Since we are about to go the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and I am a long time fan, I decided to look at their website:
OSF has very loyal customers (I’m one of them). People come year and after year, plan vacations around seeing their plays and pay for expensive memberships. I think this is more based on the format of their festival than their marketing, but since so many people are buying their tickets in advance from far away, the navigability of their website is very important.
Their website is pretty confusing, but it is easy to get to the plays. However, since the plays are offered at different times, it can be difficult to plan your vacation. However, you can submit the dates of your vacation and they will tell you which plays are available. Or you can go to a certain play and pick the date to see if it’s available. I think the way OSF handles dynamic seating is smart. They have 4 different categories (A+ to C) and when you go to buy tickets it show you how many tickets are left in each category. It also tells you the comparison to price if you were a member. I’ve never been able to afford a membership, so I always have to buy tickets early enough to get the C price. And the great thing about the cheap tickets is that there is no bad seat in their theaters. So, there isn’t a big risk to buying the C ticket. This is why it’s so important for them to have this information on their website.
Though I think the most important thing about OSF’s website is that they have to have the full schedule for the year up and ready since people are planning far advance for their vacations. This way people can search what plays are happening a week in October or download a PDF of the full schedule. And people who come every year know that you have to buy your tickets well in advance. Last year, we waited till 2 months before and we got the last 3 tickets for many plays. Obviously OSF is doing well.
I impart some of this prosperity to their graphic designer though. I always love their posters and they make you want to see plays you’ve never heard of. I’m super excited for the trip next weekend!!