CA2726747A1 - Method and system of determining demand for an event, marketing the event, and selling tickets to the event - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The system and method of the present invention relate to demand aggregation for a social event using electronic networks such as the Internet. In particular, the present invention relates to a novel way of aggregating demand for an event, marketing the event, and selling tickets to the said event.

BACKGROUND
It can be very profitable and relatively risk-free to put together an event that has a proven track record and/or that has a loyal following (e.g., U2 concert, Cirque du Soleil performance, comedy show with Russel Peters, BODIES...The Exhibition). Companies behind such events take on very little risk because they know financial returns through sponsorship and ticket sales will outweigh their initial financial investment.
It is a very different situation with less known events, or new events altogether. In such cases, an individual, company, party, entrepreneur, or other entity behind the event (an "Event Organizer") takes considerable risk by investing a lot of money in marketing, promotion, and organization of an event, without really knowing how much revenue will be generated through ticket sales. If not enough tickets are sold, the entity behind the event has to absorb the financial loss, which can sometimes lead to bankruptcy.
Marketing is a vital component of any profitable event as it inevitably leads to higher ticket sales. It is also often a very expensive component. The World Wide Web has provided convenient mechanisms for marketing and promoting events. It is very common for an event to have a dedicated website. In addition, virtually every city has at least one website that aggregates event information for that city, categorizes it, and displays it to the public. It is also common to market an event through various Online Social Networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in hopes that people will let their friends know about the event. Finally, some events sell tickets online through websites like ticketmaster.com.
The present invention combines some of the functionality of the aforementioned systems and introduces a novel marketing concept to make event production less risky financially. The present

-2-invention allows the entity behind the event to ensure that there are enough potential buyers interested in attending the event, before actually organizing the event.
Another essential aspect of the present invention is that it will inevitably help with marketing the event by utilizing the power of the Internet and Online Social Networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

North Americans spend millions of dollars in movie theatres every year. Movies offer great entertainment to couples, groups of friends, and whole families. When a new movie arrives in movie theatres, it is usually shown 2-3 times nightly in most theatres across the nation over a period of several weeks. As more and more people see the movie, ticket sales begin to decline, and when theatres deem that the demand for the movie is insufficient, they stop playing it on the Big Screen.
After a movie is no longer shown in movie theatres (an "Old Movie"), it often becomes available to the public through 'Video-on-Demand' services offered by Satellite and Cable Television Service Providers. Later yet, this Old Movie may become available for purchase in stores, rent through Netflix, Blockbuster, or equivalent, and Pay-Per-View through a local Television Service Provider. Years later this Old Movie may be played on virtually any of the available TV channels as part of regular programming.
It is important to note that once a movie is no longer shown in movie theatres (the "Big Screen"), all consequent opportunities to see it revolve around the home setting, as one can only watch an Old Movie on their computer or television at home. With the exception of some very rare cases (e.g., company renting a movie theatre to show an Old Movie to their employees, IMAX
remaking an Old Movie and showing it in IMAX theatres), an average person will never get an opportunity to watch on Old Movie on a Big Screen again.
Majority of people have watched at least one movie more than once in their lives. The preferred embodiment of the current invention aggregates the people who are interested in watching an Old Movie on the Big Screen again. The screening of any Old Movie is conditional on having enough people interested in seeing it again in movie theatres or other suitable venues to make the screening profitable (the "Conditional Offer"). The preferred embodiment of the current invention integrates seamlessly with a variety of Online Social Networks and encourages people to use their

-3-Online Social Network Profiles to invite others in their social circle (such as their friends, colleagues, relatives, etc.) to the screening of an Old Movie.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein the following terms have the meaning given below:

"Big Screen" - refers to any venue, traditionally a movie theatre, that accommodates a large group of people and has the required equipment to show a movie on a screen significantly larger than those typically installed in private homes and residences.

"Closed Event" - means any event for which a registered user can no longer purchase a ticket. To "close an event" means to turn an Open Event into a Closed Event.

