YUSU website fails to meet Big D-emand

by Adam Coe

The YUSU ticket-booking system has slowed to a snail’s pace following massive demand for Big D tickets, which went on sale through the Your Shop website at noon today.

Big D’s slogan is “Miss it. Miss out.” With a line-up of internationally renowned acts, party-goers are still frantically refreshing the page in the hope that tickets won’t sell out before they get one.

At the time of publishing, it is uncertain when the online shop will be able to handle all Big D hits.

YUSU President Tim Ngwena said, “we can’t have a festival style website for one event. I think we should celebrate Big D’s popularity – it’s not a YUSU event – but it’s going to raise a lot of money for charity.”

To the worry of the student population though, he confirmed that tickets were still selling out fast with an estimated “one-third” gone. “I think we should be done by 3 o’ clock today, whereas last year it took the whole day.”

He also stressed that the site had held up better than previous years when the entire YUSU system crashed.

About 300 Big D tickets were sold at the Big D launch party on Monday night before being made available through YUSU. Derwent Vice-Chairs and Big D organisers Ben Woolley and Greg Brocklehurst sent a message to members of the Big D Facebook group. It said:

“Despite assurances from YUSU that the site was now better able to cope with demand, the increased volume has slowed the site down significantly. Please be patient and avoid refreshing the site as this will slow it down further.”

They also reassured students that a limited number of Big D tickets will be made available closer to the event. They thanked students for their patience.

This has angered many who feel they have better things to do with their time than refresh the YUSU website for hours on end. “Luckily I have facebook to occupy me during the long wait,” said one Vanbrugh fresher.

This year’s beneficiaries are: Goedgedacht, Leeds Children’s Charity, Ghurka Welfare Trust and all RAG-affiliated charities. Last year, “SinnedD” raised £6,700 for charity.