Say goodbye to the days of waiting around for your concert tickets to arrive in the mail.

Ticketmaster has now introduced a new technology called ticketFast, which allows buyers to purchase their event tickets online at www.ticketmaster.com and directly print the tickets from home or work.

“The goal of ticketFast is to provide convenience for the consumers,” says Hannah Kamtf, Ticketmaster spokeswoman. “Now there is no more waiting in line or UPS charge for a faster shipment of your tickets if your event is only a few days away.”

The program will kick off at Hilton Coliseum with the Elton John and Billy Joel on April 1. All events scheduled after March 1 at Stephens Auditorium will use ticketFast.

“This method is nice because it will help get patrons into the facility faster as well as being a great convenience,” says Sara Barr, director of marketing for the Iowa State Center.

The buying procedure is the same as any other online purchase, except ticketFast is shown as the preferred delivery option when selecting tickets.

Tickets can either be printed directly from the browser or can be e-mailed to the buyer as an image file to be printed later. An entire piece of paper prints out, which is then accepted as a regular ticket.

The bar code on the paper is unique and once scanned at the door, admission is granted.

“It’s going to take some time for everyone to get used to the system,” Barr says. “But it’s always a learning process when you start something new.”

Once the bar code is scanned, the number is recorded and if the same sequence appears again, admittance will be denied.

“We aren’t too worried about scalpers with the new program,” Kamtf says. “People are pretty hesitant to buy a piece of paper, and the buyer’s name and information are at the top, so that should slow a few down.”

Kamtf says the system also provides added security with the name on the ticket by allowing the box office to look up the buyer’s information and take care of anything if there is a problem.

But with the added convenience of ticketFast comes an added cost, Kamtf says. Each ticket purchased through ticketFast adds a charge of about $2.

Barr says the added cost isn’t necessarily a negative thing, however.

“When you’re busy and you can’t run around [to pick up tickets], it’s worth the cost,” Barr says.

Hilton Coliseum and Stephens Auditorium are the latest local venues to adapt the ticketFast technology, but not all venues in the area have adopted the technology yet.

Jacki Embrey, box office manager at Des Moines’ Veterans Memorial Auditorium, says the ticketFast system is a new concept to the facility, but hopes to implement the system after the building’s remodeling project is completed in spring 2005.

“We don’t have this type of system here at Vets,” Embrey says. “But once our buildings are done, I’m sure we will be working with the same deal.”