"Closing Date" - means a date by which the Collective Demand must meet the requirements of the Conditional Offer for the event in question to take place. If there is insufficient Collective Demand, an Open Event becomes a Closed Event.

"Collective Demand" - means the aggregate number of event tickets that people have made the commitment to purchase.

"Conditional Offer" - represents the minimum number of event tickets that people must commit to buy by the Closing Date for an event to take place. The Conditional Offer may be different for different events, based on the individual ticket price and the costs associated with putting on an event in question.

"Event Organizers" - means any individual, company, party, entrepreneur, or other entity that comes up with the idea for an event (or uses an existing idea), markets it (or causes it to be marketed), promotes it (or causes it to be promoted), organizes it (or causes it to be organized), finances the event (or causes it to be financed) and ultimately would have to absorb the financial loss should the event cost more than it generates in revenue.

"Old Movie" - means any movie that is no longer playing in majority of theatres on a typical day.
"Open Event" - means any event that for which a registered user can purchase a ticket.

-4-"Online Social Network" - means any existing social network on the Internet, such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, MySpace, Friendster, Flickr, etc.

"Online Social Network Profiles" - means any profile, created by an individual or a company, on any of the Online Social Networks.

All references to persons herein shall mean to include both genders, and their use shall be considered synonymous with the terms he and she.

The preferred embodiments are a system and a method, in the form of a website, that enable a plurality of people, who may or may not know each other, to collectively express their interest in seeing an Old Movie again on the Big Screen (sometimes referred to as "Event"
hereafter) by committing to purchase one or more tickets to the Event. If a sufficient Collective Demand exists by a predetermined Closing Date, the preferred embodiment of the present invention allows people to purchase tickets to the Event and see an Old Movie on the Big Screen one more time.
In the following description, references are made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 gives an overview of how the preferred embodiment of the present invention is implemented as the website 20 on the Internet 10 . The Internet 10 gives people access to millions of websites and connects people in ways that were never possible before. The current invention takes advantage of such connections. People 51, 61a, 61b, 61c access the Internet 10 through Internet-capable devices 50, 60a, 60b, 60c, such as desktops, workstations, personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, PDA's, and many others. While FIG. 1 shows these devices to be personal computers, they can be replaced by any other Internet-capable device without deviating from the scope of the current invention. And while FIG. 1 shows one Event Organizer 51, two potential users 61b, 61c, one registered user 61a, and one system operator 41, there can be a plurality of individuals in each of the roles. They are not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity.
Behind every website on the Internet 10 is a server. FIG. 1, shows the preferred embodiment of the present invention to be the website 20 that is stored on the server 40 and maintained by the system operator 41. The server 40 can be one or more computers in one or more geographical locations as long as it makes the website 20 available for access over the Internet 10. The system operator 41 can be an individual, company, party, entrepreneur, or any other entity that operates, and

-5-is responsible for the website 20.
The server 40 responds to HTTP requests from people on the Internet 10 attempting to access the website 20. The server 40 comprises of various programs and modules that allow for execution of specific tasks - some are installed on virtually every server, while others need to be installed by the system operator 41 to bring certain functionality to the website 20. There are many programs and modules in the known art that allow the system operator 41 add virtually any functionality to the website 20. Many such programs and modules are available free of charge or at a cost, and those skilled in the art should appreciate the number of options that exists. Those skilled in the art should also be able to build modules that perform specific tasks themselves if they so desired. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the server 40 comprises of a database 45, event management 46, user management 47, an e-commerce 48, and email 49 modules.
The database 45 allows for storage, retrieval, manipulation, and general management of data.
The database 45 stores the data about a plurality of individual Events in the event table 45i and data about a plurality of individual users in the user table 45ii. The event table 45i and the user table 45ii comprise of the required fields to store the necessary information about the Events and users.
Additional tables may be present in the database 45, and even the data in the event table 45i and the user table 45ii can be split and stored in multiple tables. Single tables are used in FIG. 1 and the written description of the present invention for convenience. The event management module 46 allows Event Organizers 51 to add, modify, update, and delete Events from the events table 45i in the database 45. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Events are different Old Movie screenings. The user management module 47 allows potential users 61b, 61c to register on the website 20, and for registered users 61a to update and manage their personal account and billing information stored in the user table 45ii. The user table 45ii stores information comprising of the user's first and last names, address, billing information, gender, date of birth, preferences, interests, and other pertinent data. A registered user 61a is able to purchase movie tickets to the Event through the e-commerce module 48. The email module 49 allows the website 20 to programmatically generate and send email updates and notifications to one or more registered users 61a or anyone else with a valid email address.
In the preferred embodiment, the Old Movie screening information is added to the event table 45i in the database 45 via the event management module 46, which is installed on the server 40 and used through website 20, by the Event Organizer 51. The information that is entered about the

