup prayer i was rolling...
I'm happy Tom won. I do NOT want to watch the next 'Survivor" if it's gonna be a kinky sex show. I can do that on my 'puter without all the commercials. Maya indeed.
...Now if Bo can take the title of American Idol- my life will be grand.
I am NOT the dog watcher! I do NOT have to answer to the doughnut boy.
I got a feeling ARES would be great at this...I can't type that fast...
eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww what are you trying to say about Ares hands? AND how would you know that?
At this point Bo should win- the girls are good but not great! I liked Anthony and Bo when it got down to the 4.
sorry Tailgate - I couldn't find it but I am sure it will give Kitch something to do all day...should I tell him he can just call CM and get it word verbatum from his DVR? .... NAH ;)
I couldn't find it but I am sure it will give Kitch something to do all day...should I tell him he can just call CM and get it word verbatum from his DVR? .... NAH ;)
Homer: Marge, since I'm not talking to Lisa, could you please ask her to pass me the syrup? Marge: Please pass your father the syrup, Lisa. Lisa: Bart, tell dad I'll only pass the syrup if it won't be used on any meat products. Bart: You dunkin your sausages in that syrup, Home boy?Â
Homer:Â Marge, tell Bart I just want to drink a nice glass of syrub like I do every morning. Marge: Tell him yourself, you're ignoring Lisa, not Bart.
Homer: Bart thank your mother for pointing that out. Marge: Hommer, you're not not talking to me, and secondly, I heard what you said. Â
Homer:Lisa, tell your mother to get off my case. Bart: Ah, dad, Lisa's the one you're not talking to.
Oooh syrrrrupppp, you're sooooo sugaryyyyy and brownnnn and stiiiickyyyy!! Thanks for makkking my waffles so yummmmmyyyyyyy ... you come from the phloem of a treeeeee, yayyyyyyyyyyyy. Syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup-YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH ::angsty yell::
 it goes somethng like our syrup thou art in my stomache..and it goes on then the nun comes out and whacks him on the head and yells NO PRAYING TO THE CONDIMENTS!
I've ranted b4 about public bathroom ediquette......stuff like which urinal to use if somebody is alrdy using one, washing hands, spitting gum in urinal, etc.....
this one is not ediquette..but it just as bad....
Who in the world designed FERNS bathroom??
Thanks for putting a divider between the 2 urinals...thats great....but ummm did you ever think about putting a divider in between the urinal and the 10X10 mirror and maybe the fact that the sink counter is 6 inches from the side of the urinal?? idiots...
Who is the idiot that came up with the automatic towel dispensor?? ya it looks cool... but set it to give you more then 3 inches of a papertowel at a time. Is there a camera or something on this that is able to be seen by everybody in the bar ...so they can watch me flap like a chicken trying to dry my hands???
deep-seated peepee issues, kitch? One day I had to go BAD, and the lights were on a timer & not on yet.I figured at my age, this was something I could do in the dark, so I went in, and sat down, and kept going lower & lower...way beyond normal seat height. I finally hit porcelain. Later in the day when the lights were on I found out I was using the 'tiny tot's' biffy, and the cans were about 10 inches off the floor.
Some day I'll tell you about my "blonde moment" in a staff restroom in Prior Lake.
...So I get to the school, and as usual- have to pee like a racehorse, so I go into the bathroom, walk past the urinals, go to a stall, and whilst doing the deed, I'm wondering "why are there urinals in the ladie's room?" Then my brain caught up with me, and I hustled-again, like a racehorse, to the door, when it opened, and a well-dressed man walks in, quite suprised by my being there. I laughed, and told him I had to go so badly, I didn't look to see if the restroom sign had pants, or a skirt...we had a good har-de-har. Later that morning, the Principal comes to the gym where we were setting up our cameras to introduce us to the head of the P.E. dept. Well- we'd already met. heh- The PE guy told the principal that we were good friends already. I added- "any better, and he'd be on my christmas card list." Just the fact that I questioned the presence of urinals in the women's room shows you what a dumb blonde I am deep inside.
I don't mind using the stadium troughs and a full crowd...
...but if there is 5 urinals and I'm using the one on the far right ...the other four are not in use....don't take the one that is on my left....there is a better choice.
also...I dont' want to be washing my hands....look up and some guy is takin' a leak in the mirror.
one more thing....its bad when I'm tempted to drive down to the gas station because I know their bathroom is cleaner then my work bathroom. (can't a guy aim? ....why does an guy need to "farmer blow" on a wall??? )
 goldminer is a suisare to me....
