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LYC: So I worked box office at my theater for the first time yesterday -- (edited)

Posted by con_carne May 21 '15, 12:15

Well, our version of what a box office is. Holy shit, that was fun! You know, relatively speaking... I mean, I thought I met a lot of customers as a ticket taker, or even concessions. Nope.

Not only was I doing box office solo (most of our ticket sales are online and at the kiosk), I had to do a lot of ticket taking as well. Plus, it was a busy Wednesday night (schools are starting to let out, a lot of people still for Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max, etc.). Anyway, the reason it was fun is that you get to talk to customers about movies and stuff! The fact that a lot of them happen to be beautiful women out for a night of fun doesn't hurt either. You catch them at the moment they're maybe still trying to decide what to watch. Or what time. The fact that I've seen some of the movies starts to come in really handy, you know?

I had this one older lady who, well, she had a complaint and we ended up letting her in for free. Anyway, she was trying to decide her movie options, and I recommended Woman in Gold. Well, when she got out of her movie she came up to me, said she really liked it a lot, it was "beautiful." The words "thank you" came out of her mouth no less than five times for giving her the rec. The power of movies! Side note: I really need to see Mad Max. Had half a dozen customers easy ask me if I had seen it. Side side note: Mad Max audience still drinking plenty!

Downside of "box": I'm physically away from the rest of my coworkers. Got a bit lonely. Started chasing people down a couple times just to ask them about their day.

Side note #3: So our music speakers play nothing but film scores, right? The other night just before cleaning a restroom (look I didn't say it was all glamorous) Patton march came on. I would be lying if I said I didn't take a miniscule moment to stand at attention in front of the sink mirror. Just a little bit. No one was around.

TL;DR Working box office is fun, women are beautiful, adults drink and I'm a nerd.

Responses:

Yeah when I did it, the Box office was a little round kiosk 40 feet from the theater - amoxy May 21, 12:50
Just checked out your website, so you guys don't let people in after the movie starts? How do you handle people getting concession or bathroom breaks - sycor May 21, 12:43 3
- We lock the doors!... Just kidding. Yes. We make exceptions all the time for lightly attended screenings and stuff like that, but it is the rule. - con_carne May 21, 12:50
- They are shot as they leave the theater -- nm - decline May 21, 12:45 1
  - well that escalated quickly. lol -- nm - sycor May 21, 12:46
I don't think I ever did. Just projectors and concessions -- nm - professor smartbrain May 21, 12:23 6
- Arclight (at least Beach Cities) has all new crew start at concessions and then go get trained on *everything* at least once - con_carne May 21, 12:26 5
  - Are you guys still film? Just curious why anyone would need to learn projection other than managers. - sycor May 21, 12:29 4
    - No, the vast majority of films are digital. But there's always at least one crew member at any given time whose job is projection. - con_carne May 21, 12:34 3
      - Pro tip: when a movie is scheduled to start at a certain time, start it at that time - professor smartbrain May 21, 12:44
      - Interesting. We only use managers and honestly our system runs itself. We have weekly tasks but we can go an entire day without going upstairs - sycor May 21, 12:37 1
        
        Yeah with us, the booth guy always has a checklist that they go around looking at stuff and checking stuff off the list... - con_carne May 21, 12:43
At my grandparents drive-in, it was kinda cool. The booth was big enough that a friend could sit in it with you. -- nm - Spawn May 21, 12:20 4
- In my theater the booth is one big giant room that runs the length of the building. You just walk from projector to projector. Well, before it digital - sycor May 21, 12:22 3
  - Sorry, you probably meant ticket booth. I hear booth and think projection. -- nm - sycor May 21, 12:23 1
    - Sorry, my bad. Projection was a large room as both projectors, etc were in there. -- nm - Spawn May 21, 12:24
  - At the drive in, it was the long walk form the main building. -- nm - Spawn May 21, 12:23
Box office can be super boring. Are you allowed to read? I dislike ticket taking the most. -- nm - sycor May 21, 12:19 3
- Aw hell naw. But we're mobile (transactions are on a tablet, wireless printer on my belt, and a cash pouch). - con_carne May 21, 12:25 2
  - Oh wow. We might be starting something like that after our renovation. But for now the ticket seller is still up front in the box office. -- nm - sycor May 21, 12:26 1
    - People always see the tablet and say "wow this is fancy!" Also, it has a built in bar code reader for online ticket taking and stuff. -- nm - con_carne May 21, 12:38
this is a great recap - sounds fun to me -- nm - Epiphany May 21, 12:17 3
- I do like that my biggest lesson here is that I need to see more free movies at my job. -- nm - con_carne May 21, 12:19 2
  - I agree with you - I liked recommending movies and talking movies to people when I worked at Block Buster - Epiphany May 21, 12:40 1
    - 'honey, why does every movie you bring home lately have sexy nazis in them?" -- nm - zeitgeist May 21, 12:44

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LYC: So I worked box office at my theater for the first time yesterday -- (edited)

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