-6-Event comprises of the Event date, Event location, what movie will be shown, the capacity of the movie theatre (or another equivalent venue), the Closing Date, the minimum number of tickets that need to be sold for the Event to take place, also referred to as the "Conditional Offer", and other pertinent information. The Conditional Offer is a crucial aspect of the present invention, as the Event does not get planned unless the Collective Demand is sufficient to meet the requirements of the Conditional Offer (that is, the minimum number of movie tickets are sold).
In the preferred embodiment, the system operator 41 and the Event Organizer 51 are actually the same entity (in FIG. 1 they are shown as separate entities since the system operator 41 and the Event Organizer 51 perform different functions). In alternative embodiments, and as per FIG. 1, the system operator 41 and the Event Organizer 51 are different entities. In yet another embodiment, there may be a plurality of Event Organizers 51 all having an ability to add Events to the event table 45i in the database 45 through the event management module 46, installed on the server 40 and used through the website 20. The plurality of Event Organizers 51 are not indicated in FIG. 1 for simplicity. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the Event Organizers 51 can interact with the event table 45i in the database 45 through the event management module 46 (or equivalent) that is installed on an entirely different server.
FIG. 1 shows that the website 20 is integrated with the popular Online Social Networks 30a, 30b, 30c on the Internet 10. Integration can occur in a number of ways, and is typically done through an API (Application Programming Interface) provided by company responsible for the website of the Online Social Network. For example, Facebook 30b offers a number of integration options. Facebook 30b allows people and companies to create profiles and pages (Online Social Network Profiles) on their website, facebook.com 30b. Arguably the simplest integration option offered through Facebook 30b is a button that essentially links company's Online Social Network Profile on facebook.com 30b and company's website (in the case of preferred embodiment, website 20 and the corresponding Online Social Network Profile on facebook.com 30b).
Another Facebook 30b integration option is one that allows a user 61a, or any other visitor to the website 20, to share content from the website 20 to their personal Online Social Network Profile on Facebook 30b directly from the website 20 or to 'Like' something on the website 20. Yet another integration option, currently entitled as "Facebook Connect", allows the website 20 to use Facebook 30b API to display to user 61a, and to any visitor to the website 20, how many, and which of his friends have interacted with the website 20 in some way. In FIG. 1, there are three Online Social Networks: Digg 30a,

