We’re all accustomed to choosing seats online when booking tickets for a concert or a flight. But what about choosing your seatmates? Airline KLM will launch a program later this year that will allow customers to choose their neighbors on flights. The social seating tool, called “Meet and Seat,” will use social media sites to help travelers find seatmates with common interests and even relationship status. (Interesting to note that 45% of travelers have admitted to flirting during a flight.) Passengers interested in using the program can link an edited version of their Facebook or LinkedIn profile to their account and browse other profiles to choose their seatmate. Customers who would prefer to keep their eyes glued to their Kindles can easily opt out of the program.
Already on Andersen Cooper’s Rediculist, this social experiment could go south pretty quickly. Sales pitches and one-liners could have you writhing in your seat in minutes. Beyond all the normal pitfalls of online dating services such as inaccurate profiles and stalkers, the real question is, do we want to be more connected on airplanes? Is there no peace and quiet to be found even on an airplane? Personally, I’m not so sure I want to eavesdrop on a first date for three hours.
Photo credit: Daquella Manera
What about the implications of this new seating option for performing arts organizations? Putting operational logistics and financial barriers aside for the moment, would this be good for audiences? Perhaps a blessing in a blind-date situation, audiences can only talk at very select times, which could actually work to participants’ advantage. If the conversation is going nowhere, no need to pull out headphones or a book – the performance will start shortly. Of course, there still could be some awkwardness if one person is engaged while the other is feeling quite cold about the encounter.
Moving away from the speed dating idea, using a social seating tool to meet new friends with similar interests and backgrounds may be a better approach. Arts organizations are getting better at segmenting their audience and can help shape specific questions to connect “social serenity seekers” or “cultural omnivores.” Furthermore, it might be possible to utilize this personal information (with the appropriate permissions) to shape new programs and connect with audiences online.
Regarding feasibility, there would be some significant operational roadblocks. Matching participants at different price points is clearly a challenge. Would ticket buyers first choose where they want to sit and then choose a seatmate, or could they browse all program participants’ profiles and opt into a higher price point just to meet Ms. Interesting? Furthermore, matching subscribers and non-subscribers would be challenging as well, but this could become a value proposition. Subscribers could choose who they sit next to over the course of the season, thereby developing new friendships in the community and strengthening their relationship to the arts organization.
The real question is – do we want to meet the person sitting next to us at an arts event? My guess is specific audiences would enjoy exchanging niceties and hearing a little bit about neighbors’ post-event musings if given the opportunity. Attending an arts performance is an inherently communal experience, and enabling those who desire to connect with others could be transformative for the industry. Because audiences are attending for a common purpose – to hear or see a work of art – this idea is perhaps even more relevant for arts organizations than it is for airlines. Now, if we could choose who is sitting behind us to keep from overhearing candy wrappers and Aunt Susie’s back problems, we truly would be in business.