i think i can one-up you, @ avcon they had same idea, you pay more for extra things, like front-row seats to everything, the ablty to cut the line and be in 1st for the lines ect ect the list goes on

I'm not sure -- something about paying more for access makes me really uncomfortable.

I think it's because I don't like the idea that if you have more money than someone else, you can pay for better access. A lot of people coming are students and while they might be as passionate about SMASH! as some 25-year-old, they're just not going to have the same level of disposable income.

im only just passing on what i had seen @ other cons, but you do have a good point. but if you to look @ the theory behind the idea. the scec is not cheap, unless you put up the door price by @ least 10-fold, you guys are more then likey to be making a loss in the long term. if you had for eg a cap of say for the sake of the agument, 100 premium tixs going @ say, again for agument sake, $100 a tix, do the maths, it would be easing any cost issue's that the borad may have @ the con...

I'm not sure how hyped up the attendees would be about SMASH merchandise, unless it look really really really really good? I guess you can always include a definite meet and greet + autograph with a guest for buying premium tickets? and then you can give those who buy normal prepaid a draw into the meet and greet + autograph as well to be fair?

thats a good point and im not dissagreeing with you. but what is the cost factor going to be. becaus if you were to go down the theory i had, that is inc in the price, among other things like a shrit/hoody/or both. but what eles can you offer on top of that to make the premium tix more wanted. is just sinple maths on this one....

I think the meet and greet could stand on its on with the prepaid without having any more extra benefits that would be unfair to other attendees so it could be around the same $50 price as well but some guest do charge extra costs for these kind of events so yerh. Well SMASH! has always known to be worth every penny of its ticket even if you are just a regular attendee so it really depends on the budget I would guess and I don't think anyone cares how much the actual tickets are themselves since SMASH! 07-10 has built up this awesome reputation, so people wouldnt expect less for next year with or without premium tickets :) People would care about the price increase, but with the reputation of SMASH! i would say it would be worth it :D compared to maybe animania :( which got wrecked after it moved to its new venue.
The exec is going to have a hard time deciding on these premiun advance tickets, but its only an idea not set in stone.

the way that i think of it is, it would relive some, if not all the stress that the borad has to worry about a far as cost's goes, but you have to think about what is on offer that would make this tix more wanted.

Mby a free anime plushie as well would be good :P with the Premium Advance ticket

Having run Karaoke at AVCON the last couple of years, I'm very much not keen on the idea of doing a Gold Ticket in the way it's been done there.

For an event like Karaoke, it was just plain awkward, for both attendees and organisers alike. "Reserved" seating put a big gap between the singer and the interested audience. "Priority" in queues meant Gold Pass people got to go up and sing a heck of a lot more than everyone else. The whole thing just made me sadface.

I much prefer Mike's idea of the ticket + merchandise combo, over having a pricier Gold Priority Service Yes Your Highness ticket like Manifest and AVCON.

rob, i could not disagree with you more. but to be fair you raise some very good points. the way i see it is that smash doesnt go down the exact same route that they have done this year ( on a side note, this was my 1st interstate trip, so im only going on what i had seen @ this year's avcon) but use the idea and mold it in to the way sydney would like it as a whole. the thing that underpins my idea, is that its value aganst how much you pay. if you were to use the idea that avcon used (but mold it so it would fit its use for you guys), it would ease any and/or all stress on costs that the board has in hiring the scec. if you were to go down the route you guys are taking, the risk just dosnt add up aganst the reward that your hoping for.

It's probably important at this stage to make the point that Mike's suggestion is more about whether there is value to people in a ticket that includes merchandise as well as entry. We dont really need a super duper hundred dollar ticket to make next year work. We can live happily on selling normal priced tickets. I think I would agree that the only real reason I could see in introducing a new ticket is one that really does provide additional physical value like merchandise. (I would also agree that I'm not fond of the idea of selling the rights to seats and special panels and such for the reasons that have already been outlined. The amount of money you have to spend shouldn't affect your enjoyment of a convention.)

tom, that is a fair point. the theroy is great, but in practice, im just not sure that there is vaule for money in just having free-ish stuff if you pay for a bit more. what im saying is, dont go down the same route that avcon has, but use the theroy that they used, you dont have to act like a snob, but use some parts of the idea. eg: dont have front row seats only for the people who pay more, but use the line cuting idea. if you are to have quiz nite, dont block off x number of tables for the ones who pay more, but have them pick what table they want and have everyone eles (via random draw) pick where they sit by picking a seat out of a hat. there just some ideas that you could use that would make you diffent from avcon, but use the theroy behind the idea that they used. they most likey used the idea of having a maid café from you guys, but they did it in a diffent way that smash would use

i think if you want to the premium advance ticket to work, it would have to come with something that is " limited edition " everyone pounces for limited edition. It could be merch that will not be sold at the convention and can only be obtained by getting a premium ticket that will be a) mailed to you with your ticket (maybe premium tickets can get specially designed tickets and not just the same stamp or w/e like other tickets) or b) be collected on the day of the convention upon entry? like, wendaii mentioned, it has to look really really good or appealing. maybe a special coupon book that gives you discount like 5% for the day on food or..maid cafe or what not. or maybe it can be something memorable like a limited edition smash plushie. What would be even better if is you put a CAP on the premium tickets that way you will know how many things you have to give out to begin with, no point having premium tickets for everyone? unless im getting the wrong idea.

No, you're thinking of it the right way. I like the idea of making it limited and, if there's any merchandise, exclusive.

Yeah, exclusive and limited is good incentive if we want things to sell or work, like marketing strategy or something like that

i would say for a 1st year run, have a cap of 50-100 premiun tixs, on sale, and have it on sale via a smash owned store. but to make is a bit more speacle, have a store or 2 set up in a major shopping mall. the rent should be free /not much becaus of your not for profit status, it would expose more people to the con and you can sell a heap of tixs. but only set about 1/2 of the premium tix a side for the face to face store/s.....

I think if we advertised the premium ticket on the website alone especially for the number of people who did pre-reg this year, would be enough to sell those 50-100 premium tickets without any addition advertiseing :D

the way i see it, if there was a store in a mall, the main idea of it is to sell the idea of going to smash for those who wouldnt normaly wouldnt come. a 2nd way of using this, is to sell normal pre-sale tix's, having 1/2 the premium tix's is so if someone dosnt have the net, it would give them a fair crack @ getting a premium tix...... that its for the one's who dont own a bpay/paypal/cr card (like me)

As awesome as it would be, I'm 99% sure that renting retail space in any shopping mall would cost the bees knees. If we ever did such a thing I think it would be through partnership with one of our bricks-and-mortar vendors. Selling physical tickets always has its share of caveats because it's only natural that the agent you are selling through gets a cut of the ticket.

lol, personally i don't think we need the mall or have the excess capital to do so. if people would not normally come i don't think they'll pay attention to things in a mall that has anything to do with anime. however, if by chance it does encourage people who don't normally come, it would be better to do it like devkimiko suggested through vendors. if we manage to snag kinokuniya / kingscomics then that would be most ideal where we can pay a small commission fee or make some deal and people can prepay for premium tickets directly from them?

@jb0x Yeah, I think something through Kings or Kinokuniya could be quite handy.