I like that you stuck to your guns last night as far as the number of 'tickets' available. It encourages players to come early, get a good seat and chat. It also rules out those bringing multiple characters to the event getting a better chance of winning, if say you gave each player in attendance a ticket.
I love the ethy vet reward prize idea and honestly, bigger and better things are going to really get 'bodies in the door', as they say. But be mindful of the cost of tickets if you continue to to do it this way. The higher the price is, the more people will be turned off. I even saw a few folks complaining about it last night.
Thank you for running this little side game, Bluntman! We all appreciate you giving back to the community!