Handout of Parade, Ball Tickets Snarled

Printing Problem, Big Turnout at Convention Center Leave People in Line for Hours

The Presidential Inaugural Committee yesterday postponed an effort to hand-issue tickets to the official inaugural balls and parade after a printing problem and overwhelming turnout bogged down the process.

The committee had sent e-mails to thousands of people who had bought tickets online, telling them to pick them up between yesterday and Monday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. People were asked to come on specific days depending on the first letter of their last name.

People showed up at 8 a.m. yesterday, but several reported standing in line three hours. They said a committee member told them that the computers had malfunctioned. By mid-day, the computers were working, the lines were moving and hundreds of people had their tickets.

But the process had bogged down again by 3 p.m., when the committee sent an e-mail to those who were supposed to show up yesterday telling them to stay home and return Monday instead.

"Due to overwhelming ticket demand and a printing problem, today's scheduled ticket pick-up at the Washington Convention Center has been postponed," the e-mail stated.

The convention center pickup area will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. today and tomorrow for those people originally scheduled to pick up tickets then and from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Monday for those who were unable to pick up tickets yesterday.

The inaugural committee can be reached by e-mail at ticketquestions@pic2009.org.

Maria Murphy, a lawyer from Maryland, showed up yesterday at 9 a.m. to pick up tickets for a friend. By noon, she was frustrated. "These are billable hours I'm missing," she said. Eventually, she got the tickets.

Most people were in good spirits despite the wait. Kimberly Bassett, a Verizon executive from the District, said she got to the convention center a little before 10 a.m. By 12:15 p.m., she was still in line. "It's fun," she said cheerfully. "Everybody's excited." Then she gave a hug to a man whom she had met in line and who had just arrived from Pennsylvania on the train.

Rob Doherty, a public-relations executive from Potomac, was standing behind Bassett. He was holding copies of The Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

"It's like a 'Seinfeld' episode, where people were sent from one office to another. This is one line to another," he said, chuckling." But everyone's in a great mood."

Meanwhile, throughout the convention center, preparations were underway for the six official inaugural balls that will take place there Tuesday. Building officials said they expect a capacity crowd of 42,000 to attend.

But they won't be split evenly among the balls. Projected attendance ranges from 3,500 at the Neighborhood Ball, where Beyoncé is scheduled to serenade the president and his wife during the traditional first dance with the Etta James classic "At Last," to more than 11,000 at the Western Ball, where Marc Anthony will perform.

The official ball menu this year features Italian chicken Roulade (chicken breast stuffed with roasted artichokes, peppers and pine nuts) and two pastas, including tortellini with a roasted organic tomato cream sauce, said Greg Sharpe, the convention center's executive chef, who is overseeing a staff of 120.