Top Tips to Make Event Check-Ins Smoother Than Ever

The first thing attendees notice at your event venue is the registration desk. It’s their first touchpoint that starts shaping their impression of your event. The event starts as soon as an attendee checks in. That’s why you need to make sure the experience at the registration desk is the best it can be. That means using the best technology to check-in attendees quickly, making the registration process streamlined and getting as many people as possible through the doors in a short time.

Here’s what you need to do to make your event check-ins smoother than ever:

Set event check-in time

Before the event, inform attendees when the registration desk will be open for check-in. You can send out a push notification in your mobile event app or drop them an email. Specify the time when attendees should show up and clearly mention the directions to the registration desk, so that no one is left wandering aimlessly around the venue.

Strategically set the registration desk

The registration desk should tie into your event’s branding, and the branding elements (logos, colours etc) should be clearly visible from a distance. When figuring out where to set up your registration desk, think about how attendees will enter the venue. The desk should be in a central, easily accessible location of the venue, but not too close to the entrance and exit else it may act as a hindrance. You don’t want to make it challenging for attendees to get in and out of the venue.

Shorten the queue

This is a crucial aspect of your event – there shouldn’t be any queues! Attendees will enter the event at different times, but most would want to get in at the same time. With proper planning and a little help from technology, you can prevent a long queue at the registration desk. You need to ensure the queue is short and always moving so that maximum people can get in a short time.

Use onsite tech

With event registration technology, check-ins can be a breeze. You can use iPad sign-in and on-demand badge printing to streamline the registration process with ease. You won’t even need many people to staff the desk, as much of it is done on a self-serve basis. Registration tech also gives you the chance to capture attendee data correctly, which provides insights to improve your future events. You also reduce the risk of manual errors and make real-time adjustments to accommodate last-minute registrants.

Generate badges onsite

Your attendees are required to wear badges for the length of your event so it’s imperative to have their basic details on the badge like name, designation and organisation. You can also include necessary information about transport, onsite support, medical emergencies etc on it. For events that span over several days, it’s usually a good idea to have an abbreviated schedule printed on the back of the badge for easy reference. You can also try embedding your badges with QR codes, as it can help you capture crucial data about session attendance, attendee information, and a lot more. However, whatever you do, make sure that there isn’t so much information on the badge that it becomes hard to read attendee names.

After you’ve decided on the perfect name badge, comes the time-consuming and inconvenient process of getting them printed and distributed. One way is to do it all manually by pre-printing and pre-arranging all the badges alphabetically and then handing them out on the event day. However, the process becomes much easier with event technology. You can generate them onsite instantaneously as each attendee checks in. This reduces the risk of any manual errors that might have crept in, allows you to rectify any errors on the spot and significantly decrease your workload.

Provide Support

Even if you have all the right tech, you will still need to have support on hand in case something goes wrong. Badge printers can jam, iPad screens can run out of battery, and there is always the chance that there will be a user error. Determine the number of support staff you’ll require based on the number of attendees. There should always be someone around to offer support, often more at the beginning of the day.