You can export Seat Names to a text file for easy editing in most spreadsheet programs.

1. Open the Pricing Map for editing.

   Click here to learn how to edit Pricing Maps.

2. Click the Seat Names tab.

   The Seat Names window opens.

   

3. Click the Export button.
4. Choose your export format from the options from the list:

   

   The Export Seat Names window opens.

   

5. Select the directory to export the seat names file to and change the file name as needed.
6. Click the Save button.

   The seats are exported to the selected directory in a text file in tab delimited format. The file can then be opened in most spreadsheet programs for editing.

   Click here to learn how to Import the seat names file.

When importing seat names the file must be in tab delimited format ie. after each entry there is a tab space and a carriage return at the end. Most spreadsheet programs should be able to save in this formation.

1. Open the Pricing Map for editing.

   Click here to learn how to open Pricing Maps.

2. Click the Seat Names tab.

   The Seat Names window opens.

   

3. Click the Import button.

   The Import Seat Name window opens.

   

4. Select the file containing the seat names to be imported.

   The following file formats are supported:

   • Excel (.xls)
   • Excel (.xlxs)
   • Tab delimited (.txt)
   • Comma Delimited (.csv)
5. Click the Open button.

   The file will be imported into Seat Names window.

   

6. Click the Save button.

   The seat names have now been imported into Theatre Manager.

If your spreadsheet has empty lines at the end, which are hard to see for find, you might see a message line the one below. Theatre Manager is asking if you want lines with a logical seat number of zero and no Door/Section/Row/Seat data to be ignored.

1. Open the Pricing Map Window.

   Click here to learn how to access the window.

2. Click the Seat Name tab.

   

3. Edit the seat names by clicking in a cell and changing the values

   This is similar to adding seat names.

4. Click the Save button to save the seats to the database.

   If any plays/events have been created using this map the seats for each performance will need to be verified. This will update the tickets with the new seat information. Click here to learn how to verify seats.

In an effort to keep patrons who purchase multiple seats together, Theatre Manager will keep an order from crossing an aisle. In addition, the "Best Seat Algorithm" will also keep a single seat from remaining in a row. This means that if a party of 4 is looking for seats in a row that has only 5 seats, Theatre Manager will move on to the next row that has 6 or more seats so that an empty "single" isn't left. It is difficult to fill single seats, so they can be detrimental to maximizing your revenue.

To prevent Theatre Manager from assigning seats that span aisles, you need to set them up properly on the Seat Names tab.

In this example, the venue has three seats in the left and right sections and six in the center section. When you set up the seat names, you want to ensure when four seats are selected, they do not go across the aisle, but are selected together. In this case, that means any groups of four or more will always be seated in the center section. The exception is if they choose the option online to have their seats separated.

Seats in a theatre are typically numbered from aisle to wall, or, in the case of the center sections, from left to right. Seat numbering is also typically Odd numbers on the left, Even numbers on the Right, and sequentially in the 100's in the center. The Rows are lettered front to back A - Z.

Seats in an arena are often simply numbered sequentially across the row, which is also numbered, but may be lettered. Theatre Manager accommodates all numbering and lettering schemes.

The example below is for the small theatre above.

In the Seat Names tab of the pricing map, check the Section, and Best Available columns.

This way, Theatre Manager knows where there are natural breaks and how to suggest seats to people.

For online sales, we have implemented a mechanism that tries to prevent leaving single seats and maximize your revenue. This web page is geared towards online sales only because Box Office personnel can do anything they wish to dress the house accordingly.

If you have the Seat Names file designed correctly for your venue, you can use web sales to accomplish a lot and fill your house. As humans, we have a great deal more perception abilities to make allowances for subtle changes in situations - but online, computers need to deal with hard parameters of sales rules.

For the vast majority of a venue, assigning the Best Available Area to go straight across a row, and then thread up and down through the venue makes a lot of sense. After all, most people want front and center, middle and center, or balcony front. It starts to breakdown in fringe seats at the edges of venues or the loges, or those odd little corners in venues that are usually in the least desirable seat areas. It also tends to breakdown in Dinner Theatre settings where you have lots of tables, but they only hold two or four patrons each (although we've seen six, eight or even ten seats at a table).

Therefore, Theatre Manager uses a 'two-pass' mechanism which can handle leftover seats for online sales in case the good seats have been taken.

This gives you:

• Revenue protection for the key seats
• A way to manipulate the lower quantile seats while still doing the best for revenues - and still allowing some to be left as singles.

Dinner Theatre and Cabaret Seating

Naming of seats on a Graphic Map for a Dining Room or Cabaret setting may need some adjustments in order to enable the booking of tables, specifically online booking where selecting best available is the default option. Consider a dining room setup of a series of tables of four where you will seat a party of two, three or four at a table. With no adjustments to the seat name chart of your Theatre Map the following could happen:

To achieve a favorable result we introduce the use of # ('pound'), and apply it to the Best Available Area code of the Seat Names in your Theatre Map setup.

