Have you ever felt like concert ticket prices are ripping you off? The biggest stars in music can charge an obscene amount of money. The resale market is just as bad, if not worse. Everything is getting increasingly expensive while our pay grade oftentimes remains the same. It’s a maddening feeling that has crept into every aspect of our lives, from grocery shopping to live events. Moreover, having to stress about money so much disincentivizes us to cultivate our community.
Ultimately, we become hermits, disconnected from the things we enjoy and the people we’re meant to connect with. How can we truly make the most of this life we live if it costs so much to truly enjoy it?
Insert Concerted, a tech nonprofit revolutionizing how we access live events. The premise is staggeringly simple: give back to the community, get tickets in return. Concerted has a variety of nonprofits in its database to sign up for. Spend some time at a food bank, tutor and mentor kids, clean up your local park; there’s an abundance of options depending on your area. Then, after reporting the hours spent, they put that time into your wallet, allowing you to cash it in for tickets. Concerts, comedy shows, sports events, as long as you’re helping others, you can acquire tickets.
How Concerted Helped Me Go to The Earl Sweatshirt Show in Austin, Texas
One of the best parts about the tech nonprofit company is that it doesn’t lack for potential concert options. Fans have gone from Chappell Roan to Childish Gambino to Fall Out Boy to Tyler, the Creator. For my experience, I signed up with Carol’s Kindness, a local nonprofit food bank in Austin, Texas.
Their story started when Carol Rabun needed to feed their pet pig Pumba. Going to local grocers and food pantries to pick up scraps, they realized they could help a lot of people in the same ways. Consequently, Carol’s house quickly became a pantry of its own. Eventually, the operation became big enough that they pivoted to a local rec center to continue distributing food to the less fortunate.
After signing up, I connected with Carol, her husband, and a handful of volunteers there to help. The operation was as simple as loading our vehicles with food and drinks until we couldn’t fit any more. Then, we’d go down the street to the Gus Garcia Recreation Center and unload. All I had to do was take a picture of my progress at some point during my service and send it to Concerted. Just like that, two hours were gone, and I headed home.
Then, I received two hours in my Concerted wallet, ready to cash in. Of the options available, Earl Sweatshirt was the obvious pick. A brief search showed that his concert would accept my community service and allow me to attend the Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater to see him perform on his 3LW World Tour. Once I cashed in my service hours, two tickets were ready to claim on Ticketmaster.
It’s already rewarding to help those struggling in your community. But Concerted incentivizes you even further by offering perks and providing a gateway to volunteer work. Instead of forking over your hard-earned cash, you’re giving time to help others. Everyone wins.
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