Collegian stock graphic.
ALISON MICCOLIS | MANAGING EDITOR | amiccolis@butler.edu
Community and connections — two things that are important when deciding where and with whom to spend the majority of your days and, in some cases, nights. For Lexi Duff and Samantha Hartman, it is what makes their job interesting, fulfilling and fun.
Duff started in the ticketing office at Butler in August 2017 as an intern. She had recently graduated from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and knew she wanted to work in sports and stay local.
Hartman graduated from Butler with a degree in sports media in May 2022. Her first year as a student she worked with the ticketing office selling tickets, running will call and scanning people into events.
Now, Duff works full time as manager of the ticket office/fan development, and Hartman works part-time as the ticketing assistant.
Hartman said at first, she did not know if she wanted to work at Butler post-graduation. She has liked the opportunity, though, to stay in Indianapolis for another year and take in all Butler has to offer after missing time on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also enjoys seeing all of the work that goes into hosting events at Hinkle Fieldhouse and has a greater appreciation for the hard work her coworkers put in day in and day out to make it all happen.
“As a student, I just saw a lot of the outer parts but now I can be involved in setting it all up,” Hartman said. “Everything has come together for me, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is awesome,’ and I get to be a part of it.”
The ticketing office has office hours Monday through Friday from around 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In addition to working during office hours, Duff or Hartman attend every ticketed sporting event and other special events at Hinkle such as the basketball Tip-Off Dinner on Oct. 26.
The sometimes long nights and weekend hours lead to a close-knit community in the athletics department. For Duff, one of the highlights of her job are the relationships she forms with her coworkers.
“My coworkers … they’re [some] of my closest friends,” Duff said. “So with us working during the evenings and working not a nine-to-five-job and then weekends, they’re the ones that we hang out with after work. They’re the ones that we hang out with within work. They’re the ones that we vent to on our personal problems. I mean, it’s a very family dynamic and even within your department, it gets even closer because we understand the different things that you go through in life not only just work but in your personal life as well.”
In addition to the relationships built within their department, Duff and Hartman both said the people they meet in the Butler community through ticketing various events make the job rewarding.
Hartman said when she first got to college, she never really thought about working in ticketing and customer service. She has found, though, that getting to talk to and work with the fans, season ticket holders and athlete families is one of her favorite parts of the job.
Duff shared a similar sentiment and said the customer service aspect of the role is something both she and Hartman take very seriously.
“That’s what we take pride [in],” Duff said. “Every fan is important — if you’re visiting, a long-time season ticket holder, a new season ticket holder, a young alumni, we’re going to treat you the same no matter what.”
In her new role, Hartman appreciates the opportunity to work with student workers — a position she was in just a few months ago. She said working with Duff was a big reason she wanted to continue with the ticketing office post-graduation. She hopes she can serve as a mentor to the next group of student workers and help them grow like Duff did for her.
Anna Garofalo is one of those students. The first-year sports media major started working in the ticketing office this semester — getting her foot in the door early just like Hartman did.
“[Lexi and Sam have] been super helpful, and they’re super nice about it too,” Garofalo said. “They’ve been super welcoming and since it was my first time doing it, specifically selling tickets, it can kind of be nerve-wracking talking to people, but they’ve always been supportive and if you do have an issue, [they say] ‘come get me,’ and they can help me out from there.”
The nontraditional working hours could have deterred Duff, Hartman or Garofalo from taking on their respective roles. Duff said, however, that was not her main concern. She instead focused on two big questions: do I like the product that I’m working for and do I like the place that I’m working for?
“At Butler, I can say yes,” Duff said. “I do like that I work here; I have a passion for it. I have pride that I work here and so to be able to give that experience to everybody else that comes in, that’s what keeps me going because anytime I tell people I work at Butler, their faces light up … people are excited to come here and it kind of helps us stay humble when we get to watch them come in.”
