Before you go to an event you have anticipation of what might happen, plans of how and when to be there and the rituals that are associated with the event you hold the ticket for. It might mean meeting people beforehand or working out what to take. We associate the activity with the event and the ticket becomes a visual representation of our permission to celebrate, laugh, sing or dance.

The value of the ticket is pretty much all front loaded; it has most monetary value up to the moment it is used. During the event you might refer to it a couple of times to help navigate your way – seat numbers, times, etc – but its value diminishes with every passing second after the scheduled start.

Once it has been used, a ticket is litter at worst, and a souvenir at best. For some people, the souvenirs are as valuable as the original ticket.

When you’re designing learning activities where people need to attend, what anticipation are you building with the tickets you’re producing?

As importantly, how are you making them valued as much after the event?