Finding the tickets you want, at a price you can afford can be a difficult experience for anyone. With a plethora of sites to choose from, all offering different prices, different seats and different service fees, finding the right site to buy from can be tough.
Brian Stewart was one of those frustrated consumers, sparking him to come up with the idea for his site BookMe.com. In January 2008, he went on a mission to find cheap tickets for a future Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat game. Stewart told TicketNews that after an hour and a half of searching, with most of his time wasted re-entering the same info, he knew there had to be a better way.
After a search to find a site that would make searching for tickets easier, he realized there was a need. So he began development on of BookMe.com, a site that would congregate multiple sites to find tickets, both primary and secondary. In addition to event tickets for sports, concerts and theatre, the site also allows the user to search travel options including plane tickets, hotels and cruises.
While there are other similar sites that compile search results, including TicketStumbler.com, BookMe.com is separating itself from the competition through its connection with the charity Harry’s Pals. Created by Stewart, the charity is in memory of his pet cat Harry, who had died from cancer. After spending time at veterinarians’ offices and animal shelters and realizing how overwhelmed these shelters were, he knew something needed to be done. Now, through the connection with Harry’s Pals, every time you begin your search on the site, between $.01 and $.05 will be donated to help animals.
Though BookMe.com is still in its infancy as a site, launching the travel portion of the site in August followed by the launch of the event tickets in November, Stewart is looking towards the future. He is looking to add new features that will include a seating chart that will allow you to view sightlines at a particular venue and a “Spin-the-Globe” feature that will be added to the travel section. The feature will allow the user to spin an animated globe and stop it in order to find your next vacation destination.