Pretty hard to do with a laptop joystick thingy... (thats my excuse for sucking so bad anyway)
http://www.puritytest.net/#i
You had me at: This is a fairly long test consisting of five hundred questions.
Request blocked by WebBlocker
Â
heh...I didn't even have the option
I put it in my favorites for when I would have that much time.
I'm sure I'll find the time....
let us know how long it takes you -
[Edited by on May 15, 2005 at 02:20pm.]
 I can already guess my % is ...
69 ;)
funny how that would work out!
double sammy joe!!!
How you doing?
You ok from the surgery?
  i just saw the commercial with darth vader facing off with the creepy burger king
  it makes darth vader look like a nice guy..the burger king is really the dark side
This article was in today's Greensboro News and Record. North Carolina?
Want tickets? Fans just can't win
BY TONY HICKS
Knight Ridder News Service
CONCORD, Calif. - Jon Mealley exhaled and mouthed a quiet obscenity.
It was 10:10 a.m. Sunday morning at Concord's Tower Records. Mealley had been a much happier man at 10, strolling toward the Ticketmaster counter, the first in line for what he hoped would be great seats at two Tom Petty concerts.
Ten minutes later, here's what he had: Last-row seats for one show, lawn seats for the other. *
"(Expletive) lawn seats," muttered the Concord resident. "I was the first guy in line. At 10:02 they said there were no more (reserved) seats. At 10:07 a guy walked up and said, `We're sold out.' Out of, what, 30 people here, probably only 10 got tickets."
Concertgoers' No. 1 beef used to be ticket prices. These days, they're happy if they can get tickets at all.
Concert promoters and entertainment industry officials point to reasons for this. There's the proliferation of ticket brokers, companies that often use highpowered technology and special software allowing them to buy large quantities of tickets in a short time. Add to this the tickets committed to "presales" offered to fan club members and to radio promotions, and the general public gets fewer chances to get out of nosebleed seats.
"You can't even be the first guy in line and get good seats," Mealley said.
Ticket-selling outlets such as Ticketmaster, Tickets.com and TicketWeb have sought to make buying tickets more convenient in the past decade, with increased outlets, Internet service and phone access. But these improvements have proved a boon to ticket brokers, which can snatch up tickets and then sell them for hefty profits, despite Ticketmaster's best attempts. Days after Mealley stood in line for two hours and paid $41 to $59 each for seats to a Tom Petty concert, online ticket broker sites such as ShowMeTickets.com offered front-row seats for the same concert. For $715.
"It's a cat-and-mouse game to stay ahead of them," said Bonnie Poindexter, a Ticketmaster spokeswoman.
Back when physical presence was required to buy tickets, brokers paid people to line up early. The 21st-century version is getting employees on computers every Sunday morning.
It's perfectly legal in California.
It's called capitalism in any other business, said Paul Cobbe, co-owner of Bay Tickets in Walnut Creek, Calif. He realizes music fans who can't pay $700 to sit in the first row take it very personally.
"The ticket business is easy to pick on," said Cobbe, who defends his business as a way for fans to avoid hassle. "People love their music. It's the only area I know of in the free-market system that people complain about."
Cobbe's agency doesn't use software to get around Ticketmaster's security devices, which include an optical password system supposedly impervious to computer intrusion. (Tickets.com has a similar system using sequences of num-bers.) But there is expensive software out there that can do it, allowing users rapidly and repeatedly to enter a site to buy as many tickets as possible.
"I tried every application out there," Cobbe said. "By and large, they're garbage. It's a waste of time and money."
Still, ticket brokers are finding ways to frustrate fans,
ticket agencies and, as a result, performers.
And some of those performers are kicking back. Bruce Springsteen played the relatively small Paramount Theatre in Oakland recently and tried to make it as tough as possible for scalpers. Buyers could purchase only two tickets at a time and had to pick them up at the theater's box office. After standing in long lines, they were ushered directly into the theater, cutting off scalping opportunities.
"We'll see more of that - various artists caring more about getting that ticket into the fans' hands," Ticketmaster's Poindexter said.
But that creates even more inconvenience, forcing people to arrive early and stand in long will-call lines.
"That's the only method that's been proven to (keep tickets from scalpers)," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade magazine Pollstar. "It's draconian, though, and it could never work in an arena."
Some states crack down on brokers by outlawing selling
tickets for more than twice face value. Under North Carolina law, people can resell tickets to sporting and entertainment events for no more than $3 more than face value.
