After 830 hours of work — most of it on weekends or between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m. — the revised web site for TicketsNow.com was launched September 7. The project began in February of this year and went through numerous delays and expansions to get it to it’s current state, ultimately involving the purchase and configuration of a new web and database server. The new site replaces the original Ticketsnow.com site which was launched in May 1999.
Although there continues to be much debugging and programming yet to do, the site was pronounced stable prior to a much-needed vacation by the developer, Kevin Makice, on September 13. The final six days proved to be particularly stressful. Forty-plus hours were logged for Ticketsnow.com debugging, including three all-night programming sessions. All this while continuing to work at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business during regular business hours.
In addition to providing a better foundation for expansion of features in the future, the new Ticketsnow.com web site has membership accounts to facilitate express orders for repeat customers. The search engine — Virtual Broker — is also smarter and more dynamic thanks to better database management. The next phase of construction will begin later in the fall and include improved ticket broker and member tools, as well as feature event pages to highlight a performer, team or venue.
TicketsNow.com is a creation of The VIP Tour Company. The Woodstock-based ticket brokerage first opened for business in January 1992 servicing primarily Chicagoland ticket events. Now in their third location, TicketsNow.com has become known nationally as the source for preferred seating to any major event.
Ticketsnow.com is a licensed brokerage in Illinois and a member of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. VIP Tour Company is a founding member of the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB), created to promote the highest level of ethics in the marketplace. The company is also a founding member of the Illinois chapter of the Texas Ticket Brokers Association (TTBA) which provides additional consumer protection and maintains the highest level of ethics.