New Venue For USSM Event
And we’re sold out again. I literally can’t get a bigger venue than this without renting out Key Arena or something. Hopefully, there aren’t too many disappointed folks out there. Look forwarding to see all 540 (!) of you in a few weeks.
Second update: We’re seeing occasional refunds on tickets sold, so tickets do open up from time to time. It’s worth checking to see if any have become available if you’re still looking to get in.
So, the response to the January 9th USSM event was overwhelming. We sold out in three hours, and then were bombarded by people wanting to attend who didn’t get tickets. So, in order to accommodate more people, we (okay, Matthew did – thanks man!) have found a larger venue for the event – Benaroya Hall. The Nordstrom Recital Hall holds 540 people, so we can essentially double the space for you guys.
This comes at a significant cost increase. The library charges a fraction of what we’re going to have to pay to rent the new space. So, to make this work, the new tickets that are being made available will cost $17 – $15 of that will come to us, and $2 goes to Brown Paper TIckets for their service charge (it goes from $0.99 to $1.99 once you cross the $10 ticket threshold). In order to cover our costs, we need to sell about 200 more tickets at this higher price, so I’m betting on there still being significant demand for this event. I think I’m right. I hope I am.
Anyway, the ticket window is open at BPT again. Again, please select “physical tickets” and have them mailed to you or print-at-home. This will make everything go much, much more smoothly on the day of the event than if we’re having to check IDs at Will Call for a couple hundred people.
There are 265 more tickets available at this price. I have no idea how long they will last. The last batch sold out in half a day. If you want to go, buy them now. Don’t wait. I can’t get a bigger venue than this. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
So, that’s the scoop – $17 gets you in, everything else is the same – January 9th, 1 pm to 5 pm, good times to be had by all.
Note – if you already bought tickets, you’re in. We’re honoring your $10 tickets. The new folks will have to bear the cost of the larger venue.
If I already have the tickets for the original event, do I need to buy the new ones, or are these just the ones for people who were late for the first one?
If you have tickets, you’re in. The new people are going to have to bear the cost of the new venue.
Benaroya Hall – even the Recital Hall – is a wonderful venue. For the location, the subject matter and the price … I’m in. Thanks for doing this!
already sold out?
Is it up and running? I’m getting this:
“All remaining dates and prices for this event have sold out.”
Can’t be sold out, must need to bump something or get a new Brown Bag link?
If I already have the tickets for the original event, do I need to buy the new ones, or are these just the ones for people who were late for the first one?
Yeah, I had the same question. I’m already signed up for the old event, can’t I just pay the difference?
Dude, read the last paragraph on the original post, $10 tickets WILL BE HONORED.
If you have a ticket already, you’re fine.
Works now! Got mine! YAY!
Sorry, sorry, sorry, got a little flustered there. It also says 265 MORE tickets. I missed that. OK, so how do I get you guys the additional money? Brown Paper Ticket appears to be shutting out everybody.
Sweet! I got tickets for me and my two most hardcore baseball friends.
Talk about a great early Christmas present!
I understand a recording or podcast of the event may be frowned upon in order to give M’s brass the ability to comment freely – but the #1 thing I want to hear/see is the ovation when Z walks in the room. Pretty please?
You don’t get us any additional money. You paid $10, and that’s all you will have to pay. The new people are subsidizing the cost increase.
Thanks, Dave, for finding a larger venue. Stoked to be there.
Got mine — WOO!!! Thanks for finding a bigger venue, Dave.
I bought two, thanks!
okay, screw it – forget the podcast, I just bought my tickets. Representing Bellingham!
*envy* *envy*
Big thanks! I had my wife order my tickets so I wouldnt miss out again.
Thanks. I’m happy to pay the extra costs. What a brilliant idea.
I’m glad to subsidize the first people in–great Xmas present! Dave, thanks for making this happen.
rmnixon, im up in Bellingham also. I asked my buddy if he wanted to go, but if he decides not to maybe carpool… i have a 350z (2 seats) otherwise i’d offer you a ride right now.
So the folks that got tickets to the first one and now don’t have to pay the full freight for the new one are like flyball pitchers enjoying an improved outfield defense — we’re getting a benefit that is in no way intrinsic to our own abilities.
