Kramming the Suggestion Box Full – Part 2 of 7

Kram’s Korner – From the Club level Part 2 of 7

I guess, given my druthers, I’d vote for turning the device off and leaving it in the car. But, this is 2011, and with kids in tow and responsibilities from work, and whatnot, the Blackberry’s usually in my pocket. And, I’m not the only one.

2. Technology

a. I love getting tweets from the radio guys during the game. I suggest enhancing the Twitter integration with the game somehow. I’m not sure how. I just need more Twitter. (foreshadowing: we can do this ourselves…)

b. I suggest a new warning for fans: Please don’t look at the device when the ball’s in play. It’s dangerous. (footnote: Guilty as charged. Thanks to the guy in front of me who nabbed that ball last year, or I’d have gotten one right in the chest.)

c. Add additional interactive game-related text items—other than just the song to be played in the eighth inning or whatever. Via Twitter, or not. If the teenagers next to me are going to spend the whole game texting, they may as well be involved in the game in some way. Hopefully, something better than Battlefield…

d. I’m not familiar with the iPhone stuff, because I’ve got a Blackberry, but an app for season ticket holders to track ticket use and distribution might be handy. Or, phone ticketing, which already exists in some places. Does the current app have a live box score? That would be cool too.

e. A downloadable game schedule which could be immediately ported into Outlook or Blackberry or whatnot. This already exists in some form for other teams. Again, this might be part of the iphone app already, for all I know.

f. Some of these items could eventually find their way into one technology package which could be purchased or available as a downloadable perk for s/t holders.

g. Here’s a technology based ticketing idea: An online trading-post where s/t holders can buy or sell tickets from each other, using ‘credits’ from same. It would be handy to use my “credits” for when I’ve got friends or family in town and want to take them to a game. Or, if I’ve got trouble giving mine away, an easy way to find someone who can use them (and who won’t misbehave and lose my seats for me.) Note: using my unused credits with the ticket office is all well and good, but, it can’t be done for weekend games, and many times the game might be sold out or not enough tix available on the same level or together on the same day. So if there were 8 seats that other s/t holders couldn’t use, I could ‘purchase’ them with my credits. The IronPigs could get a transaction fee as well as full seats out of the deal.

h. Similar thought for the suites: suite-holders who can’t use their suites could sub-let them to s/t holders through the above web service. In this case, the catering wouldn’t be included, forcing the sub-lett-ers to purchase food or catering from the IronPigs. (I hate seeing suites and seats go unused) Perhaps a security deposit would be required here.

i. But, what if you’ve got ‘credits’ you can’t use? At some juncture, an individual with excess “credits” could use them for extra tix to the ticketholder picnic or the 222 showcase or to host a group or something of that nature.

j. Already new for 2011: it appears that you’ll be able to order and pay for concessions from your seat using an app. You can then go to the “fast pass” line to pick up. I don’t know the details yet, but there’s a coupon in the coupon book. I’m curious about how this will work, and where. However, I’m intrigued and pleased that the IronPigs are making an effort to add technology to the game-day experience. Now, if you can just have them bring it to my seat…

This post is by Kram’s Korner, a guest contributor for the Horn & Bell blog.