Advance ticket booking for Files/Forum members

[holeyjoel]

Thats the best news I've heard all year!!!

Thank you so much Jarkko and Leonard.

[Parasite of heaven]

The best day in my life is yet to come. Thank's Mr Cohen.

[Milena]

[quote="damellon"]Jarkko - Has anyone done the stats on how many new members have joined the Forum since this tour was announced?

Why is it important anyway??? If some of you think that you should get tickets just because you have posted for 3000 times or something like that, well - go on, and fight for those tickets, but I think it's very, very sad. I'm sure there are many of us who loves Leonard Cohen who haven't registered to this forum because we just cary that love and respect inside, as something private and we don't feel we have to share it with the rest of the world (and I'm not saying that it's the way it should be or that the oposite behaviour is wrong). And maybe there are some others who felt they wanted to share it when they found out about the tour. Do you think it's the wrong thing to do? And why is it wrong? Do you think that someone quiet, or shy, or introvert does not deserve to go to the concert?

I see some of you are trying to measure our love and loyalty (or something else maybe?) in order to be in the first line for the tickets. Well, people, please don't be greedy, it's so ugly to think about Mr Cohen's concerts in those terms.

Ok, I registered only to say this. You don't have to provide me with tickets I'm sure I'll find my way to get them.

Regards,

Milena

[Paula]

Get a grip Milena

Will we ever see the one post posters the ones who have put the stirring exclaimation "Wow" or "Yippee" ever again after the concert tours.

Jarkko is a fair man we all want tickets in different countries. If we don't get them through Jarkko we can get them from the venue. Lets not turn this good deed into something they wished they had never suggested.

[Paul Bacon]

Thankyou Leonard for your consideration and Jarkko for your efforts.

[richardrj]

Jarkko is a fair man we all want tickets in different countries. If we don't get them through Jarkko we can get them from the venue. Lets not turn this good deed into something they wished they had never suggested.

It may look like a good deed but it is not really. As someone else pointed out above, all it needs is for a bunch of touts to register with this board and hey presto - the tickets are in the wrong hands. It has not been thought through.

The reason why the touting problem has escalated so alarmingly is not because it's too easy to resell them on eBay, but because it's too easy to buy them in the first place. There is only one fair way to ensure that the maximum number of tickets end up in the pockets of true fans and that is to stop selling tickets on the phone and online. Instead, make them only available to personal callers who turn up at the box office.

This used to be the standard way of selling tickets in the pre-internet days. I remember doing it for Springsteen in London in 1999 or 2000. I got there at 6am, there was an almighty queue already, I had to wait in line for seven hours but at least I got my tickets. Some people had camped out overnight. There was a four-ticket limit per person and burly security guards in attendance who stopped the scallies (who were working for the touts) from jumping the queue. If you make the effort to go to the box office early, you will get your tickets. This also means that most people who attend a gig will be local to that city, which IMHO is no bad thing.

Finally, I agree with Milena. The number of posts you have made on this board is no indication whatsoever of how big a Cohen fan you are, or of how much you deserve to get tickets. It just means you have a lot of time on your hands and you like chatting online.

[damellon]

Hi Milena

Welcome to the Forum. The stats are not important but as I love figures I find them interesting.

It’s wonderful to see new members/old fans coming to the Forum. The more the merrier. I hope you’ll stay and contribute, if and when you feel like it.

As to priority ticket allocation - if they were scarce, I’d be happy to take my place in an orderly queue behind those who have been here longer than I have, though I doubt this is practicable. I’m sure there’ll be plenty to go around. If not, I’m not interested in elbowing anyone out of the way to get one.

[richardrj]

As to priority ticket allocation - if they were scarce, I’d be happy to take my place in an orderly queue behind those who have been here longer than I have

This implies that you feel you have more of a right to priority booking than those who have not been here as long as you. Why should the amount of time spent on this board be used as a method of allocating tickets?

[jarkko]

Why should the amount of time spent on this board be used as a method of allocating tickets?

- I have never said that the number of messages will have any significance - it will not!! There are many oldtimers or hard-core fans who never before have registered to any forums. They should get equal opportunity to buy the tickets!
- asking people to buy tickets personally at the local box office is not realistic nowadays. And how would let's say our friend Andrew in Australia get his ticket?
- the ticket will not be transferable, only the person who has bought it is allowed to use it.
- the number of tickets we will have for our pre-booking will vary from venue to venue (and only selected venues will be available). It is obvious that especially for the small Canadian venues many will be disappointed, and there is no way to prevent that.
- Leonard and his team have been very generous in giving us this chance. We should appreciate this gesture!

[Paula]

Richard you make a lot of assumptions. To a large extent I agree with what you are saying about ebay which if you think it through is only what Damellon is saying in a different way.

The only way you can be absolutely sure that the tickets are going to true fans is if they have participated in a forum such as this. The suggestion being that if you take the time to contribute you have a real interest.

That is not to say the new members are not true fans.

Jarkko has always been scrupulously fair in any competition or ticket allocation. When tickets came up last year to see Anjani and Leonard quite a few went to new members. The names went in the hat and the winners were the first ones out there was no arguments about how long they had been here it was the luck of the draw.

To suggest that the only reason we contribute to this forum is because we don’t have a life because we have time on our hands and like chatting on line is ridiculous.

[damellon]

As to priority ticket allocation - if they were scarce, I’d be happy to take my place in an orderly queue behind those who have been here longer than I have

This implies that you feel you have more of a right to priority booking than those who have not been here as long as you. Why should the amount of time spent on this board be used as a method of allocating tickets?

Hi Richard
If ticket demand exceeded supply, it seems to me that this is would be as good a way as any to allocate.
If you have seen Jarkko's last post, this is a moot point now.

[richardrj]

I have never said that the number of messages will have any significance - it will not!!

I know that, I was just commenting on damellon's post which seemed to suggest that such a system *should* be used. I'm glad you will not be taking the number of messages into account. Just as long as you realise that this leaves the door wide open for the touts.

asking people to buy tickets personally at the local box office is not realistic nowadays. And how would let's say our friend Andrew in Australia get his ticket?

Why is it not realistic? And yes, maybe Andrew wouldn't get a ticket - but those who care enough about seeing Leonard to queue up for hours would.

the ticket will not be transferable, only the person who has bought it is allowed to use it.

This is a promise that has been made many times. Only Michael Eavis has come anywhere near implementing it. We shall see.

[richardrj]

The only way you can be absolutely sure that the tickets are going to true fans is if they have participated in a forum such as this. The suggestion being that if you take the time to contribute you have a real interest.

If ticket demand exceeded supply, it seems to me that this is would be as good a way as any to allocate.

Sorry but I disagree with both of these (and yes, I know that it's a moot point, but I'm feeling combative today).

You are making a series of jumps that say "been posting here a long time" means "bigger fan of Leonard than you are" means "more entitled to tickets than you are". Well, I note that I joined this forum two months before damellon but have made far fewer posts. So, where does that place me in relation to you in the pecking order? Should we devise some sort of formula that plots number of months on the forum against number of posts made? Or should we just be sensible and accept that people may have other ways of expressing their interest in an artist than banging away at a keyboard?

[Paula]

Richard I am not making a series of jumps or saying I am a bigger fan or anything like that.

What I am saying is new members might not be what they seem. Older members have a track record.

There is no pecking order but you seem to take peoples comments and twist them to fit in with your assumption that there is.

[damellon]

Richard
If you're looking for a fight you'll need to look elsewhere.
Tell me what you think would be a fair way to allocate tickets.