Previous Page Home Page for ...And Piano Make Three Go to our other website: An Evening at Pemberley Since our first success there in 2007, we have been planning to present a long run of...And Piano Make Three at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Our 2008 production of An Evening at Pemberley was planned to allow us two weeks of time to research appropriate venues and other details for And Piano Make Three's 2009 run. Unfortunately, the ticketing debacle so threatened our Pemberley show, we were forced to dedicate virtually all of our time and attention to ensuring its success alone, then immediately turn our attention to the Philadelphia show, the well-planned production of which was severely threatened by timeline pressures caused by the troubles we experienced in Edinburgh. Sadly, because of the Edinburgh Fringe's ticketing fiasco and its mismanagement during the 2008 festival, prudence thus requires us to place our Edinburgh plans for 2009 on hold. We send thanks and kind regards to all in Scotland who have given us encouragement and we hope that our rational confidence in the Festival can be restored in time to allow us to again return. Read more about the impact on ...And Piano Make Three on the News and Information page at our ...And Piano Make Three website. We outline more specific details of our view into the Ticketing fiasco below. (last updated Sept 15, 2008) More About the Edinburgh Fringe Ticket Fiasco Read News Articles that chronicle the situation, below. We take note of the following: There has been no apology from Fringe officials either to the public or to the performers affected. We take note of the many false claims or promises of normal functionality, starting in June and continuing through August. We take note of half-truths (such as working with all venues. Many venues were left in the cold. Our venue was not contacted -- we ourselves first informed them of the Fringe's ticketing problems. The Fringe never listed our venue on its list of independent box offices). We take note that the press records no mention of how to get tickets from smaller venues, virtually no mention of the impact on shows, and no mention of the actual economics and risks to festival participants. We observe that it is is the perfomers (or their producers) who pay for the Fringe's box office services (and for related advertising directly linked to ticket system) AND for the rental of the venues. Thus, the most immediate and drastic financial effects to performers' independent self-financed productions are being glossed over or ignored. For American performers, the costs have double the impact, as the dollar exchange rate is very unfavorable against the pound. We notice many comments that are deceptive puffery (for example, touting the sales of major venues not dependent on the Fringe box office, and the use of old news and old statistics without mentioning the ticket crisis. We trace various strategic attempts (particularly in the first week of August) to avoid accountability or "muddy the waters" and dilute responsibility for any negative consequences of the ticket fiasco. Once the festival is over, we advise all to be alert that there is a risk of cover-up attempts -- and that any lack of follow-up news should be taken as a warning, not a positive sign that the issues have evaporated or have been resolved. It is not only the ticketing technology failure that concerns us, but the mismanagement of several other important factors consequent to it: 1) There was apparently no backup plan in place (Nor was one put in place in the seven weeks between the first failure in June and the meltdown in mid July.). Fringe Officials, unaccountably without a clear plan of action and in the midst of the predictable ticket printing crisis, ducked reporters by sneaking out the back way from their hastily called meeting at the posh Apex hotel. (As reported by The Scotsman newspaper.) 2) There were continual false reassurances of operational normalcy. These statements were not backed up by facts. This alone is discreditable. Without solid information, good or bad, most shows were left helplessly adrift or were forced to promote blindly and often inaccurately. 3) The extent of the problems founded in the system technology remain unknown. It is known that inaccurate information was delivered for many shows, misleading many. Significant database problems continued during the festival. A few were reported. It is unknown how many venues and shows were silently affected by misinformation or to what extent ticket sales were damaged. 4) Despite press to the contrary, no efforts were made on behalf of most venues -- only the needs of the largest were accomodated. Our well-known venue was not even alerted by the Fringe (we know because we alerted them by phoning from New York five days after the meltdown). As the Fringe halted ticket sales several times in addition to ongoing functional problems that existed even in times when the system was declared "operational," ticket sales were certainly distorted. Our venue's independent box office was not included on the list provided on the Fringe's website. 