Open Forum

I am researching new operational software for my museum and it's entirely overwhelming. I've heard the sales pitches, but would like to get some personal recommendations. What software do you use? We've looked at Gatemaster, Tessitura, Omniticket, RTP1, Altru, and Galaxy. Are you happy with your software? What all do you use it for? Is there a system that can do it all (ticketing, retail, CRM, facility rentals)?

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Lindsay Garrod
Visitor Engagement and Programs Manager
Anchorage Museum
Anchorage AK
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------Original Message------

I am researching new operational software for my museum and it's entirely overwhelming. I've heard the sales pitches, but would like to get some personal recommendations. What software do you use? We've looked at Gatemaster, Tessitura, Omniticket, RTP1, Altru, and Galaxy. Are you happy with your software? What all do you use it for? Is there a system that can do it all (ticketing, retail, CRM, facility rentals)?

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Lindsay Garrod
Visitor Engagement and Programs Manager
Anchorage Museum
Anchorage AK
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Lindsay--

We use Siriusware at our organization and we have been really quite happy with it. When we were doing our search, what we discovered is that none of the solutions really did everything that we needed. Some of them would claim that they did, but as we dug deeper, we would find out that they used a third-party product to deliver certain pieces of functionality.

If you're interested in specifics on how we proceeded, feel free to reach out to me directly.

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Shawn Mummert
Informatics Champion
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
Cincinnati OH
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Stay away from TMVista. Had my organization had the funds, we probably would have supported KMIT Solutions only because I liked were honest about their limitations (at the time, talking 3 years ago), but didn't overwhelm with the big pitch. Plus they had an easy to use interface for the Front Line users.

http://www.kmitsolutions.com/

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Rochelle Coslow-Robinson
Exhibit Programs Director
AACA Museum - Antique Auto Club of America
Hershey PA
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We currently use TM Vista for ticket sales, and have begun the search for a replacement since it is going away this summer.  We also have 2 gift shops, which use TAM Retail, and we use DonorPerfect for membership. Ideally, we would like to find something that would do all 3, but haven't been encouraged.  Our current short list is comprised of: Centaman, Explorer, Sirusware and TAM, and we plan to look at retail POS, ticketing and CRM.

Any experiences anyone has with any of these products (or others of a similar vein) and are willing to share are appreciated.  I am also very interested in any technical and/or network security issues.  Feel free to post here, or email me offline (particularly the geeky stuff :).

Many Thanks in advance,

Bill
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Bill Paine
IT Director
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
1659 Museum Road
Gainesville FL 32611
wgp@flmnh.ufl.edu
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu
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@William Paine (Bill),

We have had issues with a system that does all three as well.  Our ticketing system is Galaxy.  Good, but large product.  They do offer integrated POS and I think they have gotten into some Membership stuff.  But we have Galaxy for ticket sales (POS and call in orders), Raiser's Edge for Membership.

We actually built our own webstore by extending an existing product called (NopCommerce) to handle ticket sales.  Some of the functionality is custom code. But doing it mostly custom, we are able to sell Memberships AND sell tickets all in the same transaction.

We ended up tying Galaxy and Raiser's Edge together by tapping into their eGalaxy api and into Raiser's Edge apis.  
Granted it is no small feat, but in the end SOOOO much better for our customers and for us to get the results we need.

If you are interested in the geeky stuff. Oh we have done pretty much it all.  What in particular would you want to know?


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Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2015 09:27 AM
From: William Paine
Subject: Ticketing Systems

We currently use TM Vista for ticket sales, and have begun the search for a replacement since it is going away this summer.  We also have 2 gift shops, which use TAM Retail, and we use DonorPerfect for membership. Ideally, we would like to find something that would do all 3, but haven't been encouraged.  Our current short list is comprised of: Centaman, Explorer, Sirusware and TAM, and we plan to look at retail POS, ticketing and CRM.

Any experiences anyone has with any of these products (or others of a similar vein) and are willing to share are appreciated.  I am also very interested in any technical and/or network security issues.  Feel free to post here, or email me offline (particularly the geeky stuff :).

Many Thanks in advance,

Bill
-------------------------------------------
Bill Paine
IT Director
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
1659 Museum Road
Gainesville FL 32611
wgp@flmnh.ufl.edu
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu
-------------------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2015 10:45 AM
From: Carlos Mosqueda
Subject: Ticketing Systems

@William Paine (Bill),

We have had issues with a system that does all three as well.  Our ticketing system is Galaxy.  Good, but large product.  They do offer integrated POS and I think they have gotten into some Membership stuff.  But we have Galaxy for ticket sales (POS and call in orders), Raiser's Edge for Membership.

We actually built our own webstore by extending an existing product called (NopCommerce) to handle ticket sales.  Some of the functionality is custom code. But doing it mostly custom, we are able to sell Memberships AND sell tickets all in the same transaction.

