by Kirby Lindsay, posted 27 July 2011
As free events go, the July 1st Fremont First Friday (FFF) Art Walk delivers a serious dilemma – among the varied entertainments (zombie make-up instruction, ‘Live (music) at Lenin’ and dozens of venues showing art) which will you choose to attend?
For the curious, give high priority to Brown Paper Tickets (BPT) and their new offices, nicknamed ‘The Treehouse’. They’ve invited Fremonsters – and all Art Walk-ers – to stop in for a show of art created by their talented employees. Located on the second floor, above LTD Bar + Grill (at 309 N 36th St,) BPT has signed on as a monthly stop on the FFF. Kelsye Nelson, Vice President of Growth & Outreach, welcomed everyone to visit, with the understanding, “people cannot pick up their tickets here.”
Local Company Does Good
The primary Seattle office, the ‘Brick House,’ sits near the south end of the Fremont Bridge, at 220 Nickerson St, and some tickets can be picked up there.
The company, which started on Capitol Hill over 10 years ago, has experienced tremendous growth. They have offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Edinburgh, Scotland, and in their Seattle location, “we kept taking on new positions,” Nelson explained, until they had up to four people sharing each office. In May, they expanded into the Treehouse, with their creative team – graphic designers, outreach & localization, event promotions and the doers – relocated from the basement of the ‘Brick House’ into offices with actual windows!
The self-described, ‘first and only fair-trade ticketing service,’ was started by William Scott Jordan, (“our tech genius,” explained Nelson,) and built up by Steve Butcher, (“who really drew our ethics,” she described.) As the company’s reputation for no-frills ticket sales builds, they actually have plenty to recommend them – including a 24/7 call center for ticket buyers, with answers to questions in English, French and Spanish. Soon also expect to see a Spanish-language version of the popular ticketing website, to be followed by another, entirely in French.
To sell tickets over BPT, the venue or event organizer pays $.99 per ticket sold, and 3.5% of the ticket face value. However, free events pay nothing to use BPT for reservations. “It’s free for everyone,” explained Nelson, “but they still get all the service.” By using BPT, the event organizer can forecast attendance – particularly with a venue of limited capacity – and attendees feel more secure that they can get in, even for a free event.
BPT sets themselves apart as a good business citizen in many ways, particularly in the work they assign their Doers. Nelson explained, “it’s a really unique thing about us,” as their team of Doers are directed to, “go out and do good.” The company, she said, “founded by two people passionate about events,” employs, among others, a Film Festival Doer, a Comedy Doer, a Radio Doer – and Tamara Clammer, their Maker Doer. When told that it sounded too good to be true, Clammer admitted, “It still feels too good to be true.”
As she described her job, Clammer goes out to help people teach or make things. Last weekend, she spent in San Francisco talking to people at a free folk festival, with side trips planned to similar events in Berkeley. “It is hard to understand,” Clammer admitted, “it’s so different from what any other company is doing.”
Local Company Does Art
It naturally follows that Clammer will organize the monthly Art Walk shows at the Treehouse. For the first show, she’s chose to focus on BPT. “All our employees are artists,” she acknowledged, and she wants to schedule an employee show twice a year – perhaps in July and January – to give her co-workers (and herself) a chance to showcase their out-of-the-office talents. This show came too quickly, but she plans to also invite the works of her co-workers from BPT offices around the world. Ultimately, though, “by having it be all BPT artists,” she admitted, “it gives a chance to try out the space.”
Starting in August, Clammer plans to fill the 17 segments of picture rail along a hallway they share with Saunderson Marketing Group with works by community artists. She already has established a list of 25 she intends to approach for either solo or shared shows, although so far she only dreams of also incorporating acoustic music, “just to add a little more nuance,” she said.
More than anything, Nelson and Clammer sound pleased to show off the Treehouse. “Those of us that moved over here,” from the ‘Brick House’ across the canal, “are so happy,” Nelson exclaimed. “I don’t have to be in the office to do my job,” Clammer stated, “but I want to go to the office.” That’s how much she likes it.
“It’s a great company to work for,” commended Clammer, “we all believe in it so much!” To see more – of the company, the talents of their employees and their outrageously loyal paint scheme (“we’re also the branding group,” admitted Nelson,) with the dog butt coat hooks – make a priority of a stop here during the Fremont First Friday Art Walk in July.
To find out about the dozen other interesting events planned for the July 1st Art Walk, visit the FFF website – and get Walk-ing!
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©2011 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.