How FIXR helped Exeter College Ball deliver a sell-out event


When organising a student event - especially one of the scale of an annual Oxford University college ball - there are a lot of factors to consider; the venue, layout, food and drink, décor, props, attractions, performers, and an exciting lineup of DJs and musicians among them.

For second year student Anna Barrett - organising committee member for the 2023 edition of the Exeter College Ball - ticketing was the all-important factor; selling enough to cover the costs of the event, and making sure the experience of booking tickets, collecting wristbands and getting through the door was as seamless as possible for organisers and attendees alike.

We spoke to her a few days after the event, where she outlined how some of the FIXR features and functionalities helped make Exeter College Ball one the biggest and best in the event’s history.

Photo credit: Alex Garcia (OurKind Media)

Taking control and simplify your ticketing inventory management

From when tickets first go on sale to the moment the doors close, we know full well that things change during the lifecycle of an event. That’s why it’s crucial to have the full visibility and control over your inventory management - from altering allocation, to issuing refunds, and using promo codes

🎫 Ticket Types & Allocations 🎫 - “If we needed to change the numbers or categories of tickets, it was so easy to do.”

As allocations changed, whether from refunds being fulfilled, shifting proportions of tickets between different categories, or alterations to the capacity of the event, Anna and her team could use the FIXR Organiser platform to effortlessly edit and amend allocations and ticket types to reflect these changes.

⬅️ Refunds ⬅️ - “worked really smoothly… I could just hit refund and know that the money was getting back to them really easily.”

On FIXR, event organisers can choose whether or not they want to offer the option for customers to request refunds on their tickets, which they can then issue within the platform.

For the committee, it was important that these could be easily handled themselves with an absolute minimum of fuss for either themselves or the ticket buyers.

✳️ Promo Codes ️✳️- "the promo code option was really useful for us in a couple of specific ways."

For this year’s event, the organisers wanted to offer lower priced ‘Access Tickets’ to certain attendees with accessibility requirements.

Having already ascertained who these would be, the committee sought to find the easiest way to ensure these ball-goers could purchase a ticket, without the need to create an entirely new ticket type to put on sale.

"People didn't have to buy an access ticket necessarily, they were just buying college ticket at a cheaper price."

By using the promo code functionality in the FIXR Organiser, they could easily provide bespoke promo codes to ensure only those intended customers could secure the tickets at this price.

The team also used FIXR’s promo code functionality creatively to fundraise, using a specially-generated code to give ticket buyers the option to add £1 to the price of their ticket which would act as a donation to the college charity.

"It was a really nice option to help contribute to our college."

Photo credit: Coco Cottam (coco.pix)

Using customisable data points to meet the needs of your ticket buyers

By allowing event organisers to customise, collate and easily access the customer data that they collect, the FIXR platform makes it easier to tailor their event to the needs of their ticket buyers, as well as ensuring the right tickets go to the right people, and updates about the event can be communicated efficiently.

Accessibility Requirements ♿- "really helpful to know months before the ball."

As already highlighted, accessibility was an important consideration to the organising committee and they wanted to ensure that the requirements of all ball-goers could be met; from accessibility needs, to allergies and dietary requirements, and more.

“It was really helpful to know months before the ball that we had at least one wheelchair user attending, for example.”

By using FIXR’s ability to customise question fields in the customer’s ticket-purchasing journey, the organisers were able to obtain information that was important to them, and which helped them improve their event for all attendees.

🪪 Identity Verification 🪪- "great for verifying that people had bought the right ticket."

Gathering customisable information about ticket purchasers also enabled the organisers to accurately verify that people had purchased the correct ticket type.

“The additional question option was really good for the process of verifying that people had bought the right ticket.”

Collecting preferred names in addition to those on students’ email addresses meant any individuals who had purchased the incorrect ticket type could easily be cross-referenced and contacted to resolve any potential issues long before the day of the event.

📧 Simple Communication 📧 - "incredibly useful to just have everything in one place."

The fact that FIXR allows event organisers to own their data also came in handy for communicating key information about the event to ticket buyers.

“We were able to send out mass emails and information about wristband collection.”

The committee used the email addresses gathered at point of purchase to send their own updates directly, ensuring every stage of the event ran smoothly.

Photo credit: Alex Garcia (OurKind Media)

Improving the entire event experience by streamlining your access control

Ensuring the process of admitting attendees runs quickly and smoothly is arguably the most important aspect of the entire ticketing process. Implementing a swift, secure and reliable access control system is vital to a successful event.

📲 FIXR Entry Manager App 📲 - "super easy for everyone to use."

For this event, ticket buyers were required to collect wristbands ahead of the ball, primarily as a means to speed up entry and reduce queueing on the night.

This meant that over the course of several days, committee members were using the FIXR Entry Manager App to scan the QR codes on the mobile tickets that had been purchased, and distribute the wristbands accordingly.

🪙 Access Tokens 🪙- "once you've typed it in you just scan and go"

By easily generating and using access tokens, all of the ticket-scanning team were easily able to log in to the FIXR Entry Manager App - seeing the attendee list and ticket types - without getting direct access to the Organiser account and all of the information and data therein.

“Everyone just downloaded the app and put the code in.. that made it really easy.”

📈Real-Time Data 📈 - "very convenient to search who had already been admitted"

With the FIXR Entry Manager App, real-time data was synced seamlessly across multiple devices, with multiple people able to assist in the quick and efficient ticket-scanning process.

In instances where individuals were unsure if their ticket had been scanned, the team could easily search names in the FIXR Entry Manager App to check.

Photo credit: Coco Cottam (coco.pix)

Using great customer support to de-stress the event organising experience

Establishing and maintaining a relationship which allows for open communication and flexibility ensures queries are answered, concerns assuaged, and the right action can be taken to ensure the success of an event.

📞 Customer Service 📞- "The relationship made everything so easy"

Anna explained how the communicative and supportive relationship with the FIXR team made the entire experience as straightforward as possible.

"I didn't feel at all awkward or stressed to ask about things like advance payments if I did need them.”

Someone from FIXR was always on hand to assist with any issue or queries that the organising committee faced, adapting to their needs and ensuring a consistently high standard of support.

💳 Flexible Payments 💳 - "enabled us to get invoices out of the way, and get payments to the people who needed them"

With an open line of communication in place, the organising committee were able to request advance payments during the event lifecycle in order to pay invoices to their suppliers and performers ahead of the event.

Post-event, FIXR was able to make the full payment in just a matter of days to ensuring there were no unwanted delays for the organisers.

“Just a few days after our ball you'd already sent through the full payment, which was amazing because we could quickly pay off those final invoices.”

If you'd like to find out more about how FIXR can help make your event a success, get in touch below - we'd love to hear from you!