4 Creative Tricks For Keeping Admissions Organized At The Door
The events industry is growing rapidly across business sectors. With over 80% of business leaders agreeing that in-person events are a critical part of their marketing strategy in 2019, finding ways to incorporate events into your marketing playbook is probably on your to-do list. And, once you nail advertising, find volunteers, and draw in the attendees you need, you’ll probably feel like you’ve jumped over the biggest hurdles.
Don’t underestimate the gate. Sure, 70% of people buy event tickets online. But, the 30% that don’t are going to start forming a line. And, between checking online purchases, handing out wristbands, printing receipts, handing out stock, and ushering people through the doors, it’s easy to mismanage your event materials on Day 1.
Here’s how you can keep those event materials organized at-the-door.
1. Assign Each Material
Events deal with tons of consumables and moving material. From your paper receipts to your wristbands, stock, and passes, you’ll be dealing with a plethora of small items. And, it's easy to get overwhelmed and lose or mismanage these items. After plenty of experience helping with events, we always recommend that event managers/gatekeepers assign separate workers/volunteers to each material.
So, one person should be responsible for passes, and another should be responsible for wristbands, etc. This helps keep each person hyper-focused on their own inventory and prevents confusion at the front door.
Sure! This may require additional staff. But it’s worth it. The last thing you want is for someone’s first impression of your brand to be sitting in a long line at the door while staff shuffle for items they need.
2. Keep Material Separated
Not only should you put a unique person on each material, but you should also separate each material to minimize the possibility that the items mix together. A box filled with wristbands, stock, and passes is a recipe for disaster.
Instead, try putting each kind of ticket or pass in its own envelope. Mark each envelope with the material type and the number of materials present for tracking purposes.
To recap: Have a person assigned to each material type AND store each item in a unique envelope.
3. Keep Tabs on Bulk Takes
If you’re handing out large quantities or bulk material, have the person receiving the material write down what they took. So, if you have a worker that needs 25 passes to hand out at another area in the building, you should have them write down what they’re taking and why they’re taking it.
This gives you optics into your material handling. Plus, it helps your workers assigned to the materials remember why they’re short on an item or how much they handed out. Believe it or not, 29% of event organizers list printed items as their most significant expense. You don’t want to lose all of those pricey tickets and passes.
4. Organize Assigned Seating Tickets
If you have assigned seating at your event, you can organize each ticket into a container — like an index card box. In fact, it’s a good idea to go back to the school strategy. Remember those binder organizers and colored tabs? Use those!
An index box with colored tabs housing your event materials by their reserved seat is a great way to stay hyper-organized. It will definitely help your workers stay on-the-ball when it comes to material handling and distribution.
Final Thoughts
Handling materials at your next event doesn’t have to cause you headaches. With a little organization and some smart management, you can ensure that those tickets and passes don’t become a time-sink and a source of revenue leakage.
