Chicago Museum of Science and Industry: Ticketing for Success

MSI, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the nation’s premier showplace of American ingenuity, has hosted tens of millions of visitors since it opened its doors in 1933 in the restored Palace for Fine Arts, the last remaining major structure from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.  When the Museum decided to improve the visitor experience and streamline its admissions process, they chose JCA to help them through a business processes review and the eventual implementation of new ticketing technology.
 

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ACLU of Washington Benefits from Customized Middleware Application

JCA Now Certified Solutions Provider for Kintera

Crystal Reports Training Course in New York City

JCA Clients Gain Peer Perspective & Support With Ongoing Roundtable Discussions

JCA Announces Two New Partnerships, Aqubanc® & AuctionPay

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JCA's Upcoming Conference Appearances
 

November 30
Steve Birnbaum, Chief Operating Officer, Will Lead "Data Integrity: It's Life or Death for Your Shop" session at AFP Massachusetts 2005 Conference on Philanthropy in Boston, MA

January 10-13
 JCA Exhibiting at Intix Winter Conference in Boston, MA

Booth #415

Steve Jacobson, CEO, and Matt Cooper, Senior Consultant, Speaking

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First:  Don't put bad processes on a good system.   In addition to the software system, there are always two other “systems”: one is related to process and the other is people driven. JCA recommended taking the time to review both so that people-practices and business policies wouldn’t adversely affect the ticket selling process. As an entertainment destination, MSI was keenly aware that each visitor experience drives the next visit. Do guests wait in long lines Are pricing packages clear Do busloads of children clog doorways? JCA worked with MSI management to critically review and, in some cases, alter processes to enhance guest service.  Even the best system can’t overcome inefficient processes.
 

Second: Think beyond the ticket sale.   JCA helped the Museum make strategic use of information so they could better monitor traffic, build relationships and control costs.  Members, for instance, are identified quickly so they may get into the building without waiting in line.  To prevent long lines and ensure a positive first impression, the ticketing system’s menus are optimized to prevent bottlenecks, while simultaneously giving sales agents the ability to up-sell for memberships and additional attractions.   JCA and Museum staff also built analytical reports so staff could draw meaningful conclusions about overall sales trends and the effectiveness of various packages (combination tickets).

Third: Know when to streamline.  When implementing software, consider when it makes sense to reduce the number of offerings.  While the system may be able to sell every combination of general admission, attractions and events, the more choices that you give guests, the more time they need to decide what they want to do.  Make the supporting signage as clear and concise as possible.  Remember that long decisions equal long lines! 

Working together, JCA and The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago built an impressive infrastructure for high-volume ticket sales and meaningful analytic reporting while maintaining a first-class customer experience for the patrons.

Want to find out what JCA can do for your organization?  
 

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Many companies institute storage limitations on their Exchange Server mailboxes to prevent server crashes. A storage limit of 50MB is common, and even lower storage limits aren't unreasonable or unheard of. A low storage limit means that employees must take various actions on a regular basis to reduce the size of their mailbox.

To keep your Exchange mailbox within its storage limits, you could simply purge items from your mailbox every day. Deleting read messages, purging your Sent Items folder regularly, and deleting old appointments, tasks, and journal entries is a surefire way to keep your mailbox size small.

Unfortunately, this method also prevents you from referring back to a crucial message you sent three months ago or determining exactly when you met with an important prospect. To keep your mailbox small and maintain a record of important messages and other Outlook items, consider using Outlook's built-in AutoArchiving feature.

This feature allows you to manually or automatically transfer old items to a storage file. You can specify such settings as how old items must be to be archived and where the archived email personal folders file (.pst) will be stored. 

Note: You should be aware of your organization's email storage policy. Your organization may require that all of your email be stored in a particular location for security and data recovery purposes. Please consult with your email administrator prior to changing the way that your email is stored. 

Charles Giuliano
Network Services

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ACLU Washington Benefits from Customized Middleware Application
The Washington State chapter of ACLU had a problem common among local chapters; how to import donor data from their parent organization's custom system into The Raiser's Edge®. Each month the Database Administrator would have to manually manipulate and import the data. JCA built an application that automatically structures the data in a Raiser's Edge® friendly manner, so the staff only has to complete two easy push-button steps to run the import smoothly. Learn more about JCA's middleware applications and how they can help your organization spend more time using data to solicit donations and less time formatting it. 

JCA Now Certified Solutions Provider for Kintera
Although JCA has been a Gold Partner with Kintera, Inc. for over a year, in August JCA consultants became Certified Solutions Providers for the Internet-based contact and content management company. With this new status, JCA consultants can assist clients in implementing the Kintera tool to manage contact databases and events, as well as create/change website content. If you are currently using or considering Kintera's tools and would like JCA to implement your project,click here to fill out this form on the Kintera website.

Crystal Reports Training Course in New York City
JCA is offering a special two-day Crystal Reports training course* at our Manhattan training facility  on November 15th and 16th. Participants receive customized training, with afternoon sessions where JCA's trainer helps participants create custom reports using their organization's database. JCA's Crystal Reports training course is great for those interested in getting to the next-level of report writing. To register for this event, click here.

*The Crystal Reports class will be based on data output from your fundraising software, there will be no fundraising software training.

JCA Clients Gain Peer Perspective & Support With Ongoing Roundtable Discussions
As a part of JCA's on-going efforts to provide continuing support for our clients, we have begun a series of roundtable discussion groups.  Previous topics have included "Creating, Documenting and Enforcing Policies and Procedures" and "Building Crystal Reports" for Raiser's Edge®.  The roundtable includes an educational discussion, as well as provides a forum for Raiser's Edge® users to talk with each other.  For additional information on future discussions, please contact Kate Blair at kate@jcainc.com or call (212) 981-8408.

The marks Blackbaud® and The Raiser's Edge® are registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.  Jacobson Consulting Applications Inc. is an independent consulting firm and as such is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Blackbaud, Inc. 

JCA Announces Two New Partnerships: Aqubanc® & AuctionPay
JCA has teamed with Aqubanc® in an ongoing effort to assist the development community in streamlining their fundraising operations. Aqubanc®'s Check 21 Pass™ Systems combine document and check scanning software and hardware to significantly reduce the amount of time development offices would typically spend when entering data by hand.

JCA's partnership with AuctionPay will also help Special Events offices automate the time-consuming management of auctions.  With a rising number of donors participating in auctions, many nonprofits can prosper from AuctionPay's software which manages online and offline events and subsequent payments.

JCA newest partnerships are an indication of JCA's commitment to providing the nonprofit community with cost effective and efficient technology solutions.

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