Conducting the symphony into the world of new technology and helping them secure a new age group of fans.
CHALLENGE
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was looking for a fast, efficient means to launch a new web site that would contain over 400+ pages of information. The site would include a history of classical music, sample audio tracks, information on attire, parking, and even how to avoid coughing and when to clap. That is just the start. The CSO had an interesting dilemma and they were betting that the internet would help them solve their problem. The younger generation (internet savvy) was not attending performances and the older mature season ticket holders were attending less frequently. The primary goal of the web site was to introduce new patrons to the CSO while trying to decrease the average age of the ticket buyer. The technical solution selected needed to be sophisticated enough to include many complex features; a real-time display of available seating, real-time credit card processing for three separate merchant accounts, and much more.
SOLUTION
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra selected Lynch2 and eRube® as their site management and content management tool to develop and maintain their complex web site. Lynch2 worked with the CSO and developed and sophisticated back-end system. For example, we created an XML and JAVA solution that communicates and displays real-time seat assignments through a 3D based Flash module that shows the customer exactly where they will sit for their selected performance. The site has been a huge success. For the 2000 online season, over 62% of the purchases had never attended the CSO and the median age dropped by 15 years. In 2003, opening day ticket sales topped $65,000 in one day. That was a 390% increase from the 2002 opening day numbers.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Planning, Scheduling, Requirements Documentation, Technical Documentation, Database, Programming, Testing, Hosting
TESTIMONIAL
"eRube is a fantastic tool. It allows our marketing department to quickly promote an event on the home page or update some text on an artist biography. The simple side of eRube allows us to make quick changes to any object on the web site, while the sophistication of eRube allows us to integrate via JAVA and XML to our box office system for real time ticket availability. Our sales and the overall performance of our site are proof positive that eRube has earned its place."
Director of Marketing, CSO
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