Behind the Gates at the TIC

People are always asking questions about what it’s like to work at the TIC.  The short answer?  Awesome.  Let me lay it out for you:

How long have you been at the TIC?

A very exciting two years.  In that time we’ve started working with Le Poisson Rouge (yay!), and offering more discounts to sporting events and art festivals while increasing ticket to high profile art events (like Broadway shows and Met Operas).  We also have more non-artists working here, which keeps perspectives fresh and conversations fun.

What’s back behind those mysterious doors?

A room the size of your bathroom.  I’m always surprised by how well organized it is.  We fit everything – EVERYTHING! – back there, and oh yes!  This is the best – the manager (the most hilarious, supportive boss in the world) has a picture frame in which he switches out headshots of the four Golden Girls.  Each one is “signed”, bearing a pithy, colorful, slightly inappropriate but hilarious message. It makes me fall out of my chair every time.  I’ll take the secret of what those photos say to my grave.

It looks like you guys just fool around on the computer and listen to music.

Sometimes.  We talk a lot, and this is the coolest part of the job – hanging out with a diverse community of people who are really invested in sharing the arts.  But a lot of info you find on the web and all of the info you find on the LCD screens, on those info sheets, all those hundreds of neat little envelopes and the tracking and organization of all the tickets inside – we do all of that, and it’s a lot more work than you think.

What’s the worst part?

Keeping track of all the events we cover.  And saying “no”.  It’s the same in every customer service job.  We’re just the messenger – playing by rules set by Public Safety and the event organizations yet we receive the brunt of people’s anger and frustration.  It gets ridiculous – you have to master keeping your cool.

Two words

TIC CALENDAR. The amount of information on this thing is overwhelming.  This calendar features discounts and links to shows/events/film/ galleries/talks that even I don’t know about.  The holdings at the TIC are fairly limited compared to what you can find there – I always tell people, “Go there first”!

The TIC has sold 200,000 tickets since January 2008 and we want YOU to help us make a better CUArts/TIC for the next 200,000! CUArts will present TIC 200K: A Conversation on April 6th at 6 pm in Lerner Hall Cinema. Come discuss your ideas for a bigger and better CUArts/TIC with Rudy Scala, Chad Miller and the CUArts Staff.All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win TWO FREE TICKETS to see American Idiot, the Green Day musical on April 15th. To register in advance please click here.

*****

Anjili J. Pal, SoA ’10

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