As a metaphorical Jerrod Washburn, I’d just like to thank all you Franklin Guttierezes.
As a bonus, it’s actually easier for me to get to Benaroya Hall. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be more costly for those of you who will be paying for parking, however.
dmojr – I’m in for the carpool if space opens up! rm_nixon@yahoo.com or on twitter as @michaelcbarr
Not only is this great for the people who couldn’t buy tickets the first time, but I’ll bet this will be a much nicer and more comfortable facility.
Thanks to Matthew and Dave!
Isn’t the price discrimination backwards, Dave? Don’t early adopters usually pay a premium?
(I jest, I jest. But you gotta admit that the economics is backwards.)
Bought two tickets.
I have a question, though. Are the seats assigned or will it be like movie theater seating? (I’m cool either way)
Anybody going down from Vancouver, BC that would want to carpool?
With this many people, I fear the Q&A process could be completely unwieldy (last year the folks on the stage had trouble seeing the raised hands in the back, let alone being able to hear the questions). I wonder if we need to have a thread to hash out a prepared set of questions rather than deal with the inefficiencies of an open floor? Or are we going to have assistant moderators running up and down the aisles with cordless microphones, daytime TV style, or perhaps having people line up at fixed microphones, Town Hall style?
When demand turns out to be significantly higher than initially anticipated, then it is entirely natural for increasing price to accompany increased supply.
Early adopters generally only pay a premium if production levels are still at a point of diminishing marginal costs, because in this situation, it actually costs less to produce additional units.
Consider using a Park and Ride to save on parking – there’s a #41 bus from my preferred Northgate P&R every few minutes that’s non-stop to downtown (the University Street Station in the bus tunnel is directly underneath Benaroya).
There are similar routes from other directions…
Whee! I still get ticket #1!
And Benaroya Hall… Haven’t been there since my choir performed there many years ago (ok, more like around 7).
robbbbbb: Not necessarily. This is how some artists, lets say people selling photographs or lithographs, will price things. Any object where the cots of the first item is extremely high (R&D), but the future units are essentially free/low cost.
You encourage early adoption with an incentive price, and ensure all purchasers that their investment doesn’t erode in time by in fact increasing prices with each batch printed/manufactured and sold.
Not necessarily — have you tried booking a last-minute flight, vs buying in advance? For that matter, most music venues charge a lower rate for early buyers and a higher rate DOS (Day of Show). The economics is only backwards if there’s more supply than demand.
It’s true that a temporal good like an event, hotel room, or airline seat, is “perishable” in the sense that it has no value if its time passes with it unsold. So if there’s surplus supply, price should fall over time to get the last marginal buyers to fill it. But if there’s restricted supply and excess demand, then a pure auction would tend to result in lower prices at first and higher and higher prices as the available seats dwindle.
And in this case, it’s pretty apparent that there was demand in excess of those first 250 seats.
If, like me, you were so eager not to get shut out again that you neglected to choose ‘mailed tickets’ as requested, it is possible to go back into your order and select “change shipping”, to go from will-call to USPS.
thanks for expanding! you forgot to mention they make great Christmas gifts
Thank you for finding a new venue! I’m very excited to be able to go now.
Thanks for finding a bigger location. I went last year and soaked it allllll up! Can’t wait for this year! All Hail The Z!
Awesome job, USSMariner.
Wow…you really are accumulating those karma points!
Woooopeeeeee!!
I’m in. Thanks for adding the extra space.
I would suggest that, although I am sure that we ALL think that our question is necessary, we should probably submit questions in advance to be reviewed by Dave and the Brain Trust here.
Thanks for the expanded venue, Dave and Matthew — and Happy Holidays!
Dave, for next time, check out WaMu Theatre’s price rate, it’s right next to Safeco and the seating is up to 6,000.
And, I am shut out again. Didn’t see this happening, and literally between this AM and now this was posted, and closed. I am seriously bummed.
So glad more tickets opened up! Pyched.
Benaroya Hall is an amazing venue. If Dave or Derek happen to break into an aria on stage, you’ll hear what I mean. Seriously, I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house (some are better than others, obviously).
Thanks Dave on the new venue.
For joser and his great point about a difficult Q&A. Maybe use twitter to ask our questions during the event.?