-7-Facebook 30b, and Twitter 30c. It should be noted that these three Online Social Networks are just examples. The invention, and even the preferred embodiment, can be integrated with fewer Online Social Networks or with more Online Social Networks. The names of the actual Online Social Networks are also not important to the spirit of the present invention, and are provided as reference points.
FIG. 1 also illustrates a simple example of how people connect with each other on the Internet 10 using different Online Social Networks. In FIG. 1 users 61a, 61b, and 61c are accessing the Internet 10 through their Internet-capable terminals 60a, 60b, and 60c respectively. User 61a is connected to user 61b through Facebook 30b, user 61b is connected to user 61c through Digg 30a, and user 61c is connected to user 61a through Twitter 30c. While the Online Social Network connections are only shown for three people in FIG. 1, in the real-life people are connected to many more people - people they may know very well and people who they may not have even met in real life - through one or more Online Social Networks. Facebook 30b alone, as of year 2010, has over 500 million active users who are connected with each other in one way or another.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event is a screening of an Old Movie in a movie theatre (or another equivalent venue). The Old Movie is played one time, one day of the week, in one movie theatre (or another equivalent venue) per geographical area (e.g., a neighbourhood at the very least, a city and its metro area at the very most, or something in between, depending on the Collective Demand), with people never knowing when the Old Movie may be played again on the Big Screen, if ever. In alternative embodiments, the Old Movie may be played more or less frequently, in more movie theatres (or other equivalent venues).
The frequency of Old Movie screenings depends on a number of factors, such as the Collective Demand. The Old Movie screening is always a Conditional Offer, meaning that the screening is always conditional on getting a commitment from enough people to purchase a certain predetermined minimum number of tickets (i.e., existence of sufficient Collective Demand) by a certain date (Closing Date) to make the Event sufficiently profitable. The Conditional Offer coupled with the Closing Date is a crucial component of the present invention, and allows for more effective marketing the Event through various Online Social Networks 30a, 30b, 30c.
In the preferred embodiment, the user 61a does not know when an Old Movie may be played again, if ever. Assume that user 61a sees that an Event on the website 20 features a screening of an Old Movie that is one of her favourites, and she really wants to see this Old Movie again on the Big

-8-Screen. She 61a definitely wants to secure her seat in the theatre and commits to buying a movie ticket (i.e., she adds to the Collective Demand). If she 61a sees that the Closing Date to meet the Conditional Offer is approaching and that not enough people have committed to buy movie tickets (i.e, there is insufficient Collective Demand), she is motivated to invite her friends 61b, 61c (and others) to the Event in order to ensure that the Collective Demand is met.
Otherwise she 61a may never get another chance to see her favourite Old Movie on the Big Screen.
FIG. 1 illustrates the very important aspect of integration of the website 20 with various Online Social Networks 30a, 30b, 30c. In FIG. 1, user 61a is the registered user of the website 20, symbolized by a solid line connection 98. When she 61a sees an Event that she wants to attend, she can use any of her Online Social Network Profiles on the Online Social Networks at her disposal (in FIG. 1, Facebook 30b to reach user 61b and Twitter 30c to reach user 61c) to invite potential users 61b and 61c to visit the website 20, symbolized by broken lines 99i and 99ii) and potentially add to the Collective Demand for the Event. User 61a can also use other means, such as email, text messages, phone calls, or an in-person conversations to invite her other friends, colleagues, family members, and anyone else in her social circle to visit the website 20 and to attend any Event.
Another important aspect of the present invention is to allow the registered user 61a to bid on desirable seats at the event venue, in an auction-like manner. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user 61a can bid on the central seats in the movie theatre, guaranteeing a good seat during the screening of an Old Movie. The number of seats available for bidding depends on the venue and the type of the event. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the user 61a can bid only on the central seats in the movie theatre that are highly desirable. If the event was a concert at an arena, the user 61a would be able to bid on whatever the desirable seats are in that venue and setting.
FIG. 2 illustrates a user 61a-c interaction with the website 20 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, comprising of the main steps. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the main steps can be arranged differently, some steps can be eliminated or replaced by other steps, while yet new steps can be added. There are many ways to embody the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows only one of the ways. When a user 61a-c enters the website at block 200, she is asked to choose her geographical location (e.g., her city), which is then used to access the event table 45i in the database 45, load all Open Events for her location, and display all Open Events to her at block 210. User's 61a-c location may be remembered (e.g., through a browser cookie) to automatically

