Whether your event is hosting thousands of cosplayers, families with children, or thirsty beer festival attendees, the primary goal of your admission process is always the same: getting people into your venue as safely and quickly as possible.Â
Moving hundreds— or thousands— of people through the entrance of your venue can be a challenging task to plan for. To help ease this task, our event operations experts put together tips that can help you plan your admission strategy.
Consider Your Venue
Before planning your admission strategy, you first need to take into account the structure of your venue. How many entrances will you have access to, and how many entry lanes will you be able to set up? If you’re planning on selling VIP or other premium ticket levels, you must consider having one entry lane set aside specifically for these ticket holders.
Where will your box office be located? Will your box office team be working from tables, booths, or another setup? You’ll need to keep the venue’s maximum capacity in mind in order to prevent too large of a crowd for the space.
Credentialing Your Guests
The type of credentialing you’re planning on using is a key component of perfecting your admission strategy. Will you be offering print-at-home or mobile tickets, or will everything be Will Call? Keep in mind that Will Call will require more staffing than if your guests arrive with their tickets in-hand.
If you plan on using badges or wristbands, will these be mailed to guests prior to the event, or will they need to be fulfilled on site? If this is the case, you’ll want to have a smooth system in place so that tickets can be scanned and credentials provided as the line flows toward the entrance.
Timing is Everything
Each event has a specific arrival pattern, and you’ll need to anticipate it in order to plan your admission strategy. A concert or sporting event will typically see most of their guests enter at the same time, whereas an art exhibition or a weekend-long fandom event typically sees a steady flow of attendees coming and going throughout the day. Knowing when to expect the bulk of your guests can help with staffing, merchandise, concessions, and capacity considerations.
Interested in some more in-depth assistance with planning and improving your admission strategy? Check out what our Event Operations team can do for you!