As any planner will tell you, planning and organizing an event is incredibly stressful and time-consuming. With so much on your plate, from scheduling speakers to booking vendors, it's easy to forget about one of the most basic yet most essential parts of your entire event: the arrival, registration, and check-in of your guests. Yes, the actual event or fundraiser should be the primary focus of your efforts, but too much chaos and confusion surrounding the arrival and introduction can quickly evolve the greatest event into a head-spinning mess full of angry and unsatisfied guests and customers. Thankfully, with some careful preparation and intuitive foresight, these "pre-event" disasters can easily be avoided. Here are a few key things to think about when planning for the arrival of your guests and organizing your event's registration and check-in:
Make it Obvious!
Your venue may be small and the route to the registration table may seem unmistakable to you, but one or two confused guests can quickly turn into a larger number, so make sure to clearly label and post signs directing incoming traffic. Taping or hanging colored arrows, for example, is a simple and effective way to corral your guests towards the registration table. If you have the extra workers or volunteers, assigning people to help direct arriving guests is a great way to not only facilitate registration but also to greet guests and sponsors and make them feel welcomed to your event. Though this may seem like overkill to some, the preliminary time spent hanging up signs and designating traffic helpers pales in comparison to the time spent managing a madhouse of confused, upset, and, possibly even, lost guests.
Check Internet Connectivity
It' no secret how reliant and dependent many people have become on their smart phones or tablets, so its important to check the internet connectivity at your venue before the day of the event. More importantly, vendors and speakers may need the internet for various reasons so making sure your location has WiFi or a strong 3G network is crucial to making sure your event runs smoothly. For event hosts using an innovative ticketing application like Ticketbud to sell tickets online for their event, the power of the internet will allow guests to simply display their tickets from their smart phones while the hosts scan them with smart phones. Additionally, the connection will allow the hosts to use Ticketbud's guest check-in feature on their computers instead of checking people off with pen and paper. Whatever applications you use, a strong internet connection is key to ensuring a quick and painless registration process for both the host and the guests.
StreamLINE Registration
In a perfect world, arriving patrons and guests of your event would calmly and orderly make their way to the check-in table and patiently wait for their turn to register. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case with many external factors, and event guests anxious to get through the registration process can easily become agitated and angry. To help prevent a mad dash to the check-in table or an argument over who was in front of who, creating a marked and organized line is a simple yet incredibly effective way to maintain order and avoid any confrontations before the event even begins. Additionally, situating your registration and check-in table in a location with enough space to operate without interfering with other parts of your event is vital to keeping the event on time and running smoothly. If your registration table is too close to the bathroom or the line blocks other vendors tables, for example, the entire check-in process could get backed up, wasting valuable time reserved for the main part of your event.
While these tips may seem obvious and even unnecessary, it might surprise you how many event planners overlook such basic yet essential tasks. The time it takes to plan ahead and prepare for such issues is minimal and, in the end, allows you to avoid unneeded distractions and focus your efforts on the main part of your event. The overall key in planning for the arrival and registration of your guests is to account for everything, no matter how trivial or unimportant it may seem. Little problems become big problems incredibly fast, so planning ahead for issues such as the ones mentioned in this article is a great way to keep your event as dilemma-free as possible and your guests arriving untroubled and leaving delighted.
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