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2018 Met Season


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I don’t find the landing page very fresh. I find it a jumble and it’s hard to find the links I want. 

They should also IMHO take new photos of the dancers with a consistent style. Last time I looked they had cropped all the photos into extreme close ups that looked odd. 

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3 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I don’t find the landing page very fresh. I find it a jumble and it’s hard to find the links I want. 

They should also IMHO take new photos of the dancers with a consistent style. Last time I looked they had cropped all the photos into extreme close ups that looked odd. 

I said fresh-er. Remember the one before that? At least this one looks like its from this decade. Again, lipstick on a pig. 

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1 minute ago, morningside said:

It's not like you have any other choice. Anywhere you click from there will either redirect to the Met's site, or lead you immediately to the old site..

Yes, I meant I don't try to navigate anywhere from the new main page. I go immediately to the old site and navigate from there. It's always the very first thing I do. (I should really just put it in my favorites bar, I know...)

For instance, trying to look up dancers from the new main page is awful, because the photos are huge and the names aren't visible unless you hover over a certain photo, so trying to find a particular corps member whom you know by name but not by face is annoying.

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Advance Access single tickets went on sale on-line today at 12 noon EDT for Friends above a certain level. This is new. They used to have an offer for Friends WAY above a certain level to send in a form for prime seats, but there was nothing on-line, and I never had any interest in that. 

So here's how this new Advance Access worked for those of us who can't get to the box office in person. For starters, you could actually log in an hour earlier than they announced (maybe even earlier - I don't know). I logged in just to see if my account information was correct and, by golly, single ticket sales were available. You don't get seat selection as you do in "open buying" that starts next Sunday, but they show you a seat they'll sell you in the section you requested and you can reject it. I was amazed at how good those were and ended up buying what they offered. Very good Grand Tier seat for the Osipova-Hallberg Giselle and no price increase compared to any other performances in that area. That might actually be a bad sign if they're thinking this will likely be a cancellation or substitution of some kind, but you should be able to get those seats for the time being.

I don't understand why they can't offer actual seat selection on-line at this stage, like most other companies do, but I gather this is up to the Met box office. It does help to have a seat map handy if you're ordering this way to see what they're offering: https://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/abt/2018/Seat Map/ABT-Seating_1718.pdf

I still find the Met's on-line ordering system incredibly confusing and cumbersome, compared to others. 

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When I aged out of the 18-29 program, I got no special solicitation or follow-up messaging from ABT trying to convert me to a regular subscriber. I don't know what sort of uptake they had on that program, but that seemed like a missed opportunity to me. And they would have potentially had 18-29 subscribers' ages on file, as you were required to provide an ID. 

It's great the Met still has its student ticket program (it's what I used to use before 18-29 was started), but I think ABT is really dropping the ball by not having a special program to attract "young professionals," as they're often called. Many opera companies are even extending that "young" age range to 40 for the programs they've developed.

ABT seems to be taking baby steps forward in terms of its marketing -- I've found the posters and other print items using the NYC Dance Project photos to be very sleek and striking. And they've started making more modern promo videos, like this one. But having an easily navigable and attractive website should be any arts organization's #1 priority, especially as more people than ever are buying their tickets online rather than in person. 

If Isabella Boylston can put together a decent website for her own dance festival, why can't ABT find the resources to upgrade its own?

http://balletsunvalley.com/

Granted, Ballet Sun Valley's website has many fewer moving parts, but still...

Edited by fondoffouettes
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3 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

When I aged out of the 18-29 program, I got no special solicitation or follow-up messaging from ABT trying to convert me to a regular subscriber. I don't know what sort of uptake they had on that program, but that seemed like a missed opportunity to me. And they would have potentially had 18-29 subscribers' ages on file, as you were required to provide an ID. 

It's great the Met still has its student ticket program (it's what I used to use before 18-29 was started), but I think ABT is really dropping the ball by not having a special program to attract "young professionals," as they're often called. Many opera companies are even extending that "young" age range to 40 for the programs they've developed.

ABT seems to be taking baby steps forward in terms of its marketing -- I've found the posters and other print items using the NYC Dance Project photos to be very sleek and striking. And they've started making more modern promo videos, like this one. But having an easily navigable and attractive website should be any arts organization's #1 priority, especially as more people than ever are buying their tickets online rather than in person. 

If Isabella Boylston can put together a decent website for her own dance festival, why can't ABT find the resources to upgrade its own?

http://balletsunvalley.com/

Granted, Ballet Sun Valley's website has many fewer moving parts, but still...

