Ticketbud Tips and Tools*
August 4, 2014  •  by Jane Carter

The Best Way To Check in Attendees at Any Event.

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Check-in Training Guide

 

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After months of stress, hard work and planning, your event is finally here! Check-in is your event’s first impression so, to help make it a good one, we’ve put together this nifty little guide.

This guide is designed for the person(s) in charge of managing and overseeing check-in at the event. Guides for volunteers and team members performing specific duties and actions are included below.

CONTENTS

What To Consider

Check-in Methods

  • Ticketbud’s Scanner App

  • Online Check-in

  • Guest List

Troubleshooting

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What To Consider

No matter the size of your event, there are a few key things to prepare for when setting up your event check-in.

  • Entry Points

    • How many access points will your event have?

Are you funneling all your attendees through one, single doorway? Are there multiple gates spread out around your event? It’s important to keep track of all your entrance points and ensure they are properly staffed.

We recommend having at least 3-4 people per entrance point. This number should increase the bigger your ratio of attendees to entrance points becomes.

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  • Lines For Different Ticket Types

    • Will you have different lines for different ticket types (VIP, GA, etc)?

    • Will you have different lines to scan tickets, check off guest list, etc?

Setting up different lines is a great way to alleviate congestion and prevent your check-in from getting backed up. On the other hand, when poorly managed multiple lines can lead to more confusion.

Make sure your different lines are clearly marked and your check-in team directs attendees into the right line quickly and smoothly. Often times it is helpful to have team members with scanners move through the line scanning tickets so when they reach the entry point they can simply hand their ticket and enter.

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  • Where Will On-Site Sales Take Place?

    • If you’re selling tickets at the event, where will guests do this in relation to your entrances?

On-site sales are a great way to bring in some extra revenue at the event. It’s important, though, to make sure the line and wait for this does not interfere with the lines to get into your event.

Try to keep your on-site sales table or booth off to the side of the main lines and clearly mark where the line should wind to avoid mixing lines and confusing patrons.

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  • Re-entry

    • Are guests allowed back in once they leave? If so, how will you keep track?

If you plan on allowing guests back in to your event, you need to consider 2 things:

  1. How will you signify they have bought a ticket?

  2. Which line will they use to get back in?

Stamps and wristbands are two of the most common ways to signify someone has already bought a ticket. You can do this upon purchasing a ticket or as they go to leave the event. Whatever you use, make sure it is not easy to replicate and can be easily identified by your staff.

Once your guests return to the event, it’s helpful to have a “re-entry” line specifically meant for returning guests. This makes entry easier to manage and avoids confusion.

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Check-in Methods

Ticketbud offers three primary methods of managing check-in at your event. You can successfully use one or all of these methods to check guests in; it’s entirely up to you and the needs of your event.

1. Ticketbud’s Scanner App

Ticketbud provides a free scanner app for iOS and Android devices. You can download these apps from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, respectively.

The app utilizes the camera functionality of your device to scan the barcodes on the tickets we send to your guests. The app also contains a list of your attendees who have bought a ticket and you can search for their name and check them in manually.

If you are granting app check-in access to team members, you can either provide them with your email and password or make them each a Collaborator for the event. Once they are a Collaborator, the team member will be prompted to create an account, which they can then use to login to the app and check-in guests for your event.

 

How To Access & Use The Scanner App

 

1. After downloading the app to your phone, locate the app and open it.

 

2. On the the login screen, enter the login credentials for the event. This will be either the email and password associated with the Ticketbud account or the email and password of a Collaborator (see above).

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3. Find the event and click on it.

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4. In your event, you will see details about the event and options to Scan Tickets and access the Attendee List.

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  • To Scan Tickets

    1. Press the Scan Tickets box

    2. The screen will now switch into scanner/camera mode. Hover the phone over a ticket’s barcode and the app will automatically scan the barcode.

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    1. Once scanned, you can easily click out of the pop up window and continue scanning.

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  • To Check-in Attendees Manually

    1. Press the Attendee List box

    2. On this page, you will see a list of all guests who have bought a ticket to your event.

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You can either scroll through the list to find an attendees name or search their name via the search bar at the top.

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    1. To check a guest in, simply press the green Check-in button to the right of their name. This will mark them as checked-in in our system.

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If you need to Uncheck-in a guest for any reason, simply press the black Uncheck-in button and it will turn back to the original green button.

 

2. Online Check-in

Ticketbud also provides a page online within your account to check guests in. This page is best accessed via a laptop or a tablet and is most commonly used at a booth or check-in table.

How To Access & Use The Check-in Guests Page

 
  1. To begin, login to your account on Ticketbud, click My Events from the top navigation bar and then click Manage.  Next, click Check-in Guests towards the bottom of the toolbar on the left side.

   

  1. On the Check-in Guests page, you will see the # of guests checked in so far and how many guests have yet to show up. Below that you will see a search bar where you can enter any part of a person’s name. Typing a name will bring up guests with that name.

  2. Click the Check-In button next to the ticket holder’s name to mark them as checked in. The button will then change to show UnCheck-In.  You can always click again to uncheck-in the attendee.

 

3. Guest List

As a final check-in option, we also provide a printed Guest List for you to manually check people in at your event. The list sorts your attendees alphabetically to make check-in quick and easy.

 
  1. To begin, login to your account on Ticketbud, click My Events from the top navigation bar and then click Manage.  Next, click Check-in Guests towards the bottom of the toolbar on the left side.

 
  1. On the Check In Guests page, click the Print button at the top right.  This will export a list of your attendees into a .pdf file.​ You can chose to print a list of all of your ticket purchasers or select a list of just a specific ticket type (VIP, GA, etc).

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  1. To print, open the file and click File then Print to print out your list of attendees.

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Troubleshooting

The Ticketbud platform has been optimized to run smoothly and check guests in efficiently. However, if you do run into an issue during check-in here are a few troubleshoot options to relay to your team.

  • Slow Load Times

    • Do the tickets scan slowly and/or the guest list takes a while to come up?

If the internet connection is weak or the network being accessed is also being used by others, the app may load more slowly. If a scan or guest list is taking unusually long, you can cancel the action by returning to the main app page and then going back into the feature.

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  • User Not Showing Up

    • Is an attendee’s name or ticket not showing up in the system?

If you search for an attendee through the app or on Ticketbud and there name does not appear, here are a few troubleshooting questions you can ask:

a. What name did the person who bought the ticket use?

– Many times the purchaser of a ticket uses their own name for the ticket holder as well. Ask the attendee if someone else purchased their ticket and, if so, what his or her name is.

b. What is the email associated with the ticket purchase?

– If you cannot locate a person by name, try entering the email associated with the purchase. This is especially useful if you have multiple attendees with the same name.

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If you have any additional questions about your event check-in, shoot us an email at cs@ticketbud.com or call us at 512-215-8069!

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