Hoping someone at the Planet can chime in and clarify what the process will be for transferring tickets between festivarians.
Will the tickets/wristbands need to be transferred via See Tickets? Will the Planet have any involvement? Is there really a fee to transfer tickets via See Tickets?
Super fast response from Geoff via email. Many thanks for the information! Below is his response:
“If you are transferring to friends/family, there will be a way to do that through See Tickets. You can transfer tickets but also have the capability to take them back. That is why it is only for friends/family. I have not seen that system in action yet since we only sold our first tickets today.
If you want to transfer to a random without the ability to revoke, we are planning on putting a system in place where once you find a buyer, we will send them a one-time use code to purchase the ticket(s) through See Tickets. Once the purchase has been made, the seller will then be refunded. One advantage of this system is that it should discourage scalping since the buyer is paying regular price from See Tickets. Again, I have not seen this in action yet.
Where did you hear there would be a fee? As far as I know, there will not be one.”
Rad! So glad PB is staying classy. This should actually be a lot easier and more secure to transfer than the old system and should cut down a lot on scalping.
I’m definitely not going to have my identity explicitly tethered to an RFID wristband for an event on public property & will be not be attending, but here’s my general tip for those who are seeking to purchase tickets online tomorrow: if you get “shut out”, keep trying well after any messages indicate it’s sold out. Perhaps this strategy might not work with this particular ticketing system, but in most I’ve encountered there will be an initial window of opportunity around 10-20 minutes after the on-sale time; whereby even if the event appears to sell out, there will be “mishaps” by those who’ve initially been allocated tickets by the system but for various reasons fail to complete their purchase; resulting in tickets being kicked back into the general pool. While odds diminish for kick-backs after this initial window, it still happens well past the initial “sold out” notification. The past two years, I’ve gotten very lucky on this front with tickets to Phish @ Dicks about an hour after it was “sold out”. I think it helped that I was going after a single ticket (vs. 2 or 4), but the overriding point is to be vigilant & keep trying well after you think hope has expired.
The process of getting tickets seems to work well for Rockygrass. I was in queue and after 7 minutes was given the opportunity to buy tickets with 438 left. But with Jeri ending up ahead of me she scored the tickets first and by texting I was able to pass when it was my turn.
As for the RFID wrist bands I suppose that some nefarious group could use to track your movements but unless you only use cash, get your phones from Better Call Saul, and wearing disguises to hide from the cameras that are everywhere. They probably have you under surveillance already. So that the additional information would be minor but it could be used in a legal case that could establish you were somewhere. So definitely not something that would end my trips to festivals.
Overall I think Rockygrass on site went very well. A couple of members from our “family” were a bit confused as to what icon to click on for on site camping tickets. I believe there was one called Rockygrass Extras, so perhaps a way to direct people to icon for vehicle passes etc. vs. icon for TP camping, WF camping etc. may be helpful. Best of Luck festivarians on the 11th!
One can block an RFID from being read and transmitting with something as simple as a piece of aluminum foil. In the case of the festival, if concerned about tracking of your movements; once your RFID is initially scanned for entrance into the Festival grounds, wrap a strip of aluminum foil around the chip in the wristband and, voila!, no tracking of your movements!
… news you can use
Bottom Line, FOM … you’re presence at TBF is an established staple, and it is hoped that you will reconsider your stated position.
Thank you for the encouragement to attend :cheers … and perhaps I still might, but my “objection” is not with PB per se, but the Town of Telluride for not getting in front of this issue as it relates to privacy and the use of public facilities.
While it might be a passive RFID system at the moment, I believe the range of an active system is up to 1/4 mile (likely spanning the distance up to the courthouse in town). Regardless of technology being used now, is there any doubt that range and capabilities will only increase over time? IMO, it deserved to be questioned and regulated prior to the technology having arrived at such a point.
I’m glad to learn PB is cognizant of privacy issues pertaining to the serial number of the RFID wristband housing contact information, but I would like to see things taken a step further to completely severe any database link of serial number and identity. Put another way: I’d like to see ANY connection between identities and serial numbers be entirely an “opt in” proposition that can only be proactively initiated by the patron. As I mentioned earlier, upon completing an aftermarket sale of my wristband for Blues & Blues this past summer, the buyer had it scanned at the ticket counter and my name was clearly associated with the wristband. Not sure if this would not happen at Bluegrass? On a related note, I’d be curious if one could purchase a ticket with cash and not provide one’s contact information?
I agree … under no circumstances should PII (Personally identifiable information (for those who don’t know)) be associated with an RFID tag for such an event. That was a foul on the part of the company issuing the bracelets, IMO.
As for the town getting in front of the issue … I don’t know enough about the politics in T-ride (don’t know anything about it, to be honest), but, you brought up some valid points. While a different technology … I was surprised to learn last summer that the pagers handed out at the restaurant next to Elks Park (Steamburger?) … have a 2 mile range.
I think people are becoming habituated to how technology is becoming more embedded within every day life. We can clearly see where things can go (Caimbridge Analytica) and where things iare going, so even though many have good intentions, why not draw lines in the sand BEFORE the dependence becomes even more ubiquitous?
My take is that the town is just “flat footed” in so far as recognizing the slippery slope and implications. I spoke at a town council meeting during public comments and have also corresponded with the ACLU, but not sure that anything will come of it on either end. Town Council seems more attuned to noise complaints (mostly from other festivals) than anything.
Yeah, I can see how having a long range for those pagers would be beneficial … although I’m not a fan of them either, but for a different reason: it’s essentially petri dish for germs.