"When I aged out of the 18-29 program, I got no special solicitation or follow-up messaging from ABT"  That is indeed a missed opportunity -- several other companies around the country are really exploring age-related marketing, and while I get a bit queasy about it sometimes, I have to admit I keep track of the "senior" options available to me (at 61, I'm a senior in some places and not in others). 

In Seattle, many organizations participate in Teen Tix, which is a program to get teens into all kinds of cultural institutions (you register and get an access card -- different groups give different deals.  The ballet let's TT kids get $5 tickets 90 minutes before performance (on Sundays, you can get an additional ticket and take a friend).  It gets kids in the door and fills in last minute seats -- so far it's been a great program for the company.

I want someone to do their masters or PhD on these access programs, do a little tracking and long-range analysis of use, and come back with some substantial information.  There are all kinds of good initiatives going on, but not as much tracking as a geeky girl would like to see.

I still find it ironic that ABT's website annoys so many users, since they were one of the first companies to create an online presence.  If I remember correctly, much of it was designed by dancers -- why has it gotten so icky?

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55 minutes ago, sandik said:

I still find it ironic that ABT's website annoys so many users, since they were one of the first companies to create an online presence.  If I remember correctly, much of it was designed by dancers -- why has it gotten so icky?

Their website was designed by dancers??  As in dancers who were still dancing, or who had retired?

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23 hours ago, sandik said:

I still find it ironic that ABT's website annoys so many users, since they were one of the first companies to create an online presence.  If I remember correctly, much of it was designed by dancers -- why has it gotten so icky?

I think the main problem is that the design hasn't been updated at all since 1998. The fonts are tiny and often the content only fills half the width of my computer monitor. (Maybe it's designed for lower-res monitors of the 1990s?). Also, it's not mobile-responsive in an age when many people are viewing websites on their phones. 

I also don't think it makes great use of the often stunning photos ABT has of its dancers in action. There are no links to some of the better videos ABT has created. 

There's also a real lack of content that may entice someone who is not already a ballet fan or someone who is familiar with the company. 

It takes 7+ clicks from ABT's main page to get to a screen where you can actually buy a ticket (if you are going through the performance calendar).

There's also just lots of sloppy formatting all over the place. 

Edited by fondoffouettes
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I just received an email reminder from ABT that single tickets go on sale this Sunday at noon. When I click on "See the 2018 Brochure", and then go to the "ballets" section in the web page that pops up, the main photo for each ballet is the swan corps from ACT IV in SL. Once you scroll down from there you get the correct photos associated with each ballet, but it looks very odd to say the least to see the caption "Don Quixote" or any ballet other than Swan Lake superimposed over an image of swans. I guess if they can't upgrade their website, I shouldn't expect their email brochure to be up-to-date either.

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Also, Ferri is returning but she isn't listed for anything specific. Maybe she's just doing the gala.

Lendorf has been removed for R&J with Teuscher (Romeo is now TBA), but he's still listed for everything else.

Edited by ABT Fan
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17 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

OMG! Look on the guest artists page and they have Kimin Kim listed - he's doing Bayadere, May 29 and June 1!!!

http://www.abt.org/people/kimin-kim/?type=performer

OMG is right! So glad I plan to be in town June 1. Although...partnering Seo will be a tad different than the Tereshkina performance many of us were fortunate enough to see at KenCen last fall.

I must have missed this before - Bolle is doing two Giselles - the opening Monday, along with the final Saturday night. No announcement of anniversaries or retirements, though, so perhaps he'll be back in 2019.

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Bolle doing Giselle on Monday is new. I can't remember who was scheduled before. And, I've just noticed another change. Lendorf has also been replaced in Giselle on May 16, eve, with Boylston (Whiteside is the sub). So, two of his performances have been canceled. Will there be others?

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1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

Bolle doing Giselle on Monday is new. I can't remember who was scheduled before. And, I've just noticed another change. Lendorf has also been replaced in Giselle on May 16, eve, with Boylston (Whiteside is the sub). So, two of his performances have been canceled. Will there be others?

It was previously Stearns in that Monday Giselle. Now he's just doing the Saturday matinee with Murphy (originally scheduled to be Gomes).

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4 minutes ago, LadyBubbles said:

Wasn't Whiteside originally performing with Abrera? She has Stearns now, and Boylston has Whiteside (replacing Lendorf, I think?).

Yes, that's all correct. I didn't see that Stearns had been moved to the Abrera Giselle. I do miss being able to see all the casting at a glance!

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2 minutes ago, angelica said:

The new web site is WORSE than the old one! It's important to be able to see all the casting at once in order to decide what tickets to buy.

On the plus side, I won't have to close one eye in order to watch Stella in Giselle.

Yes, the new site  IS worse!  What a fiasco. What motivated them to do it this way?  It's visually cleaner but is still crap.  

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