Imagine being able to go to the movies, a concert or a football game—even to the concessions stand—without waiting in long lines. Marc Steren L’96 and his business partner, Jordan Klear, already have. They’ve launched ZebraPass, a Washington, D.C.-based “wireless ticketing and mobile commerce system” with exactly this convenience in mind.
Here’s an example of how it works: You order and pay for tickets in advance through a theater’s Web site. The first time you go to that venue, you head to the box office to pick up your “smart card.” From then on, you can head directly to an electronic reader and flash your card. “It takes about 1/10 of a second to go through,” Steren says.
ZebraPass introduced its smart-card system over the summer at a movie theater in Malibu, California—the 11th largest in the country.
Soon, Steren says, this concept will become even more convenient. Within two years, most cell phones and personal digital assistants will be equipped with short-range radio transmission technology known as Bluetooth. This will allow customers to order tickets through those devices and, with the ZebraPass system, have them “talk” to readers at a distance of up to 30 feet. To get into the game or the movie, “You won’t even have to take your phone out of your pocket,” Steren says.
ZebraPass will also make it possible for entertainment complexes to communicate with fans and to “customize the venue experience” for them, says Steren, who frequents Washington Redskins games and already has a particular sports fantasy in mind: “Why not have hot dogs waiting for me every third quarter?” Then, when he’s outside the stadium, send him team updates and other information.
At press time, ZebraPass had raised $6.5 million from investors like Nokia Venture Partners, Steven Spielberg and Harris Barton, the San Francisco 49ers center-turned-venture capitalist. “We’ve kind of targeted the leaders in each industry and gone after them.”
