Patent ID: 8630881

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of determining whether to book an event, the method comprising: under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions, receiving a critical mass criteria and a critical date criteria for an event, the critical mass criteria indicating a minimum number of tickets that must be pre-sold by a critical date deadline of the critical date criteria in order for a booking of the event to occur; transmitting, to one or more customers and prior to the critical date deadline, (a) a blinded version of the critical date criteria that withholds the critical date deadline but enables the one or more customers to ascertain whether the critical date deadline has passed and (b) an indication that the booking of the event will occur when the critical mass criteria is achieved prior to the blinded version of the critical date criteria; receiving a request, from at least one of the one or more customers, to pre-purchase a ticket to the event; and triggering the booking of the event when the critical mass criteria and the critical date criteria are achieved.