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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday 17 sepTember 2019
Frustrated with event ticketing? New ventures try to help

By JAMIE STENGLE world's largest ticket mar-
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — ketplace, said that on av-
Event organizers hoping to erage, about half of their
eliminate ticket scams and tickets sell for face value
huge markups in the sec- or below. She also said the
ondary market are increas- notion of face value is "be-
ingly turning to companies coming fairly obsolete" as
that use technology to al- some primary ticket sell-
low fans to buy and resell ers have started adjusting
their tickets while putting ticket prices based on de-
caps on prices. mand.
Partnering with such com- "We do believe that an
panies allows event orga- open market — where the
nizers to take control of the market sort of figures itself
resale of their tickets. Fans out — is going to ultimately
who can't go can return be better," Campbell said,
their tickets, which can be adding that her company
reissued to someone who offers guarantees to buyers
wants to go, helping en- and sellers.
sure that venues are filled With the San Francisco-
with fans. based online ticket ex-
"As in many other areas of change Lyte, those return-
our economy, technology ing tickets to sold out shows
is racing ahead to try and In this photo taken Friday, June 21, 2019, FlipTix CEO Jaime Siegel demonstrates his company's are offered a price — usu-
address some of the issues application at the Clusterfest comedy event in San Francisco. ally a full refund though
that we and others have Associated Press sometimes a bit more or a
identified — and any con- bit less, depending on how
sumer who has tried to buy this market is pretty broken, concerted effort to keep The app also lets someone oversold they are, said CEO
a ticket recently can prob- but I also think some gov- our ticket prices as low as send their ticket to a friend. and founder Ant Taylor.
ably attest to," said John ernment intervention would we possibly can to make "We just cut off the scalp- Tickets are resold at price
Breyault of the National help too," said Eric Budish, a sure that people have a ers' supply completely," lower than they're going for
Consumers League. University of Chicago eco- good fan experience," said said Shanna Jade, head of on the secondary market,
The U.S. ticketing industry nomics professor. Megan Gaver, director of music for North America for he said.
is sporadically regulated: Sound Nightclub in Los operations at Sound Night- Dice. "What actually ends up
Pursuit of those who violate Angeles decided to work club. The secondary market, happening is the scalpers
the law by using ticket-buy- with London-based mobile Tickets to events are though, does give those who are sitting in the sec-
ing software known as bots ticketing company Dice bought on the Dice app, buying and selling tickets ondary market are having
is rare, and laws capping to make sure that fans pay then delivered and linked options: Sellers can pick the a much harder time finding
the resale price of tickets the price they've set — usu- to the buyer's cellphone. If asking prices, and buyers buyers and making mon-
are difficult to enforce. ally $15 to $30 for musical an event sells out, a wait- may be able to find tickets ey," Taylor said. "And so it
"I think it's great that there's acts — and don't end up list starts. Ticketholders who at below face value. has the effect of actually
a lot of entrepreneurial ac- with fake tickets. can't make it can return Aimee Campbell, a spokes- driving those crazy second-
tivity in this space because "We make a really, really tickets for a full refund. woman for StubHub, the ary market prices down."q

Virtual reality used to highlight uranium contamination

changed since a 1979 ura- mill's evaporation pond, munity.
nium mill spill, the Gallup releasing 94 million gallons During a recent presen-
Independent reports . (356 million liters) of radio- tation of the virtual real-
The film, titled "Ways of active waste into the Pu- ity footage, Dooley talked
Knowing," was directed by erco River. about her daily life of not
artist Kayla Briet. It was the largest acciden- being able to have run-
The project started four tal release of radioactive ning water in her home be-
years ago after Washing- material in United States cause it is contaminated. "I
ton, D.C.-based nuclear history and three times the have to come to Gallup to
policy program manager radiation released at the get my water and take it
Lovely Umayam met Na- Three Mile Island accident. back home," she said.
vajo activist Sunny Dooley The radiation contami- Umayam said the group
at an event in Santa Fe, nated not only water but wanted to use the new
New Mexico. Filmmaker the food chain. Cattle in technology of virtual real-
In this Sept. 6, 2019, photo provided by Ways of Knowing,
audience members try out virtual reality headsets to watch Adriel Luis is also a co-pro- western New Mexico later ity with the stories to bring
"Ways of Knowing" a film titled "Ways of Knowing," which was ducer of the movie. showed higher levels of ra- a true experience and
directed by artist Kayla Briet, at the El Morro Events Center in "Sunny asked us during this diation. show the impact of ura-
Gallup, N.M. meeting, 'Where is your Dooley, who lives in Chi nium mining.
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Ac- The arts collective Bomb- heart?' And it caught my - Chil Tah, New Mexico, said She said the project is
tivists are using virtual real- shelltoe has collected along with everyone else's she has felt the direct ef- close to being finished, but
ity technology to focus on 360-degree footage of - attention," Umayam said. fects of the big spill that with every presentation
areas of the Navajo Na- land near Churchrock, In 1979, a dam on the Na- went down the Rio Puerco they get more information
tion affected by uranium New Mexico, to show how vajo Nation near Church and contaminated the and make tweaks to the
contamination. people and the land have Rock broke at a uranium water and soil in her com- system.q