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NYCB's new website


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Looks as if the much-needed rehaul of nycballet.com will be unveiled on July 31, according to a large notice on the website. Here's hoping they release information in a new timely fashion and those annoying frames (that don't work with all browsers) are removed. Of course, I hope they continue the strong aspects of the website, such as the casting and front row pictures. And the ticket purchasing software has been pretty good.

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If the ticketing software is currently the same as was in place in late 2005, then I think it could definitely use improvement. For the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden, one can see exactly what seats one is purchasing --and try other seats if one prefers. But when I bought tickets on the NYCB site last year I was not able to see what I was buying--they wouldn't even guarantee a section; I had to wait until the tickets arrived in the mail and they weren't the section I had asked for which had sold out. Since the Met and Covent Garden have similar complexities (subscribers, house seats, etc.), I don't feel particularly charitable about this either. In any case, thanks for the heads up--Come the first of August, I will be checking out the new site and certainly look forward to being able to navigate it more easily.

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If the ticketing software is currently the same as was in place in late 2005, then I think it could definitely use improvement. For the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden, one can see exactly what seats one is purchasing --and try other seats if one prefers. But when I bought tickets on the NYCB site last year I was not able to see what I was buying--they wouldn't even guarantee a section; I had to wait until the tickets arrived in the mail and they weren't the section I had asked for which had sold out. Since the Met and Covent Garden have similar complexities (subscribers, house seats, etc.), I don't feel particularly charitable about this either. In any case, thanks for the heads up--Come the first of August, I will be checking out the new site and certainly look forward to being able to navigate it more easily.

As Drew may not know the ticketing software is not the same. However, implementing a new online ticketing system is very, very expensive. Care to make it possible by giving. :clapping:

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Well, it still has the old inner-frame format. On my AOL Explorer browser (based on IE), I get no internal scroll bars. On Netscape, however, I do. :clapping:

I contacted NYCB through their site and explained the problem I was having. Got a very nice reply, noting that my message was forwarded to the web consultant who was unable to duplicate my problem.

When I reported that my issue was resolved, the consultant asked what I'd done, in case they get similar reports. I'd merely run disk clean-up and then defragged my hard drive.

This was a case study of good customer relations. I appreciated it!

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Maybe we should chance the title of this thread to something like: NYCB's new website IS up: what do you think?

Ballet companies seem to be struggling to reinvent their web presence (Seattle being one example) as a way of encouraging more visits (therefore, closer involvement and emotional identification with the company) and making it easier for people to select and obtain their tickets.

In the arts, it's often the case that: as NYC goes, so goes the rest of the nation. I hope we get lots of thoughts and comments from all sorts of people -- fans, ticket-buyers, and even those who don't get to NYC at all. :clapping:

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For the Nutcracker (only event currently on sale):

Individual seat selection is not an option. Seats are assigned by the Box Office.

So, for Orchestra, you can pay $110 (regular rep: $82) and all you know is you'll be seated somewhere, if you get a seat, with the only certainty that they won't be too good, since you've got to pay $200 to get a "sweet seat".

The other houses at Lincoln Center, as well as City Center and Carnegie Hall, all offer specific seats. This has got to hurt sales, especially out-of-town sales. For summer events held at NYCB's State Theater, such as Mostly Mozart and the Lincoln Center Festival, they do offer specific seat selection. Why is Lincoln Center's Crown Jewel the only inhospitable enterprise?

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[T]he ticketing software is not the same. However, implementing a new online ticketing system is very, very expensive. Care to make it possible by giving. :dry:
Lots of things are expensive. Oversized, 24-page brochures on heavy stock (Is it my imagination, or is the paper heavier than usual this season?) are expensive, but it is felt the expense pays off in ticket sales. Come to think of it, I remember when, halfway through the season, the brochures ran out, to be replaced by simple calendars printed on simple bond paper. That must have saved plenty of money!

