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Preparing for Your Event

Event Checklist

Here are some common situations related to supporting your event, informing your attendee, and checking them in when the big day arrives. These are things you should do in advance to help everything go smoothly.

Even if you have your own web-site or social media page, keep information on your public event page as up-to-date as possible. This is very helpful for multi-day events and festivals with entertainment scheduled for different days and time slots. Update your event details as often as you need to keep things current!

When you published your event, you selected options for ticket fulfillment. What you decided then will determine how you'll check in attendee at the event.

  • Print-at-home tickets are attached to the email as a PDF document. Attendees print out the tickets and bring them to the event. You can scan the ticket barcode, or "tap" to check in these tickets.
  • Mobile tickets display ticketinformation and a barcode right in the email. There's no need to print anything; attendee can just show you the ticket on their phone. You can scan the ticket barcodes, or "tap" to check in these tickets.
  • Will-Call doesn't send the attendee a ticket at all. You have an attendee list, they show up with ID, you take it from there... There are no barcodes, so you'll either need to "tap" to check in from the mobile dashboard or use a printed list.

Before you start checking in attendees, make sure you have these covered:

  • Special attendees - have you issued complimentary tickets to performers and their crews, vendors, the press, etc?
  • Mobile devices - do you have one for each check-in station?
  • Chargers and cords - especially for events in remote locations, will you be able to recharge all your devices when you need to?

Once you start checking in, you have several options:

  • Mobile Dashboard - works on any mobile device with a browser. After signing in, access the attendee list and check in attendees as they show their tickets. With an Android or Apple device, you can use the camera to scan the barcode on the ticket, or just "tap" to check in. On iOS devices you can scan tickets only using a Chrome or Safari browser, or manually check-in attendees from other browsers. If you have trouble, make sure your device is updated with the latest software for OS and browsers and try again.
  • Ticket Scanner - works on Android, or on iOS with a Safari or Chrome browser. For larger events that may have several stations to admit attendees, and may use volunteers to do that, this page supports only the scan and check-in features of the Mobile Dashboard. The Ticket Scanner page does not require a user login. Just enter an Event ID and a PIN to use it. Then you don't have to worry about exposing any of the other data about your event.
  • Printed Attendee List - if you prefer, there's always the print option. The mobile dashboard offers several formats for attendee lists. Pick the one you prefer and send it to your inbox to print in advance.
  • Wristbands - If you are issuing wristbands to attendees as they check in, make sure you have enough for all your advance-sale attendees, plus day-of-show sales, plus performers, vendors, press, etc.

Especially for events held off the beaten track, such as music festivals out in the boonies, verify the availability and quality of your mobile carrier's service well in advance. If you don't have good service, you may need to resort to printed attendee lists for check-in. Also remember that once a good portion of your attendees arrive, they will be using their phones, and the quality of your service may degrade as the local cell tower gets maxed out.

If you plan to have multiple check-in stations, you may need some assistants to handle it all. You can use our Multi-User Access features to set up an account authorized to check in attendees from the Mobile Dashboard (or even better - use the Ticket Scanner mobile page which requires no user account, only a PIN). If you do choose to set up an account, do that well in advance, and test it to make sure it has only the capabilities and access you intended.

If you want to sell tickets at the door of the event, you have a few options:

  • Normal online sales with Mobile Ticketing fulfillment. This allows buyers to purchase from your event page as normal. The mobile ticket will arrive in their inbox, and they can show their phone to gain entry. You can set this up in the Event Wizard in the TICKETING section.
  • The Purchase-at-Door option for your event allows you to run the mobile "pay station", and either take cash or enter credit card details from last-minute ticket buyers as they arrive. You can set this up in the Event Wizard in the PAYMENTS section.
  • Printed Tickets are another great option for this. Order a print run to match your needs. They can be sold both in advance and at the door. You can set this up in the Event Wizard in the EXTRAS section (desktop only).

We're here to answer your questions and help you make your event a success - but don't wait until the last minute to call! If you need help, call early and avoid the stress of dealing with problems while your attendees are starting to arrive.