Since 1904, music-lovers have gathered on the lawn at Ravinia Festival to enjoy a rich tapestry of performances that span classical, jazz, pop, and more. Home to the longest-running outdoor music festival in North America, Ravinia hosts approximately 400,000 guests at over 100 events each year. For a season lineup that boasts artists like Cynthia Erivo, Lenny Kravitz, Janelle Monáe, Maren Morris, Earth, Wind & Fire, and the 89th Chicago Symphony Orchestra Residency, the attendee experience begins when they purchase tickets, months before anyone steps foot on the sprawling lawns.
Constantly evolving a world–renowned venue and creating unforgettable experiences costs a lot – so Ravinia depends on the launch of their summer season to keep the financial engine running. At the end of April, Ravinia launched their season on-sale to the general public, leveraging the AudienceView Unlimited platform throughout the process.
Practice Makes Perfect
This on-sale was critical for the success of the entire season, during which the bulk of the years’ tickets would be sold. Meticulous preparations began nearly a year in advance to ensure an on-brand experience for patrons. The AudienceView team worked closely with Ravinia’s team, focusing on every detail to craft an unforgettable and seamless ticket-buying experience.
A recent evolution to the foundation AudienceView Unlimited is built upon, and the service it’s hosted by, were pivotal in achieving this success. AudienceView Unlimited recently migrated to the Microsoft Azure Cloud for hosting services, delivering more scalability, stronger built-in security, and unmatched reliability to our clients.
“Thanks to the migration to Microsoft Azure and continued architecture improvements, AudienceView Unlimited is a more resilient product,” noted Chief Technology Officer, Ignacio Pombo. “This achievement is a testament to AudienceView’s ongoing innovation and transformation. Our commitment to technological excellence and forward-thinking solutions ensures that we remain at the forefront of industry advancements.”
The AudienceView team’s preparation involved extensive testing and configuration of the system to handle the high volume of ticket sales. This included configuring, testing, and deploying multiple devices for use during the on-sale period, ensuring that every aspect of the ticketing process was seamless and efficient. The team’s dedication to providing a flawless experience for Ravinia’s patrons was evident in their meticulous attention to detail and proactive approach to problem-solving.
Breaking Box Office Records
Those preparations paid off as Ravinia broke box office records and exceeded everyone’s expectations, selling much of their annual ticket inventory in the first two hours. For a sustained 70-minute period, AudienceView Unlimited maintained an average of 200 orders per minute, peaking at 275, without compromising performance. More than 28,000 patrons awaited their turn in the online queue, none the wiser to the technical feat happening behind the scenes.
“Ravinia is very pleased with the level of communication and support we received from AudienceView as we planned for this year’s on-sale events,” said Gina Ehrlich, Chief Information Officer at Ravinia. “Both leadership teams brought together a group of top technical resources that successfully managed heavy demand using live metrics and a disciplined process. Ravinia is excited to continue our partnership with AudienceView and we look forward to running future on-sales on the platform.”
Not only do these sales showcase the remarkable audience demand for Ravinia’s events, but also AudienceView’s ability to handle immense traffic seamlessly. This achievement wasn’t just about numbers; it highlights the impact of collaboration between technical and customer-facing teams, both at Ravinia and AudienceView. Four teams, coming together to provide one seamless experience with epic results. The seamless integration of their efforts created an atmosphere of comfort and excitement for patrons, as they navigated the online ticketing platform without encountering any slow-downs or interruptions. Witnessing the online queue steadily decrease while sales continued to surge was a clear indication of the platform’s strong capacity and foundation.
“The collaborative spirit between the Ravinia and AudienceView teams was truly inspiring,” shared Keltie Shantz, Client Engagement Manager at AudienceView. “As the on-sale event unfolded, the atmosphere on-site shifted from a buzz of nervous anticipation to a wave of comfort and excitement. This transformation was driven by the collective efforts of both technical and client-facing teams, who worked seamlessly together to ensure a smooth process. Witnessing the queue numbers decrease and sales increase without interruption was a testament to the strong capacity and foundation of AudienceView Unlimited. Breaking records for both AudienceView and Ravinia sales velocity, we’ve demonstrated that united, we can achieve remarkable success.”
At the end of the day, audiences should be oblivious to the technical demands behind the scenes, illustrating the invisible success of AudienceView. Our clients — like Ravinia —can then focus on their primary mission: bringing unforgettable live events to the masses, empowered by a secure, robust, and flexible system that enables them to grow their audience.