RFP 370 Questions and Answers

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL # 370 FOR TICKETING & POINT OF SALE SYSTEM

Questions & Answers

Updated September 6, 2022

Q: Would the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) consider a platform that does not have a native retail management component?

A: Management of retail inventory can be supported by a separate backend system but should integrate with the point-of-sale solution for onsite sales. Ideally, the system would allow tickets and merchandise to be sold onsite within a single transaction at the point of sale. Online merchandise could be supported with a third-party eCommerce solution, like Shopify, and exist separately of online ticketing.

Q: Who is the current credit card processor?

A: Bank of America/First Data

Q: Who will be the merchant of record?

A: Jekyll Island Authority

Q: Do you work with a specific credit card processor?

A: Bank of America or Wells Fargo are the processors allowed on the State of Georgia Contract.

Q: Is JIA willing to work with Stripe for credit card processing?

A: Yes, but only if the processor is willing to agree to modifications to their terms based on requirements from the State of Georgia. This would relate to conditions such as indemnification, arbitration, and state of litigation (must be Georgia).

Q: How many POS terminals does JIA operate?

A: In total, 20 ticketing/retail POS terminals across all locations included in RFP # 370. An additional 21 machines are running back office.

Q: How many users are needed for the system?

A: The number of users should be around 100-200 at any given time.

Q: Can you provide details about the specific hardware you currently utilize (i.e.: brand/model information, and if you utilize PC, iOS, or Android devices)?

A: All terminal PCs are powered by 64-bit, Core i5-6400 CPU @ 2.7GHz processors with Windows 10 Pro and Microsoft Office installed. Receipt printers are Citizen CT-S651. Twenty (20) of the terminals have credit card machines, three (3) of which are Ingenico Lane 8000 machines and another twenty (20) are VeriFone MX900-02.

Staff have a mix of iPhone and Android devices that are occasionally used for ticket verification.

Q: Do you also utilize Boca printers to print physical tickets?

A: No, not currently.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Summer Waves Water Park?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: Seven (7) POS combined.

- How many turnstiles? A: Six (6) turnstiles.

- How many cabanas? A: Three (3) cabana sections with six (6) cabanas each.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: Three (3) POS combined.

- Do any of the above also sell memberships/season passes? A: Yes.

- Plans to add access control? A: No current plans for access control to the Gallery, but JIA is willing to consider the addition.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Georgia Sea Turtle Center?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: Three (3) POS combined.

- Do tickets auto validate? A: Currently, staff manually confirms tickets.

- Do you want the ability for access control (scanners or turnstiles)? At minimum, access control should be done via scanners. No current plans to install turnstiles in the Center.

- Can I only buy a membership at retail POS and online or anywhere else at this location?

A: Currently, memberships are only available online but should be available online and onsite moving forward, with the possibility of self-service membership purchases via kiosk.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Mini Golf and Bikes?

- How many of ticketing/retail POS? A: One (1) POS combined.

- Can I buy memberships here for anything? A: No, not currently. Moving forward, tickets and memberships from other locations should be available for purchase here.

- Can you explain the process of ticket validation here? A: Currently, tickets are only sold at the booth at the time of use. Moving forward, staff would need to scan to validate with POS or mobile scanning device for advance tickets.

- Any hardware needs for ticket validation, scanner at POS or is it done elsewhere with a mobile device? A: Staff would need to scan to validate with POS or mobile scanning device for advance tickets.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Jekyll Island Tennis Center?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: One (1) POS combined.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Jekyll Island Guest Information Center?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: Two (2) POS combined.

- Can you explain your preferred parking requirements in more detail? A: JIA is currently only able to sell and redeem parking directly with VenTek’s system, which operates the backend and online system for our three self-service pay lanes, with QR scanners and automated license plate readers. Additional development would be needed from VenTek to allow third party access to the parking system.

- You want to sell a parking pass online and have it validate using a camera technology? A:

Ideally, with VenTek’s cooperation, parking passes could be purchased as an addon with ticketed items and verified at the gate via QR code or license plate number.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Life is Good?

- How many retail POS? A: Two (2) POS.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs at Remember When?

- How many retail POS? A: One (1) POS.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs for Jekyll Island Authority Conservation Department?

- How many ticketing/retail POS? A: None, with all sales online or at other locations.

- How many mobile scanners? A: Minimum of one (1) mobile scanner.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs for Kiosks?

