Case Study: University of British Columbia achieves paperless student ticketing and higher online sales with Guest Manager

University of British Columbia - Customer Case Study

The University of British Columbia's student union, AMS Events, faced challenges with traditional paper ticketing for their Welcome Back BBQ, including counterfeiting, inefficient distribution, and slow gate check-ins for thousands of students. To solve this, they partnered with Guest Manager to implement a digital ticketing and box office platform that utilized the existing student ID card as an electronic ticket.

Guest Manager's solution integrated with the UBC student card's barcode and magstripe, enabling a completely paperless system for ticket sales, transfers, and check-ins. The results were transformative: online sales increased from a previous high of 12% to 50% of presales, with 19.5% of total sales coming through the Interac Online payment system. The use of iPads for mobile check-in provided valuable gate analytics, and the seamless Facebook integration generated significant promotional reach. This move to a digital, identity-based system successfully eliminated counterfeit tickets and created a much more efficient and student-friendly experience.

University of British Columbia

Anna Hilliar

Events Coordinator