Hot Tix Goes Dark in Skokie

BY Kerry Reid

In response to increased online sales, the League of Chicago Theatres is closing its sole suburban Hot Tix location in Skokie at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts by the end of June. The two downtown booths at the Chicago Tourism Center at 72 E. Randolph and the Waterworks Visitors Center at 163 E. Pearson will remain open.

Dipti Patel, director of ticketing services for the League, says, “I think what we found is that we finally got to a place with hottix.org that our members could be served online in a lot of similar respects to what they were getting at the Skokie facility. [Online ticketing] has provided a lot of opportunities for our suburban members and our city theatres. A lot of our suburban members are really happy with it.”

First introduced as a pilot program in November of 2006, Hot Tix online sales have really taken off in the last year, according to Patel. She estimates that 25-30 League member theatres use online sales during most weeks, and that can go as high as 50 during peak times of the year. As with the half-price tickets available for walk-up sale, the inventory varies.

“It’s the popularity of the show, it’s the time of year, it’s what else is competing against that show in that neighborhood,” says Patel. A hit like Northlight’s Ella this past winter, for example, didn’t need to use Hot Tix to fill the seats. She also emphasizes that it’s a voluntary program, and member theatres can still have tickets available for sale at the booths without using the online ticketing services.

“A lot more of the management that I do now is making sure the shows on the Web site are correct and the inventory is available online, which is different than having it at the outlet,” says Patel. “The Web site is used by people not just to make the sale, but to get information about the shows.” She notes that Hot Tix now has four full-time staff members and 10 part-time employees.

“We always have a strong walk-up presence for theatres that are in the downtown area. Those outlets have a different type of traffic and the patterns vary greatly from Skokie’s.”

But the League isn’t taking it for granted that North Shore audience members will know to go to the Web site, or what to do once they get there. Beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2, and Friday, June 13, Hot Tix staff will provide free demonstrations at the North Shore Center on how to use hottix.org. Patrons can also go to the booth any time during service hours (Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m.) until the booth’s closing day and receive a free demonstration from a staff member.

“I think with online, because time is so precious now for everyone, we create a more level playing field,” says Patel. “We’ve been fortunate that many of our suburban members have been receptive to it, and we plan to talk more to suburban members who aren’t using it yet to see if it will fit into their business plan. We just want to provide as many avenues as possible for our theatres to sell tickets and be viable financially.”