We ended up tying Galaxy and Raiser's Edge together by tapping into their eGalaxy api and into Raiser's Edge apis.  
Granted it is no small feat, but in the end SOOOO much better for our customers and for us to get the results we need.

If you are interested in the geeky stuff. Oh we have done pretty much it all.  What in particular would you want to know?

Also, if you want, you can take a look at our webstore at http://secure1.dmns.org to get a glimpse of Membership and Tickets being sold in the same transaction.

-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------

I was going to put,   If you want to take a look at our implementation of our webstore with the Memberships and the Tickets in one transaction you all can see it at http://secure1.dmns.org.

-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2015 10:45 AM
From: Carlos Mosqueda
Subject: Ticketing Systems

@William Paine (Bill),

We have had issues with a system that does all three as well.  Our ticketing system is Galaxy.  Good, but large product.  They do offer integrated POS and I think they have gotten into some Membership stuff.  But we have Galaxy for ticket sales (POS and call in orders), Raiser's Edge for Membership.

We actually built our own webstore by extending an existing product called (NopCommerce) to handle ticket sales.  Some of the functionality is custom code. But doing it mostly custom, we are able to sell Memberships AND sell tickets all in the same transaction.

We ended up tying Galaxy and Raiser's Edge together by tapping into their eGalaxy api and into Raiser's Edge apis.  
Granted it is no small feat, but in the end SOOOO much better for our customers and for us to get the results we need.

If you are interested in the geeky stuff. Oh we have done pretty much it all.  What in particular would you want to know?


-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------

The URL to our store got a period tacked onto it on the URL. The URL should be http://secure1.dmns.org   

That should get you to the correct place.

-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2015 10:49 AM
From: Carlos Mosqueda
Subject: Ticketing Systems

I was going to put,   If you want to take a look at our implementation of our webstore with the Memberships and the Tickets in one transaction you all can see it at http://secure1.dmns.org.

-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 02-12-2015 10:45 AM
From: Carlos Mosqueda
Subject: Ticketing Systems

@William Paine (Bill),

We have had issues with a system that does all three as well.  Our ticketing system is Galaxy.  Good, but large product.  They do offer integrated POS and I think they have gotten into some Membership stuff.  But we have Galaxy for ticket sales (POS and call in orders), Raiser's Edge for Membership.

We actually built our own webstore by extending an existing product called (NopCommerce) to handle ticket sales.  Some of the functionality is custom code. But doing it mostly custom, we are able to sell Memberships AND sell tickets all in the same transaction.

We ended up tying Galaxy and Raiser's Edge together by tapping into their eGalaxy api and into Raiser's Edge apis.  
Granted it is no small feat, but in the end SOOOO much better for our customers and for us to get the results we need.

If you are interested in the geeky stuff. Oh we have done pretty much it all.  What in particular would you want to know?


-------------------------------------------
Carlos Mosqueda
UI/UX Designer and Developer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
-------------------------------------------

We, too, are researching software for our institution.  We currently use Archtics from Ticketmaster, and it works for us in some ways (POS) but not in others (donor tracking and some other back end issues). 

We are both a working theatre and a museum/historic site, so we need a program that does reserved seat ticketing, but also one that serves the needs of those of us trying to keep track of visitor participation and giving.

Has anyone out there had experience with Tessitura in a museum setting? Anything else you would recommend?

Many thanks.

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Sarah Jencks
Director of Education
Ford's Theatre Society
Washington DC
-------------------------------------------

Hello,

We use Altru. We used TMVista at the front desk until 2012, when we switched to Altru. Altru is great if you need something that can cover back office Development needs as well as front office Visitor Services and Museum Shop needs. Altru handles 99% of the Revenue you take in since it handles front and back office transactions. What is great about that, is that you get a 360 degree view of your constituent. For example, John Smith visits the museum and buys a ticket for the Matisse exhibit. He also stops by the shop and buys a Matisse book. So when you have a Matisse lecture for members, you can contact him and let him know about the great benefits members receive, including admittance to members-only lectures like the Matisse lecture. Now you have a new member.

Altru does take some time getting used to, but the Support area has a ton of videos and user guides to help you get acquainted with it. There is also an online Community where all Altru users can talk to each other and support staff for help/advice/etc.

No system is perfect, but Altru does a pretty good job once you get used to it.

Thanks!
Kristina


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Kristina Gerard MBA
Database Manager/System Analyst
Louisville KY
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We are looking at exactly the same thing, Lindsay! Changing over from an older system. It is overwhelming with all of the new modular systems and the costs! We have been looking at Explorer Systems Museum Software (anyone with experience there?) and others, including the Blackbaud platforms (too expensive and just, too ...). Another good questions is does anyone know of any grants to help pay for these systems?

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Max Barton
Executive Director
Canton Museum of Art
Canton OH
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