5) Communications throughout the crisis have been spotty, disorganized, and inaccurate to the point of deceptiveness, severely impacting planning, production, and promotion. Extraordinary amounts of production and promotional time were consumed, significantly increasing production risk. 6) Public relations statements by Fringe Chief Jon Morgan as the crises developed have apparently been self-serving and misleading puffery, and at times, were either inadequately informed opinion or simply denial. Solid factual information was absent; any public leadership in mitigating the damage to shows was nonexistent. 7) No statements were made by any Fringe officials to address the issues of hundreds of productions that were especially vulnerable to the Fringe's systemic failures. Most were simply left to sink or swim without clear information or Fringe PR support. No one seemed in charge of communicating with the press in a systematic way during the crisis to facilitate a smoother experience of navigating the debacle. Decisions communicated to the public were slow in coming, or were incomplete or contradictory. 8) It was immediately obvious that general Fringe sales were not good as the festival got underway: we had an unobstructed view of the e-ticket tent and half-price hut from our hotel from Aug 2 to Aug 16: compared to last year's frenzy of activity, the e-ticket tent was a ghost town. Performances we attended that were sell-outs in past years were at half capacity. 9) Technology problems remained appparent -- kiosks at the e-ticket tent were slow; as late as Aug 14, I witnessed several individuals who were unable to purchase tickets through the system at the e-ticket tent. 10) There apparently has not been even a hint of public apology to performers, promoters, venues, or to the Fringe-going public. Our rational trust in the management of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been broken. And these items are by no means all of the things with which we take issue. However, I hasten to add that we respect some of the individuals on the "front lines" who performed their jobs with admirable conscientiousness. And we deeply appreciate their help and kindness. Yet the problems remain. For us to participate in the festival again, it will take more than a working ticket system. First of all, we insist on accountability. We will not again give our trust blindly to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: we insist on hard factual evidence that our trust is deserved. We will not be taken in by unsupported claims. While we admire graphic design and enthusiastic promotions, these are no substitute for truthful and unambiguous information. Therefore, it is the quality and logic of the content of all communications that must now rule the day. We insist that any investigation of the ticketing crisis must include an evaluation of the Fringe official's misleading public responses and their consequences. We insist that both a backup strategy and a comprehensive communications/press relations disaster plan must be produced that adequately addresses ALL shows in ALL venues. After all, we paid our monies to Fringe just the same as those in the "super venues" whose ticket sales were were actually aided by the Fringe meltdown, as they had sophisticated online ticket systems of their own. We do not take issue with their good fortune, but we do believe that their ticket sales must be evaluated in context of the crisis that threw business their way. It should not be used as evidence of the Fringe Festival's success nor should the Fringe be creating the impression that their strong sales reflects superior public appeal of the shows presented in those venues, instead of the simple fact that festival goers could actually buy and receive tickets to those shows whilst other shows were competitively hindered by the Fringe. We further insist that details of future plans for addressing the Fringe's problems must be publicly communicated well in advance. Issues not resolved should be identifed so that we may assess the risk of participating next year as early as possible. If reliable information is not forthcoming, we will assume there is incompetence and deception and we will steer clear of the Edinburgh Fringe. Detailed strategies must factually back up any claims that 2008's fiasco will never be repeated. We insist that the ticketing crisis investigations MUST survey the impact on producers and performers, for it is we who bear the greatest financial burden and risk and provide the bulk of the venue income, while also providing the actual content of the Festival's offerings. Failing that, we will not participate. -- Tarpley Mott, Executive Producer New York, NY An Evening at Pemberley: The Music of Jane Austen's Heroines www.eveningatpemberley.com (presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008) ...And