In (partial) defense of the ticketing software, I know that NYCB does not sell its side-ring seats on line, so whatever you get will be full-view. But it's sure to make a difference when ordering orchestra tickets (isn't that about half the house?), where some people prefer to sit front, others middle and some rear. Just small customer relations matter. But as more and more performing arts organizations have adopted this feature (they seem to find the money!), NYCB's failure to incorporate it in the recent upgrade is likely to be seen as a missed leadership opportunity.

As for me, I can't remember the last time I bought a single ticket for NYCB that I didn't buy in person, so this really isn't my issue.

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The other houses at Lincoln Center, as well as City Center and Carnegie Hall, all offer specific seats. This has got to hurt sales, especially out-of-town sales.

Darn right. Ticketmaster can't tell you what NYCB seats you're buying. NYCB can't or won't. Am I going to plan a trip to New York around iffy seats for the same program two or three times in a row? Forget it.

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This is my first post here, but I agree emphatically with all those who believe individual seat selection is essential. I live about 50 miles from the city and cannot get to the box office every time I want to buy tickets. I can order individual seats for every other venue I know of in New York except the State Theater. I don't mind paying a surcharge for online ordering if I know where I'm going to be sitting. I've nabbed many a great seat at the Met, Broadway theaters, Carnegie, even on trips abroad to London, Paris, and Berlin, all from my desk at home thanks to individual seat selection. The argument that this is expensive and that one should "contribute" for the privilege is completely specious. Online seat selection is what every professional arts organization is now expected to do. I could have easily lived without the pretty Flash animation and the easier scrolling if NYCB had put its energies into the most serious deficiency of their website. As it is, they've missed their opportunity and created considerable potential ill will.

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I could have easily lived without the pretty Flash animation and the easier scrolling if NYCB had put its energies into the most serious deficiency of their website. As it is, they've missed their opportunity and created considerable potential ill will.
UI changes are relatively inexpensive compared to integrating an online ticketing system with the website and the box office. I agree, though, that seat selection is expected from the top arts organizations. (The Bolshoi site is a dream this way.) One of my frustrations with both Ticketmaster and the PNB websites is that they select the "best" seats for you. I don't often agree with the computer's definition of best, especially as a short person, and the section choices are rarely refined to allow aisle vs. center, rows 1-10 vs. rows 11-20, etc. in the orchestra. As a result, I waste the time of a box office person to be able to get the seats I want.
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UI changes are relatively inexpensive compared to integrating an online ticketing system with the website and the box office. I agree, though, that seat selection is expected from the top arts organizations. (The Bolshoi site is a dream this way.) One of my frustrations with both Ticketmaster and the PNB websites is that they select the "best" seats for you. I don't often agree with the computer's definition of best, especially as a short person, and the section choices are rarely refined to allow aisle vs. center, rows 1-10 vs. rows 11-20, etc. in the orchestra. As a result, I waste the time of a box office person to be able to get the seats I want.

Of course integrating online ticketing is an expense. But the NYC Opera, using the exact same venue, offers seat selection when you buy tickets online! So evidently software for the State Theater is already in place, though whether it's compatible with the NYCB site is another issue. (I misspoke in my previous comment. I thought the ticketing problem pertained to the State Theater. But it's just NYCB.)

It is obvious NYCB's site is unfinished, with dancer biographies out of date and new dancers not yet covered. I still hold some hope that online ticketing will be integrated when the site is truly finished, and maybe one should not jump to conclusions until the season is underway.

Another area where the NYCB site could learn from the big building at the rear of the plaza would be to incorporate a true database of ballets, performers, and performances. The Met Opera site is phenomenal in this respect. With just a mouse click, one can investigate every opera presented, every cast, every performer's complete Met history, even reviews. I refer to this information quite frequently when discussing opera on other forums. I'm sure ballet fans could find equal value in a comparable database for the City Ballet.

