Keeping Live Audiences Safer With Health Check Surveys
How do you make returning to live events in the age of COVID-19 as safe as possible for staff and patrons?
To answer this question, The Atlanta Opera formed a task force. “We have worked with a team of epidemiologists, doctors and public health experts from the beginning to create this new kind of production,” said Ashley Mirakian, Chief of Marketing and Audience Development.
The Atlanta Opera launches its reimagined 2020-21 season with Pagliacci. (Photo by Raftermen. Courtesy of The Atlanta Opera.)
The task force created a 40-page report of recommended safety measures. One measure required patrons to complete a health screening before entering the venue. "When we returned to performances post-pandemic," Mirakian recalled, "we knew that a health screening was going to be a new-normal part of the experience."
Another measure called for replacing printed tickets with a touchless alternative. Mirakian and her team knew that Appscension could integrate with their Tessitura Network account to deliver, store, and share tickets via The Atlanta Opera mobile app.
The Atlanta Opera’s task force recommended requiring patrons to pass a health check survey before entering the venue.
They approached InstantEncore with three questions:
Could we add a Health Check survey feature to Appscension?
Could we require patrons to complete the survey before accessing their mobile tickets?
Could we do it in 8 weeks?
“Without missing a beat, Evan and the pros at InstantEncore jumped into development,” said Mirakian. “This was a collaborative process that I’m happy to say, has kept our patrons, staff, and singers safer. Plus, the app looks great, and we launched on time with a complete refocus on mobile, paperless ticketing.”
The Atlanta Opera opened its 2020-21 season on October 22nd with Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci performed in a circus tent on a baseball field. Singers and musicians performed in plexiglass enclosures or wore masks. The audience also wore masks while sitting in four-person socially distanced pods.
In order to enter the tented area, patrons had to pass the health check survey and temperature test. Having the survey in The Atlanta Opera app helped with entry traffic. “The patrons who fill out the survey on the app in advance (sometimes prompted by a push notification) show up to the venue,” said Mirakian, “and they are ready to go. They do not need to wait in line for a person-to-person survey, and they seem happy with the ease of it.”
How have patrons responded to being required to complete the health screening to access their mobile tickets? “Really positive reactions. Like everything with this pandemic, it’s a learning process for all of us. But ultimately—the result is seeing live theater again for the first time in months. The appreciative and emotional looks on the patrons faces after the performances is something I will remember for as long as I live.”
Getting Started
Current Appscension clients can add the Health Check survey feature to their mobile apps. Here are some resources to guide you through the process:
If you need assistance, contact Lena.
Would you like to learn more?
Let’s talk! We would love to discuss how Health Check surveys can help make live performances safer for your staff and patrons. Contact David.