You will need to edit the Best Available Area code on the seats as follows: The seat name of Table 1 may look like this.

By applying the # to two of the four seats as shown in the next image will result in the following.

Patron A requests two of four, or all four seats, and this table will be offered. Because when the # is applied to the Best Available Area code, the remaining two of four unsold seats will not be offered to the next Patron. Theatre Manager will then offer Table 2 - or the next table with seats available. Note that the use of the pound on a seat causes Theatre Manager to overlook that seat.

Now this scenario presents a problem for a patron seeking three seats. If you use # for two of the four seats at tables of four, there won't be a successful request for three seats as Theatre Manager will never leave one remaining seat.

If parties of three are a frequent booking for your venue, then what you need to do is to consider a selection of tables where you edit the Best Available Area code to utilize the two-pass system for only one of the four seats at the table as in the following image.

So the rule to follow when using the # to overlook seating is this:

Small Venue Seating

The same two-pass system can be applied when venues have sections with only three seats in a single row (typically on the sides of smaller venues, or the corners of 'Theatre in the Round').

For example, let's say you only have three seats on the Left side of Row A. We will assume that the seats are all empty and you did not use the '#' in the Best Seat Area.

If a patron asks online for one or three seats, they would get them. They would not get them if they asked for two. Theatre Manager would move the patron back a little bit in the venue until it could find two seats PLUS at least two left over.

Seats that are in the front row on the side are likely to be nearer to the tail end of desirable - probably in the last quartile. They are certainly not the absolute best seats in the house, which are generally more towards the center. So now you have a bit of flexibility to decide what to do with them if they are not going to be the first offered to patrons or the first that are snapped up in the Box Office.

If we use the best seat area and name them as follows:

Then this invokes the two-pass strategy for those seats. If all seats are open (in the entire venue), then if a patron asks for:

• One or three seats - nothing will be offered
• Two seats - then Seats 1 and 2 will be offered

So patrons wanting one or three seats will be moved back a couple of rows. Remember that this front-side area is low on the desired scale.

Now, suppose you have a full house and there are very few seats left to sell. But these three in the front-side, Row A, are all still available. If a patron asks for:

• One or three seats, nothing will be offered (See below)
• Two seats, then they will get something

Since we can't disappoint patrons wanting one or three seats, and if Theatre Manager cannot find any other seats in the venue, it will remember that it bypassed these ones and go back to them for a second pass. So, Theatre Manager will say:

• One seat requested - offer Seat 1
• Three seats requested - offer them all
• Two seats requested - offer Seats 1 and 2

Thus, the search process is designed so that:

• The majority of seats are taken care of in the first pass. This is how patrons work and how Box Office Managers dress the house normally.
• A second pass can be invoked if you are coming down to the wire (say the last quartile) where you want to be a little freer with how seats are offered.

• ADA seats - where you want to automatically hold a companion seat for a period of time if the primary wheelchair seat is sold - at least until you can determine the patron's requirements
• Dinner Theatre Seating - especially where there are a number of two-top tables that are beside each other. In this case, if a patron buys one seat at a table, then the other can be held so that nobody sits opposite the purchaser. Other two-tops that are side by side can be separated for dining privacy.
• Social Distance Seating - where if somebody buys a seat, all seats around it are held automatically

How do associated seats sales work?

In the example below, the left image shows part of a venue that has not had sales yet. Some of the tables contain associated seats.

• After clicking or selecting seats on the map to sell (refer to the ones that will be selected on the left)
• The associated seats are immediately held using the (hold code in system preferences) to prevent sale by others (refer to the right diagram).

In the patron ticket window, the seats will show up as holds with the word Associated Seats in the icon column. These seats can easily be sold to the patron at a later date, if desired.

Where do associated seats work?

The short answer - everywhere a ticket is sold. Examples are:

• Selling a ticket online If:
  • One or more seats are held in a cart, all associated seats are also held until the patron picks other seats using Next Best Seatsor using Pick your Own.
  • The patron checks out, the holds are made permanent.
  • The cart is abandoned, the associated seats are released
• At the box office during selecting a seat. It may be easier to drag select multiple associated seats when selling rather than clicking on them one at a time, otherwise you'll need to over-ride the hold
• During sale of a seat for a subscription package. All associated seats are held for all performances during the sale, if possible

When making seats associated: The first person to purchase one or more seats that are associated causes all other associated seats to be held in their name, under their patron account, permanently If a seat is refunded, then any permanent holds on the associated seats (using the hold code in system preferences) will automatically be released You can release an associated hold manually so the seats can then be sold from that point forward. However, if you refund the other associated tickets and resell them, the hold will be put back in place.

You cannot use associated holds until an associated hold letter is specified in System Preferences