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With just a mouse click, one can investigate every opera presented, every cast, every performer's complete Met history, even reviews. I refer to this information quite frequently when discussing opera on other forums. I'm sure ballet fans could find equal value in a comparable database for the City Ballet.
That would be a dream come true.

The Metropolitan Opera seems to have a very different relationship with its past -- it revels in it while marketing the current -- than NYCB does.

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Another area where the NYCB site could learn from the big building at the rear of the plaza would be to incorporate a true database of ballets, performers, and performances. The Met Opera site is phenomenal in this respect. With just a mouse click, one can investigate every opera presented, every cast, every performer's complete Met history, even reviews. I refer to this information quite frequently when discussing opera on other forums. I'm sure ballet fans could find equal value in a comparable database for the City Ballet.

In addition to the Met, the San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago have online annals. Chicago's is the plainest, it's just a chronological list of performances. The Met's and SFO's are searchable with flexible search criteria.

ABT has a very basic repertory archives with each ballet they have done, the premier and the premier cast.

No later performances though, and that's the difficult part to assemble. You can sort by ballet title,

choreographer, and composer. This is very bare bones, but it's better than nothing.

Richard

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On a completely different note, I just want to say how much I'm enjoying the expanded repetory section on the site, which seems to offer photos of every production back to the Ballet Caravan days.

Those of us who complain about bum ballets now never had to sit through "Filling Station" (1938) or some of Balanchine's own duffers, like "The Figure in the Carpet" (1960) which has everyone done up in mock-Thai makekup and costumes.

I'm not anticipating a revival.

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Actually, I'd love to have seen "The Figure in the Carpet" -- an article in Ballet Review described Verdy's section as very lovely and similar to Serenade. The one little snip I've seen of Adams' variation made me wish this ballet wasn't lost. And in a way it isn't completely lost as Balanchine recycled Adams' variation into Farrell's in Union Jack. McBride's section also was admired by those who saw the ballet.

And, I'm really looking forward to seeing Filling Station on the D'Amboise DVD. I can comment then if I liked it or not.

But I agree with the new updated repertory section. It also lists the time of the ballet.

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Actually, I'd love to have seen "The Figure in the Carpet" -- an article in Ballet Review described Verdy's section as very lovely and similar to Serenade. The one little snip I've seen of Adams' variation made me wish this ballet wasn't lost.
I agree. Does anyone know how much of the variation and the ballet were filmed? I had hoped that there would be a revival of at least the section originally choreographed for Francia Russell and six women ("America: The Princess of the West Indies," according to Choreography by George Balanchine) for Russell and Kent Stowell's retirement gala performance, but, alas.
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The Metropolitan Opera seems to have a very different relationship with its past -- it revels in it while marketing the current -- than NYCB does.

And I suppose this is too much to hope for, although completely technologically feasible: video clips. NYCB could coordinate with the NYPL to show an old then a new clip. Let's dream big here!

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probably important to keep in mind re: MET OPERA that it has a strong sense of data gathering, and a publication, OPERA NEWS that likely helps feed the web site much back/historical information.

most ballet companies have this information only so far as often over-worked press offices can compile and file it and organize it along with daily chores of every other sort.

the MET's 100th anniv. if mem. serves was an occasion to gather and organize its past history in a formal way.

perhaps if BALLET NEWS still existed there would be a certain ready store of information in its database for web sites to draw upon.

but as we know, this magazine has long ceased publication.

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most ballet companies have this information only so far as often over-worked press offices can compile and file it and organize it along with daily chores of every other sort.

True enough; yet NYCB has one of the world's best archives for dance nearby. BTW does the NYPL have any plans to digitize its film/video collection? Is that a goal for the collection?

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alas, all one hears of the NYPL is buget cuts; the interest i suppose is there concerning preserving its extensive archive of films, but i'm afraid the funds seem not available. i gather that even the extra-urgency to get some of the more fragile films preserved is not being conducted in a timely fashion and much of that old, delicate film is in real danger of being lost altogether, for good.

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