Profile: Jamie Siebenaler

Jamie Siebenaler started her Emerson journey as a student in 2007, and, 11 years later, she is the box office manager in the Office of the Arts. She and her 3 full-time staff and 22 part-time staff are responsible for ticketing all events at the Paramount (Robert J. Orchard Stage, Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre, Bright Family Screening Room); the Cutler Majestic; and the Greene and Semel theaters in the Tufte PPC.

The team tickets more than 300 events annually, which are presented by ArtsEmerson, internal departments, and external clients. On average, there are 10–12 ArtsEmerson stage productions per year. She and her team do everything from design the tickets and create pricing charts and zones to sell tickets to patrons in person, over the phone, and online. The box office team is also responsible for entering promotion and discount information for tickets and liaising with third-party vendors who sell tickets. They also have to determine how many accessible seats need to be offered at every performance, as well as the number of seats to be held for ArtsEmerson VIPs and artist VIPs.

Examples of external clients that the box office works with include three holiday staples: the José Mateo Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker, the National Center for Afro-American Artists’ Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, and WGBH’s A Christmas Celtic Sojourn. Boston Lyric Opera, Boston MOTH, Boston University’s Opera Institute, and New England Conservatory also rent Emerson theater spaces.

Customer service is central to the box office’s mission, so Siebenaler holds occasional trainings for staff and student managers. She also pulls a report on ticket sales every week and meets with marketing to discuss it.

When Siebenaler started a job as a theater usher on campus during her first year, she had no idea that she was starting on a career path. She said that she’s held “every job” at Emerson’s theaters. As a student, she moved from ushering to front of house and eventually to the box office as a ticket representative. During her senior year, she was hired for a part-time management position in the box office. Once she graduated with a BA in Digital Post-Production, she was offered a full-time management position. She became box office manager in 2017.

Her favorite thing about working at Emerson is the collaborative environment in her department. “Staff are welcome to give feedback on policies and procedures, and it’s a real conversation,” she said. Also noting that her favorite pastime is “media consumption,” she is in good company at Emerson! She enjoys spending time watching movies, listening to podcasts, reading comic books, and playing video games. She is very much looking forward to the upcoming release of the new God of War video game.

Siebenaler is a native of Bryan and Edon, Ohio, and currently lives in Quincy, Massachusetts, with her husband, Colt, and their dog, Tess.

Nancy Howell (Marketing)