Fireflies, First things first: The time for tickets is upon us (hurray)! Please read this whole message to minimize ticketing confusion or disappointment. *Event Dates* Wednesday July 3rd, 2013 @ noon through Sunday July 7th 2013 @ noon *Event Price* Tickets will be $75 + ~$3 for WePay fees. The money pays expenses for the event and to make Firefly Arts Collective to be a year round presence. *General Registration Information* To be eligible to purchase a ticket to Firefly, you will need to fill out a registration form. All tickets will be tied to a specific person, so you must enter your legal name and birthdate (must exactly match a government issued ID). You will be turned away at the gate if your name and birthdate do not match your ticket. If you do not have a government issued ID you must contact tickets at fireflyartscollective.orgdirectly to register. All information will be kept confidential. *Registration Dates* Registration will open March 1st and close March 22nd. The registration form is available at http://fireflyartscollective.org/ticket-waiver/ . If you will not be able to access the Internet during that time, another person can enter your information for you. *Sign up as Individual or Group!* There are two options during signup: individual or group (of 2-10 people). You will have as much of a chance to get tickets in a group as you would individually, but groups will be "all or none". If you're an individual, just enter your own name and leave the other nine person fields blank. If you are part of a group (2-10 people) that wants to go only if everybody gets a ticket, put everyone's name on the same form to sign up as a group. Again, groups are "all or nothing": everyone gets a ticket or no one does. Make sure everybody you might possibly want to go with (even if they are not sure) is signed up in your group. If they truly do not want to go, they can reject their ticket to have somebody use it from the waitlist. If you would like to “gift” a ticket, register for the “giftee” with their legal name and birth date. If your name and/or birth date appears in duplicate as an individual and as part of a group, we will attempt to contact you (via emails and phone numbers on the form). If we fail to reach you, your name will default to individual registration. *Minors* All minors must be registered in the same group as one (or more) of their legal guardian(s). Children 10 and under (born after 7/3/02) will not need tickets, but must still be registered. ID is not required for minors, but all minors must arrive at the gate with the legal guardian that was in their registration group. Any minor who does not arrive at the gate with their legal guardian will be turned away. A minor is defined as someone who is under 18 on July 3rd, 2013. *Random Drawing and Wait list* Once the initial random drawing is complete, everyone who registered will receive an email. For those who were awarded ticketing opportunities in the drawing, you will receive instructions regarding your one week purchase window. All others will be added to a randomly ordered waitlist and informed of your number in line. At this point, anyone who missed the initial registration period will have a chance to be added to the end of the waitlist. If a ticket goes un-purchased or is returned, the next person on the waitlist will be given the opportunity to purchase a ticket. This will keep rolling until the start of the event. The deadline for full refunds is 5/15/2013. After 5/15/2013, $10 will be deducted from the price you paid. This $10 is an incentive to get people to other return tickets they do not want or not to buy tickets they are not interested in order to quickly get people on the waitlist the tickets. The deadline for partial refunds is 6/01/2013. After 6/01/2013, a person who asks for a refund will have their ticket put up for sale to the person at the top of the waitlist. If the person at the top of the waitlist buys the ticket, the original owner will be refunded. If the person at the top of the waitlist does not buy the ticket the person next on the waitlist will be offered it. Once you ask for us to try to sell/refund your ticket is forfeit it (even if we have not sold it). We cannot go back on forth on ownership. It would also be unfair to the people on the waitlist if we skipped forward for a friend of yours, sorry. If you want your friend to get a ticket, add them to your group when you register. IMPORTANT: If you've purchased a ticket, and find you cannot attend, please take the time to get a refund. You'll be enabling another Firefly to go in your place (see below)! *Purchasing Tickets - Random Drawing and Wait List use the Same Rules and Process* You must buy your tickets within one week of receiving the email indicating that you are eligible to purchase a ticket. This applies to both tickets awarded in the initial drawing and anyone who becomes eligible through the wait-list. If you do not buy your ticket in that period you will lose your ticketing opportunity to the people at the top of the waitlist. Weeks prior to Firefly the payment window will be shortened in increments at the discretion of the ticket committee. *Paying for Someone else's Ticket* If you'd like to pay for a ticket for another person, you will be able to do so (even if you didn't register for them). You will only be able to purchase another person's ticket during their window of availability. *Refunds* If you decide you cannot attend you can contact tickets at fireflyartscollective.orgabout a refund and your ticket will be assigned to a person at the top of the waitlist. Because your ticket is associated to your name and your birthdate, you cannot resell your ticket. This is to prevent any scalping of tickets and to keep them at a fair price for all. *What if I Missed the Initial Registration Period?* After the initial registration window, you will be able to fill out the registration form, but your name will be added to the bottom of the waitlist in the order it was received. We will inform you of your number. *Discretionary Ticket Reserve* One of our major concerns is making sure that vital components of the event are managed properly and that mission-critical people, such as art grant recipients are able to attend the event. As a result, we are holding back a certain number of tickets to be sold via discretionary selection. You must still register, even if you think you might qualify for one of these tickets. This is not Miss Firefly, bribes will annoy us and not get you tickets. The number of reserve tickets and how exactly they are awarded has not been determined yet and will largely depend on the demand for tickets. We will do our best to make the process transparent and understandable. *Thank You!* The ticketing committee met with members of the community to hear ideas and concerns and the Board spent many enthusiastic hours discussing pros and cons of different ticketing options. *Recap* Event: Jul 3rd - Jul 7th 2012. Name and birthdate on govt' ID must match information on ticket. Minors must enter with a registered legal guardian. Gate crew will enforce policies. Register: Enter legal name and birthdate via registration http://fireflyartscollective.org/ticket-waiver/between Mar 1 - 22. Groups: Groups and families can register as an all or nothing group of 2-10 people. Chances: Groups and individuals have same chance to be awarded tickets in initial drawing. Kids: Kids under 10 are free, but must attend with their legal guardian. Drawing: Random drawing after Mar 22nd. Waitlist: Anyone not selected in random drawing is put on the randomly ordered waiting list. Purchase: One week window to purchase. Receive email with instructions when eligible. Cost: $75 + ~$3 for WePay fees. Resale/give to friends: Tickets ARE NOT transferable. Resale can be done only through official Firefly process. Gifting: Only possible if the giftee is registered and you pay for their ticket in the appropriate window. Returns: Send email to tickets at fireflyartscollective.orgfor refund info. ~ Firefly ~