Sadly, I can’t make it that, but I’m excited to read the event reviews after the fact.
Oh, and $5 says the standing “O” for Jack Z and the Lieutenants with the Benaroya acoustics will be worth the price of admission alone (even at the subsidized rate).
wabbles, it’s not the actual Benaroya Hall, it’s, i believe, the Nordstrom Recital Hall located in the same building. Benaroya is a 2000+ seat theatre.
@ Willmore2000
Oh yeah, I’ve seen that place (subscriber for several years) but don’t think I’ve ever actually been in there. Does that mean no aria then?
I do a mean Figaro.
So, next time Key Arena?
I mean, it’s not like it’s being used for anything, since a Okie stole our team.
WaMu Theater is a soulless, big cavern with shitty acoustics. Lousy place for anything but auto or boat shows. Town Hall Seattle on First Hill, 8th and Seneca, seats about 850, for future gatherings.
I look forward to seeing Derek measure out the space on the recital hall stage for Zduriencik’s bed.
Ding ding! Ding ding!
We should just get the opera house. Great acoustics, wouldn’t even need a mike on stage.
Opera and baseball have a lot in common. No, really.
Missed out again. I’m gonna start lining up now for the next event. Even though I’m shut out, I’m very proud to be a part of such a dedicated fan base. Go M’s!
Yogi Berra agrees. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.
I think Zduriencik just traded the fat lady for a board game.
ahhhhh.
Given that I was out of the country and out of reach of internet access, no way could I sign up in time the first time but I’m so glad you found a way to increase the size of the venue and let me in. See you on the 9th!
BTW, I already got my ticket in the mail from the first sign-up. BPT seems to run a tight ship (they also responded within an hour to an email inquiry I had regarding my order).
Oh, that explains why it’s so expensive. On the plus side, we can return our shoes after wearing them once to this event.
Town Hall would be a good venue for a future event with even more seats if the price is right. Though at the rate things are going, the entire 2000 seat Benaroya may not be enough next time around.
Any thoughts on hosting an event in New Zealand
See ya’ll there!
Good, but this mixes up Yogi Berra with a different sports figure — one who has a Seattle connection. Dick Motta did not coin the phrase (some DJ in San Antonio apparently did), but during the epic seven-game 1978 NBA Finals between his Washington Bullets and the Seattle Sonics, Motta famously quoted the DJ and said “The opera ain’t over ’til the fat lady sings”, and the phrase instantly went viral, as they would have said had the Web existed then.
The Yogi-ism, famous in its own right, is “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”.
P.S. I’ll be out of town and can’t attend, but I agree with joser (JoseR?) that submitting questions in advance may be the way to go. Unless you can erect public microphones that people can line up at. It’s a lot of people to try to cover with handheld microphones, plus I still have a bad memory of the August meeting where the one idiot shouted out his question instead of waiting for Dave to arrive with his mike (plus it was a stupid question to boot).
…”Though at the rate things are going, the entire 2000 seat Benaroya may not be enough next time around.”
True, true, but…. I kinda miss the gatherings where we were excited because 30 people (!) showed up at Piecora’s (or Hale’s), and the beers afterwards at Elysian. Actually, that part can still happen….
ummm. pizza.
[off-topic]
Dammit. The only two days in the past year I haven’t checked the site are the days that the tickets go on sale. Maybe a little warning next time?
Thanks very much for going to the trouble to get a bigger place. I appreciate it … even though I missed out once again.
I missed out on tickets as well… can I start a rallying cry for moving this to the Moore Theatre? Historic, intimate, yet still seats a couple thousand… Another thought is Mccaw hall at the Seattle center (the Nutcracker should be done by the 9th)… But after the first batch of tickets sold out… its kind of disheartening to see I missed out on the second… I was the first to post that we got Cliff Lee, so that should count for something
So now that it’s sold out can we set the betting line for the number of bottles of water that Carmen will drink this year? If we set the OVER/UNDER line at 6, I’ll take OVER!!
Is there any other major league team for which there would be a sell out of 540(!) tickets in just a couple of hours to hear some front office folks talk?
If he starts drinking that much water again, I’m driving him to the hospital. It was a kidney stone, last time.
I am looking forward to my first, in-person USSM/LL event. It’s been a long time coming for me. Hurrah.