I just registered for a workshop using Eventbrite and I have to say I’m a bit miffed.
The registration process was smooth as silk. The page was clean and easy to navigate, the payment process was straightforward. It took me all of 4 minutes to pay, register and move on. Great! I’m a busy woman; I like things to be efficient.
I was happily getting on with the next task on my to-do list when the emails started coming: -
1) First I got a payment receipt from Paypal. Ok, great. Got that.
2) Next I got my receipt and ticket from the workshop organizer. Fabulous – now I am official! This receipt also featured extensive Eventbrite advertising and branding, but I was expecting that and didn’t give it a second thought.
3) Finally, I received an email from Eventbrite with “Greetings from Eventbrite” as the subject line. This email is quite simply a promo-email from the company. As I scroll down the email I discover, with some annoyance, that I am now subscribed to Eventbrite’s mailing list.
Now, all this was performed on the Eventbrite’s Canadian portal (www.eventbrite.ca). In Canada there are very clear privacy laws that state that customers must explicitly “opt-in” to be added to a mailing list. This means that customer must request to receive emails (by way, for example, of a check box).
Did I ask to be subscribed to Eventbrite’s mailing list? No.
Did I ask to be subscribed to Eventbrite’s newsletter? No.
Was I informed that simply by registering for a workshop I would end up on someone else’s mailing list? No.
Do I really want to spend my time figuring out how to unsubscribe from something I never asked for in the first place? No.
So where’s the opt-in?
Given that Eventbrite has an opt-out but not an opt-in is Eventbrite breaking the privacy law in Canada? I’m not a lawyer so I don’t know if they are in fact breaking the letter of the law. But I’m clear from my experience that they are definitely breaking the spirit of the law and in doing so they have reduced themselves to the level of spammers.
As an event organizer you need to consider whether you really want your attendees to be subjected to unwanted promotional emails as a direct result of registering for your event. You also need to consider how that reflects on your event and your business. Honestly, I’m not sure that I would want to be associated with any kind of spam or any business that uses such practices.
This sneaky marketing tactic has clearly been very successful. For every one customer Eventbrite get’s to send unsolicited emails to hundreds of potential new customers – your attendees. However, I find it a dubious business practice.
Eventbrite: your product is great and speaks for itself. Please, update your privacy practices to be respectful of your customers.