UMaine Collins Center for the Arts receives Innovation of the Year Award

The University of Maine has received the Innovation of the Year Award from ticketing firm Paciolan for utilizing its system to streamline the process for COVID-19 testing on campus. At UMaine, the program is typically used for issuing tickets for patrons of the Collins Center for the Arts and Black Bear Athletics. It was reengineered to support UMaine asymptomatic testing by systematically scheduling participants. 

The university needed a solution for weekly testing of nearly 9,000 students, faculty and staff in the spring 2021 semester. Doug Meswarb, UMaine manager of ticket operations, determined that the ticketing system could be used to deliver mobile tickets with testing dates and times. He developed reports for university officials to track attendance via scanned tickets. As a result, UMaine was able to monitor — in real time — those individuals who had been selected for testing and engage in immediate follow-up regarding missed appointments.

“COVID-19 testing has been crucial to enabling us to be on campus during the pandemic,” says UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “Thanks to our ticketing team, led by Doug Meswarb, we’ve been able to efficiently schedule appointments and thoroughly track the participation of people in our campus-based testing program.

“The pandemic has challenged us in so many ways here at the University of Maine and across the country,” says Ferrini-Mundy. “I’m very proud of this team for its incredible innovation and creativity that help keep our community safe.”

Daniel Williams, executive director of the Collins Center for the Arts, says the award recognizes the exceptionally successful and responsive UMaine initiative that eased a difficult situation. 

UMaine’s entry for the award was among an unprecedented number of nominations submitted to Paciolan. 

Paciolan is a leader in ticketing solutions, powering more than 500 live entertainment organizations that sell more than 120 million tickets per year. Paciolan acknowledged UMaine as an organization that exceeded expectations and achieved uncommon results, with a focus on strategic pivots, revenue retention, and innovation during the pandemic.

Contact: Karen Cole, karen.cole1@maine.edu