Piano Make Three www.andpianomakethree.com (presented at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007) News Links About Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008 Ticketing Fiasco: Sunday Herald - July 29, 2007 Interview with Jon Morgan, Fringe Chief Edinburgh Fringe Box Office System Goes Titsup (June 10, The Register) Fringe Site is as Dead as a Parrot (June 12, The Register) Fringe Set to Dump Ticket System After A Week of Chaos (Edinburgh Evening News, June 14) Edinburgh Fringe Fiasco 2008 (Gumtree message board, June 2008) Fringe Drama Plunged into a Crisis after Ticket Fiasco - JUNE 19 Jon Morgan on video July 11 - Fiddling as Rome Burns? (Also, pay attention to his touted highlights) Fringe to Run as Normal, Says Chief (July 19, UKPress) High Drama as Fringe Bosses Call Summit on Ticketing Crisis (July 19) Fringe Chief Stages Crisis Talks as Ticket System Chaos Hits 150,000 (July 19, The Scotsman) Ticket Holdups Hit Fringe Fans (July 20, Sunday Mail) Edinburgh Fringe Faces Ticketing Turmoil as e-booking System Collapses (Times Online July 21) Edinburgh 2008: Fringe Tickets on their Way? Fringe Tickets: The Whole Thing Seems Completely Chaotic (Edinburgh Festivals) More Trouble for Box Office Fringe was warned months ago (The Scotsman) It's a Tourist No-Show for Empty Festival as Ticket Crisis Goes On (Edinburgh Festivals) Edinburgh Fringe Goes On Amid Ticket Turmoil -July 24 EdinburghGuide Fringe Web Site Crashes for Hours - July 27 -Edinburgh Guide Fringe Shutting Shop Again to Deal with Ticket Backlog "Fringe to Set Box Office Records" (Morgan Puffery. No mention at all of ticket crisis (Financial Times, August 1) Aug 4 UK National News -"Morgan: "Box Office Problems Appear to be Easing" (Jon Morgan Blames Previous Administration for Ticket Fiasco - no other source quoted) -Aug 4, EdinburghGuide Fringe Chief Laments Lack of TV Interest (And seeks public money) - Aug 5, TimesOnline Big Venues Squeezing Spirit out of Edinburgh Fringe - no mention of box office advantages -Aug 5 Fringe Tickets Fiasco: 'Reputation of the Fringe Has Been Harmed' {The Scotsman, August 7} Edfringe.com message boards - No Apologies thread. Aug 10 Fringe Organziers Launch Inquiry Into Ticketing Fiasco - (Aug 11, The Register) Fringe Chief says inquiry "not Whitewash" (but plants seed of blame on US tourists & economy) Aug. 11 TimesOnline Fringe Plan Box Office Balls-Up Post-Mortem Next Month - (Aug 12, The Register) Fringe Faces Change after Inquiry into Box Office Fiasco (from the Herald) Ticket Chaos Could Cost Me My Job Says Fringe Chief (Edinburgh Festivals) BBC: Probe into Fringe Ticket Problems (BBC) Now 20 Fringe Shows Oversold (The Scotsman) Children Left in Tears After Being Turned Away From Fringe Show(Edinburgh Festivals) EdinburghFestivalPunter -- Excellent partial timeline of Fringe actions, with insightful links Janey Godley Blog: {Box Office Misinforms Ticket Purchasers}- Aug 10 Inquiry Ordered into Fringe Ticket Fiasco as Venues begin Battle for Compensation(The Times) Fringe Chiefs Consider Legal Action in Wake of Ticket Fiasco(The Scotsman) How the Fringe Fell Apart Sunday Herald Leader Fringing on Managerial Failure(The Scotsman) Another Box Office Disaster as Fringe Ticket Firm Goes Bust (August 17) (The Times) As we left Edinburgh on the 16th, we were weeks behind in staging our Philadelphia, PA show which was to open on Aug 31st. This production and its advance marketing was severely impacted by the Edinburgh debacle and the necessity to save our show there -- we had to protect the fine reputations of professional classical music performers: we could not fail either in Edinburgh or Philadelphia. Ultimately, we did save our show in Edinburgh and achieved respectable critical success. But it cost us. We lost all of our time for researching venues or shows for 2009. Ultimately, we got our Philadelphia show on the stage in time (barely) by working 24/7 with no sleep and taking on far greater financial expense and critical risk. Some production and promotional aspects suffered. All of this should have been unnecessary. In the midst of our team's exhaustion and desperate workload just before our opening night in Philadelphia, welcome news reached us that Jon Morgan had resigned. Had we seen herculean efforts on his part -- or even the merest competence and apology rather than incompetence and hubris -- we would accept that he "fell on his sword," as some have characterized it. However, in our view his departure was not a gallant gesture of self-sacrifice; however, it was a ignominius necessity, in our opinion. August 28th - Edinburgh Fringe Director Steps Down After 15 Months (goodmeeting) Edinburgh Fringe Director Quits (The Scotsman) Exit stage left -- Fringe chief Morgan steps down after ticket fiasco We take a dim view of Mr. Morgan's "generosity" in not announcing his resignation sooner. Instead of adding clarity to the ticketing situation, he maintained a vacuum of leadership