- Do you want to have any kiosks anywhere for ticket pick up or sales? A: Yes, JIA would like the option to add at least two outdoor kiosks at Summer Waves Water Park; one indoor kiosk at Georgia Sea Turtle Center; one indoor kiosk at Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum; and one indoor kiosk at Jekyll Island Guest Information Center.

Q: Will you provide the following details about needs for back of house?

- How many system admins? A: Five (5)

- How many back of house membership sales? A: Five (5)

- How many group sales? A: Five (5)

- Any other users, like marketing, development, etc.? A: Three (3)

Q: Can you estimate how many ticketing transactions you have annually?

A: Approximately 214,000 ticketing transactions annually.

Q: Can you estimate how many of those ticketing transactions are online?

A: Approximately 194,000 online transactions annually.

Q: What are the volume of transactions and revenue generated over the last three years for the following?

- General Admission & Timed Ticketing? A: $10,078,082 in revenue with 641,876 tickets sold during fiscal years 2020-2022.

- Event & Camp Registration? A: $41,060 in revenue with 126 registrations sold in 2019, the most recent year of camps.

- Memberships? A: $682,600 in revenue with 8,594 memberships sold during fiscal years 2020-2022.

- Retail Inventory? A: $10,156,000 in revenue during fiscal years 2020-2022, with $1,025,000 of on-hand inventory.

Q: Is it acceptable to JIA for the solution to charge your customers a nominal per ticket fee vs.

charging an annual licensing fee to JIA?

A: JIA is willing to consider a structure based on per-ticket fees.

Q: Do you have any specific integration requirements to connect to your Hayward Turnstiles? Is this currently being done via an API, or other means?

A: JIA’s existing Hayward Turnstiles are operated manually but can be modified to integrate with access control hardware and software. The integration with the turnstiles would require a momentary dry contact signal of no more than one second from the access control unit to allow the turnstile to unlock and relock after one entry.

Q: If the onboarding process can be completed within 2-3 months, is JIA willing to transition to a new platform before Winter 2023?

A: JIA prefers an extended rollout but is willing to consider an expeditious timeline for implementation.

Q: Does your current parking software provider, VenTek, have the ability to validate third party parking passes (passes sold via another solution)? Can you provide more information on how you foresee this occurring?

A: JIA is currently only able to sell and redeem parking directly with VenTek’s system. Additional development would be needed from VenTek to allow third party access to the parking system.

Q: What is the initial term (length) of the agreement?

A: Installation plus three (3) years of service, subscription, etc.

Q: Approximately how many members do you currently have?

A: Approximately 3,500 memberships/season passes, not including staff or annual parking pass holders.

Q: Are members specific to a particular attraction (i.e.: museum), or do they have access to multiple attractions (i.e.: museum and water park) through one membership?

A: Currently, JIA offers a variety of memberships. Some memberships are exclusive to a single location, like Summer Waves Water Park; Georgia Sea Turtle Center; or Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. Other memberships, like employees of JIA, grant access to multiple locations.

Q: Will JIA provide examples of types of events that require timed ticketing, along with the typical frequency of such events?

A: To better manage capacity and guest experience, it is JIA’s desire to have the ability to allow general admission access to our amenities for specific time and/or day slots. Currently, timed tickets are utilized daily for special programs and tours, like the Landmark Trolley Tour provided by Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum. This tour departs daily at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. with a limited capacity of 42 guests per tour. Similarly, the Jekyll Island Authority Conservation Department offers a Gatorology program twice a week April through September to a limited capacity of 12 guests per program.

Q: Referencing Page 24 Appendix A. Ticketing item 1, “Ability to sell general and timed tickets…”, will JIA elaborate on the seating chart requirements and provide examples of events requiring seating charts?

A: Currently, JIA does not utilize seating charts. However, seating charts could be utilized for auditorium-style seating at outdoor venues or seat selection for trolley tours.

Q: Referencing Page 24 Appendix A. Ticketing item 4 "Ability to collect staff-defined customer information for each type of ticket", will JIA provide examples for events that require additional information? Does the general admission also require additional information to be collected?

A: JIA offers several summer camp experiences, which require a variety of input fields for camper and/or parent information, like camper name, shirt size, etc. Other special events require meal options to be selected, or inputting answers to specific questions for the event. Generally, general admission ticketing only requires attendee name.

Q: Is JIA open to a platform that cannot meet the requirements for all locations listed in the RFP?

A: It is JIA’s desire to have a single platform serving all locations included in the RFP. However, your organization is welcome to submit a proposal acknowledging partial support and explaining “why your Proposal is the best approach."