-9-load all Open Events to the user 61a-c upon arrival at the website 20. From block 210 the user 61a-c can choose to view details for a particular Open Event at block 220 or to 'join' the website 20 at block 250.
Viewing details for a particular Open Event at block 220 would show the user 61a-c all of the details about the selected Old Movie screening, such as the theatre location, date and time that it is playing, the cost of the ticket, the current Collective Demand, Closing Date, and other pertinent information. Since the particular Old Movie is playing only once (from the standpoint of the user 61a-c) in the preferred embodiment of the invention, having a Closing Date by which the Collective Demand must be sufficient to meet the requirement established by the Conditional Offer, serves as motivation for the user 61a-c to invite her friends to the movie if she really wants to see it. From the Event Details block 220, the user 61a-c can choose to return to the list of Open Events at block 210, to join the website 20 at block 250 (if the user is not yet registered), or to buy tickets to the Event at block 230.
At block 230 the user 61a-c can choose to continue with the Event ticket buying process at block 240 or to return to the block 210 listing all Open Events in case she changes her mind.
At block 240 the server 40 checks if the user is registered on the website 20 through a user management module 47 accessing the user table 45ii in the database 45. If she is not, she is prompted to'join' the website 20 at block 250. Deciding not to join the website 20, would return the user 61a-c to the list of Open Events for her location at block 210. If the user 61a-c decides to'join' the website 20, she enters required information to create an account at block 260 and is then taken to block 210 displaying all Open Events for her location. It should be noted that for better user experience, the server 40 can check which page on the website 20 the user 61a-c arrived to blorck 250 and return her to that same page. In order to simplify FIG. 2 the non-vital connection lines between blocks are omitted, but this does not take away from the spirit of the present invention.
If at block 240 the user 61a-c is found in the user table 45ii in the database 45, the decision to buy a ticket is handled at block 270 with the Collective Demand incremented by number of tickets bought. At block 270 the user 61a-c is added to the pending transaction list (since users who purchase movie tickets are only charged if the Collective Demand meets the requirements set by the Conditional Offer on the Closing date), and the confirmation email is sent to the user 61a-c by the email module 49.
While FIG. 2 shows block 270 as the termination point, it should be noted that the user 61a-c

-10-can choose to terminate the process at any block shown, or in between the blocks, by performing a number of different actions, such as closing the web page, closing the browser, shutting down the user's 61a-c Internet-capable device 60a-c, etc.
FIG. 3 illustrates the server-side decision making process that is conducted daily on the server 40 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The server-side decision making process in FIG. 3 can be started manually, or it can be initiated automatically by what is known as a 'cron job' or its equivalent. FIG. 3 shows the main steps used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the main steps can be arranged differently, some steps can be eliminated or replaced by other steps, while yet new steps can be added. There are many ways to embody the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows only one of the ways.
The server-side decision making process starts at block 300 where the server 40 accesses the event table 45i in the database 45 through the event management module 46, and searches for all Open Events that have a Closing Date corresponding to the date on which the process in FIG. 3 is executed.
Once all Open Events with "today's" Closing Date are found at block 300, each event goes through the subsequent steps of the process in FIG. 3. Block 310 looks at whether or not the number of movie tickets that people have committed to buy is at least the minimum number of tickets required for the Event to be put on (i.e., block 310 checks whether the Collective Demand is sufficient to meet the requirement of the Conditional Offer). If not, the users 61a-c who expressed their interest in attending the Event are notified of its cancellation at block 320 via email sent by the email module 49 and the Event status is changed to 'Closed'. At this point no further action is required for the given Event, and the process terminates for the given event at block 330. If that was the last Event generated at block 300, the entire process terminates; if not, the process continues for the next Event.
This is the aspect of the present invention that minimizes the risk that Event Organizers take on when they decide to put on an event without having a large loyal following or an existing track record. The present invention allows Event Organizers to see whether sufficient Collective Demand exists for their event before they move forth with organizing it, booking a venue, and incurring other expenses. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event is a screening of an Old Movie, and the Event Organizer only spends money on the venue and the movie screening rights if

