Ticket Trunk gives small venues an edge

For every large stadium or arena, there are more than a few smaller venues that also book important acts, and TicketTrunk.com is a new website catering to those smaller facilities that don’t have a chance of listing their tickets with industry giants like Ticketmaster. It was started in November 2007 by two partners who met in business school at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Kevin McDermott and Adil Dhalla.

What the company concentrates on is a commitment to simplicity. In a recent interview, President of Technology Kevin McDermott, reiterated the company’s goal of trying “to democratize ticket selling on the internet.” This philosophy is evident in viewing the webpage; there are no third party advertisements. It is also manifested in the transparency of the ticket purchasing process.

Vendors are able to list their tickets at no charge. TicketTrunk’s revenues are generated by a small fee tacked onto each ticket at rates lower than those charged by others, including Ticketmaster.

The simplicity of the system has drawn a diverse collection of groups to sell their tickets on the website. Small bands are not the only groups using the service. Tickets for a Canadians for Obama event, membership dues for the Vancouver Maple Leaf Fan Club, and tickets to an Eliminate the Plastic Bag Rally are all listed as featured events.

Barely four months into the venture, some current vendors are still personal Canadian contacts, but the company has also sold tickets events across the border. In the near future, the site will directly link ticket sales with the vendor’s PayPal account. This will eliminate the hassle for the vendors of waiting up to 30 days for the website to process an event before forwarding the proceeds.

With further extensions, including a Facebook application, Tickettrunk.com hopes to continue its expansion into the small venue market.