Although brokers may help elevate prices, they are by no means the only reason tickets are so hard to get for big shows. Artists and concert promoters control the ticket inventory, and usually the venue determines which agency will sell the tickets.
Various radio stations get blocks of tickets, either to give away or presell to listeners. Fan clubs are making a bigger impact, as more artists offer up to 10 percent of a venue's tickets to club members before they go on sale. It's a way for artists to reward fans and bypass ticket agencies altogether.
But there's no way to prevent scalpers from joining fan clubs, nor are there any guarantees. U2, which charges members $40 annual membership fees, had problems earlier this year getting tickets to some of those very fans who joined to avoid dealing with Ticketmaster.
Even with all these factors in play, technology, ironically, seems to be the biggest culprit. In the late 1970s and early '80s, Concord's Jeff Nelson bought from the venues when it was still first come, first served. He camped out for Springsteen tickets at San Francisco's Winterland in 1978.
In contrast, getting Springsteen tickets in 2005 meant Nelson had to start punching a computer with one hand at 9:58 on a Sunday morning while dialing a cell phone with the other. He struck out, missing Thursday's show.
"Now, you just know that's the way it is," Nelson said. "I don't go to many big-name shows anymore, and that's part of it."
[Edited by on May 15, 2005 at 07:34pm.]
ok, if your into reality tv then check this out:
Rob and Amber- they got engaged on Survivor - They were recently on the Amazing Race together, NOW they are getting married on tv on May 24th --- WoW~ I am sure they got their wedding paid for and extra $$$ -good Survivor stragedy to still win something in the end.
[Edited by on May 15, 2005 at 07:40pm.]
I wonder if Joe was at the Declaration of Independence
[Edited by on May 15, 2005 at 07:48pm.]
I live such a sheltered life.
Being under a roof and all....
I think I need to play trivia.
Â
ok so I am watching the end of Survivor and they mention the new spot for the next show and the
Maya Empire
....um, it could be that way but I thought it was the Mayan Empire ---so I Google it... first site it brings up: hahahaha figures
http://www.bigeye.com/sexeducation/mayanempire.html
Â
MAYA EMPIRE gets 501 sites
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&c2coff=1&q=%22maya+empire%22
MAYAN EMPIRE gets 9,480 sites
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&c2coff=1&q=%22mayan+empire%22&btnG=Search
GO FIGURE -I guess it could be either way but a huge difference in how often each is used.
Â
[Edited by on May 15, 2005 at 08:04pm.]
I noticed that same thing, me2. That's where TerryV's son Brian is stationed if I remember correctly.
 as to the ticketmaster thing...channel 11 had an extra on that and basically what they said was the best place to buy your tickets is at the venue(e.g. the excel) than at an outlet..as to survivor i didnt see i was watching the simpsons and family guy and remember....NO PRAYING TO THE CONDIMENTS! ..i wish i could remember homers syrup prayer i was rolling...
http://hannu.daug.net/letters/
I got a feeling ARES would be great at this...I can't type that fast...
I've never prayed to a condiment in my life.
I'm happy Tom won.
I do NOT want to watch the next 'Survivor" if it's gonna be a kinky sex show.
I can do that on my 'puter without all the commercials.
Maya indeed.
...Now if Bo can take the title of American Idol- my life will be grand.
I am NOT the dog watcher! I do NOT have to answer to the doughnut boy.
You people still confuse me.
 the creepy burger king is your father!
I got a feeling ARES would be great at this...I can't type that fast...
Holy crap, it's harder than it looks. I only scored 285, and I'm a decent typist.
I got a feeling ARES would be great at this...I can't type that fast...
eeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww what are you trying to say about Ares hands? AND how would you know that?
At this point Bo should win- the girls are good but not great! I liked Anthony and Bo when it got down to the 4.
sorry Tailgate - I couldn't find it but I am sure it will give Kitch something to do all day...should I tell him he can just call CM and get it word verbatum from his DVR? .... NAH ;)
imagine the time spent to get over 100,000 letters in a row!!!
I couldn't find it but I am sure it will give Kitch something to do all day...should I tell him he can just call CM and get it word verbatum from his DVR? .... NAH ;)
what exactly am I to look for???
 you must be talking about homers prayer to syrup from the simpsons last night
Homer: Marge, since I'm not talking to Lisa, could you please ask her to pass me the syrup?
Marge: Please pass your father the syrup, Lisa.
Lisa: Bart, tell dad I'll only pass the syrup if it won't be used on any meat products.
Bart: You dunkin your sausages in that syrup, Home boy?Â
Homer:Â Marge, tell Bart I just want to drink a nice glass of syrub like I do every morning.