- 11 -there is sufficient Collective Demand for the Event.
If at block 310 it is determined that the Collective Demand meets the requirements of the Conditional Offer, the users 61a-c are notified via email by the email module 49 at block 340. At this step, their credit cards are charged for the tickets they wanted to purchase by the e-commerce module 48, and their movie tickets are emailed to them by the email module 49.
After all users who contributed to the Collective Demand are notified that the Event is taking place, block 350 checks if all available tickets were sold. If so, the event is 'Closed' at block 360 so that no one can buy any more movie tickets. If, however, not all movie are sold, the Event remains 'Open' until the Event date or until all Event tickets are sold at block 370.
At this stage, movie tickets are sold to users as they request them, users' credit cards are charged by the e-commerce module 48 as users choose to buy tickets, and the movie tickets are emailed to them right away by the email module 49. In either case, the event needs to be organized at block 380, so the planning can begin.
It should be noted that FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show a simplified version of the processes for the purposes of legibility. The actual process flow is considerably more complex and contains more steps, checks, interactions with the users, etc. to make the user experience much more pleasant and effective. It should be noted that those extra steps, checks, and interactions with the users, etc. Do not contribute to the novelty of the present invention. The steps that are shown are there so that those experienced in the art can get an understanding and the appreciation for the present invention.
The steps can be re-arranged, modified, altered and changed to make the process flow look different on paper, yet keep it unaltered in concept. The preferred embodiment of the invention is to group the people interested in seeing an Old Movie on the Big Screen again and to enable them to re-live the past experience. Other embodiments of this invention can include other events for which the popularity and demand is uncertain and difficult to predict.
In the current embodiment, the entire website 20 is organized around a single theme -screening of Old Movies, with the same entity being the Event Organizer 51 and the system operator 41. In other embodiments, Event Organizer 51 and system operator 41 can be different entities. In yet other embodiments, there can be a plurality of Event Organizers 51. In another embodiments, there can be a plurality of system operators 41. In other embodiments of the present invention, other websites can be created to accommodate other event themes, such as a concert(s) for relatively unknown band(s). In yet other embodiments there can be a single website with plurality of different event themes. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the website 20 can be the 'hub' that brings

-12-together Event Organizers 51 and users 61a-c who are interested in an event and collect a commission based on ticket sales.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the users who are interested in attending an event do not actually pay for the event tickets unless the Collective Demand meets the requirements of the Conditional Offer on the Closing Date. In an alternative embodiment, the users can be charged for the tickets as they express their interest in attending an event, and then refunded the money should the Collective Demand be insufficient on the Closing Date.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Conditional Offer is set so that the event is profitable through ticket sales. In alternative embodiments, the Conditional Offer can be set a level where there would be a financial loss through ticket sales that can be offset by other revenue streams such as advertising and sponsorship. In yet another alternative embodiment, the Conditional Offer can be set at a level where there would be a net financial loss to the Event Organizer.
Preferred embodiments were shown in the context of network system, where all of the communications were performed through the Internet. However, in alternative embodiments, many of the functions can be performed by other means of communication such as telephone, fax, e-mail, etc. For example, the website owner may directly call the user to notify change in order status, confirming information, etc.
Preferred embodiments were described with respect to the server 40 performing the comparisons of the Collective Demand and the requirements of the Conditional Offer, Closing Date, etc. However, in alternative embodiments, some of the functions of the database interface may be implemented in a separate script program or eliminated altogether.
Alternatively, the functions shown may be combined or split in any manner amongst one or more systems.
In addition, preferred embodiments described the user and event information as implemented as database records in a database table. However, the user and event information may be implemented in any format for maintaining object information, including spreadsheet, non-database table, etc. Thus, as used herein, the terms database table and database refer to any data structure known in the art for maintaining information on data objects, such as relational databases, non-relational databases, spreadsheets, ASCII text files, etc.

Claims