Event check-in greatly influences your attendee’s first impressions and sets the tone for the rest of your conference. Give your audience an experience to remember by following best practices and avoiding common check-in mistakes.
Do’s: Event check-in best practices
When planning your event check-in process, aim for success and ease. These focuses will boost your attendee’s impression of your organization and conference. Engage in check-in best practices to ensure your guests have an unmatched experience.
Hire friendly and knowledgeable staff
If you plan to have staff members greet, check-in or direct guests, ensure they are personable and communicative. They need to greet attendees pleasantly — however, your team also needs to know the venue, event details and how to use any necessary technology.
Your team should be familiar with the event enough to answer common questions. This knowledge includes understanding the venue’s layout, including restrooms, coat check and other amenities. If you’re using technology like check-in scanners or event apps, ensure your staff access to it.
Stagger arrivals
For those who have the option, it might be easier to have guests sign up for check-in timeslots. You can space them apart by a few minutes or schedule groups to arrive at 20-minute intervals. Place limits on the number of people who can sign up for each arrival slot and communicate a grace period for guests who arrive late.
Your attendees will arrive at specific times, decreasing congestion and wait times and preventing the crowd from overwhelming your staff or event technology.
Use our contactless event check-in app
A contactless check-in app will help enhance the entry process at your event. These tools streamline the process, allowing guests to sign themselves in, usually via barcode, QR code or a push of a button.
Contactless technology is beneficial for several reasons, including that you need very few staff members to oversee these areas. Everyone else can complete other tasks during the check-in process.
At Expo Logic, we offer ExpressPass to allow attendees to scan badges. Our platform also has on-demand badge printing capabilities. Contactless event check-in tools will help you expedite the entry process, creating a more pleasant experience for everyone.
Don’ts: Common event check-in mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, and it’s common to see a few at event check-in. Whether something slips your mind during preparation or a great idea falls through when put into practice, know you can prevent those issues next time. Here are a few common check-in mistakes so that you can avoid making them.
Use alphabetical check-in lines
You might see alphabetical lines pop up when you research the best ways to make the check-in process more efficient. However, they do not increase efficiency in most cases and can cause further delays.
Alphabetical check-in lines confuse and make it more difficult for your guests to sign in. This effect is even more noticeable if your attendees are allowed to bring guests or register in groups, as they may not know whose name their party is under for the event. This strategy can also cause further congestion purely because of the number of lines and staff members you’d need for the process.
Pre-print guest badges
When you picture a check-in area for a conference or similar event, you likely see a table full of pre-printed name badges. While setting these nametags out works, in theory, the stress of you or your guests trying to find the correct name tag can cause delays.
Instead of pre-printing guest badges, invest in an on-demand badge printer to increase clarity and simplify the process. Attendees can scan their tickets or enter their information, and the printer will create their badge immediately.
Pick an inadequate check-in area
Choosing a small check-in area might seem beneficial at the moment, but it can pose several issues. A check-in area that doesn’t have enough room or cannot fit your equipment and other materials can cause congestion and delays.
Think about how the layout will affect your guests’ experiences. Make checking in easy to navigate and avoid long lines with a large area near the venue’s entrance.