Marge: Tell him yourself, you're ignoring Lisa, not Bart.
Homer: Bart thank your mother for pointing that out.
Marge: Hommer, you're not not talking to me, and secondly, I heard what you said. Â
Homer:Lisa, tell your mother to get off my case.
Bart: Ah, dad, Lisa's the one you're not talking to.
Homer:
 Bart, go to your room!
Ms Krapabble: You’ve never licked maple syrup of your lover’s stomach?
Oooh syrrrrupppp, you're sooooo sugaryyyyy and brownnnn and stiiiickyyyy!! Thanks for makkking my waffles so yummmmmyyyyyyy ... you come from the phloem of a treeeeee, yayyyyyyyyyyyy. Syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup, syrup-YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH ::angsty yell::
 it goes somethng like our syrup thou art in my stomache..and it goes on then the nun comes out and whacks him on the head and yells NO PRAYING TO THE CONDIMENTS!
[Edited by on May 16, 2005 at 06:49am.]
syrup is a condiment?
Around here it's a main course.
http://hannu.daug.net/letters/Â -169 twice.....I wonder if its a freudian thing.
 for the truly bored among you..
 http://www.kenbrashear.com/
Â
oh...thats cool...
I got 612. The first time I tried I thought you had to click on the letter to zap it! Yikes.
I need to rant...its still buggin' me...
Â
I've ranted b4 about public bathroom ediquette......stuff like which urinal to use if somebody is alrdy using one, washing hands, spitting gum in urinal, etc.....
this one is not ediquette..but it just as bad....
Who in the world designed FERNS bathroom??
Thanks for putting a divider between the 2 urinals...thats great....but ummm did you ever think about putting a divider in between the urinal and the 10X10 mirror and maybe the fact that the sink counter is 6 inches from the side of the urinal?? idiots...
Who is the idiot that came up with the automatic towel dispensor?? ya it looks cool... but set it to give you more then 3 inches of a papertowel at a time. Is there a camera or something on this that is able to be seen by everybody in the bar ...so they can watch me flap like a chicken trying to dry my hands???
Â
geeez...idiots...
Â
deep-seated peepee issues, kitch?
One day I had to go BAD, and the lights were on a timer & not on yet.I figured at my age, this was something I could do in the dark, so I went in, and sat down, and kept going lower & lower...way beyond normal seat height. I finally hit porcelain. Later in the day when the lights were on I found out I was using the 'tiny tot's' biffy, and the cans were about 10 inches off the floor.
Some day I'll tell you about my "blonde moment" in a staff restroom in Prior Lake.
 you need to get whizzinators
--what is a whizzinator? (dare I ask?)
It's a device to get passed drug tests.
http://www.whizzinator.com/images/wiz1.jpg
Tape your ribs before reading this.
...So I get to the school, and as usual- have to pee like a racehorse, so I go into the bathroom, walk past the urinals, go to a stall, and whilst doing the deed, I'm wondering "why are there urinals in the ladie's room?" Then my brain caught up with me, and I hustled-again, like a racehorse, to the door, when it opened, and a well-dressed man walks in, quite suprised by my being there. I laughed, and told him I had to go so badly, I didn't look to see if the restroom sign had pants, or a skirt...we had a good har-de-har.
Later that morning, the Principal comes to the gym where we were setting up our cameras to introduce us to the head of the P.E. dept.
Well- we'd already met. heh-
The PE guy told the principal that we were good friends already.
I added- "any better, and he'd be on my christmas card list."
Just the fact that I questioned the presence of urinals in the women's room shows you what a dumb blonde I am deep inside.
 "any better, and he'd be on my christmas card list."
HAHA!  Um, the question I'm sure everyone is asking themselves: Did she ever get to totally take care of her bidniss?
[Edited by on May 16, 2005 at 11:32am.]
deep-seated peepee issues, kitch?
I've got a lot of issues.......
I don't mind using the stadium troughs and a full crowd...
...but if there is 5 urinals and I'm using the one on the far right ...the other four are not in use....don't take the one that is on my left....there is a better choice.
also...I dont' want to be washing my hands....look up and some guy is takin' a leak in the mirror.
one more thing....its bad when I'm tempted to drive down to the gas station because I know their bathroom is cleaner then my work bathroom. (can't a guy aim? ....why does an guy need to "farmer blow" on a wall??? )
Â
ya right...and I've got issues???
Â
Â
just GO before you go to the game or before going to work -then hold it til you get home