Lamar High School: Helping Students Succeed

Carlos Burgess, Athletic Director at Lamar High School in South Carolina, enjoys providing opportunities for students through athletics and activities. He appreciates interacting with students and fans in his role and takes pride in adopting new technology to improve the event experience.

Along with using digital ticketing for events, Burgess has been an early adopter of digital payments for concessions with GoFan Box Office. Now fans can enjoy the convenience of paying with a credit or debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay for tickets and concessions.

“The best thing I've had so far has been the concessions part… Now, I just dedicate one window to being able to virtually pay for food,” said Burgess.

He also mentioned that he embraced digital concessions because students and fans don’t carry around cash anymore. The Lamar High School community appreciates the security and convenience of digital payments when attending events.

Fans also enjoy the ticket validation process with GoFan at the gate, where they can simply show their phones to an attendant who confirms the ticket and presses the “Use Ticket” button. Burgess switched to GoFan from a competitor because this process is so much easier than their previous experience with scanning tickets.

“It’s a whole lot easier when they come through with a digital ticket to just hit the cellphone as opposed to trying to scan,” said Burgess.

To ensure success with the new process, Burgess encouraged members of the community to visit the school, and he would show them how it works. Many of the students were already technically savvy and eager to get tickets online.

It’s no surprise Burgess strives to create a better event experience, as he takes pride in giving students a driving force to being successful. As an educator for 31 years and an administrator for 16 years, Burgess continues to identify what motivates students to succeed.

“Certain things drive kids: education, athletic events, or the arts drive kids. We’ve got to find that niche,” Burgess said. “Some all three do, some athletics will do it. By being an Athletic Director, I’m able to reach that kid and showcase them.”

Next Steps 

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