that insured that no more competent leader could step in whilst he still occupied the position. Edinburgh Fringe chief stuns art world with resignation (The Guardian) Note: Perhaps the "art world" is shocked. But no one who had to put up money either for tickets or to produce a show at the Edinburgh Festival was "stunned." We were simply relieved and amazed that Mr. Morgan's departure was accomplished at the end of the festival instead of being painfully dragged out for many more months. The failure of the ticketing system is but one aspect of the debacle: we were shocked at how inadequately the situation was managed and communicated AFTER the failure of ticketing system itself and during the festival itself. Fringe Boss Quits Stage in wake of ticket chaos (Edinburgh Evening News) Edinburgh Fringe Director Quits After a YearPoliticalgateway.com Edinburgh Fringe Director Quits After (Marketwatch.com, UPI, WSJ, and many others) Is 2008 Worst Ever Festival? (Edinburgh News) Edinburgh Festival: Fringe Director's Shock Departure (The Guardian) Note: we are shocked that the Guardian calls this a "shock" departure. We note again the spin that attempts to soften the bald fact that the primary cause of fewer tickets being sold was the ticketing fiasco and how it was managed and communicated. We observe that rain and a sluggish economy have certainly affected the Edinburgh Fringe in previous years, but never to such a painful degree. Similarly, we note that the Summer Olympics occur every four years -- and do not seem to have noticeably diminished attendance at past Fringes. Date and format changes by other festivals in town may have had some impact -- yet this is not the first time the Fringe's positioning in Edinburgh was thus challenged. It is our view that any of the above circumstances might have partially explained a slowing the pace of the festival's growth, but they do not explain substantial decline in ticket sales. Conversely, a broken ticket system accompanied by misinformation and chaos sufficiently explains every negative. We advise that this is a case for the logical application Occam's Razor. We also take note again that the fiasco distorted the sales that were made: shows that would not have had audience, or as large an audience, did well simply becaue people could buy ticket to them confidently. Some filled their venues to capacity. Other shows that in other years would have earned healthy ticket sales, were instead starved of those sales. It was a greater risk, insofar as the audience was concerned, to buy tickets for those shows; thus, many instead bought tickets to the "sure things." Clearly, the diversity of available shows was affected, or perceived as affected. Press and statements from Mr. Morgan did little but cheerlead the strong sales at venues that could sell tickets despite the crisis; there was little or no public accounting of the impact on other shows. Insted, we learned that better known shows, in venues that could sell their own tickets, did well; but there was no news of the impact on most shows: new acts, risky acts, and acts that appealed to more cautious (e.g., mature) audiences only found themselves with extra critical and financial risks and burdensome tasks created by an ever-changing ticketing environment. Considering that performers save for years to self-produce a show at the festival, it seems unconscionable that no statements to mitigate the discouraging effects of the ticketing fiasco -- nor even an acknowledgement of them -- came from Fringe officials, nor were the effects adequately traced by the press. Instead, only a hollow pretense of "business as usual" was communicated when, in fact, circumstances were extraordinary and business could not be accomplished as usual. We take note that insidious new factoids have begun to appear in late news stories. For example, where in the months of previous press (or in statements by Jon Morgan during his tenure) was there any mention that the previous ticketing system was "no longer supported by its vendor?" This bit of news (if factual) was certainly never emphasized before; indeed, it seems the first mention of it in the press only came after Mr. Morgan's departure. But it also could be a red herring. Saying that software is no longer cutting edge and is "no longer supported" does not mean that it is non-functional. What evidence is there that a new system had to be implemented in 2008? Could not the older system have been maintained with third-party support for another year while the newer system was tested? Even if true, unless the software was rendered completely non-functional, lack of support is poor justification for junking the system in favor of a new untried system, particularly when the project timeline was so short. It also does not excuse the absence of a clearly communicable manual contingency plan for printing and distributing tickets or the fact that such an emergency plan should have been in place long before the July deadline was reached.