Enhancing Attendee Registration Experience with run.events Registration Desk module

Feb 04, 2024 / 1 min read

By: Adis Jugo, President at run.events

When you plan attendee check-in flow for your event, one of the main decisions that you will need to make is whether you are going with registration desks and attended check-in, or if you will be offering self-service check-in kiosks to your attendees.

Registration desks and attended check-in undoubtedly have their charm: there is someone to greet the arriving attendees, maybe they will hand out welcome bags, and if any registration issues come up, they can then be sorted out immediately by the registration staff.

However, registration desks also often mean registration queues. Depending on the number of attendees that need to be registered and the average length of registration, those queues can be annoyingly long and they can make a bad first impression on the event attendees. Luckily, modern event tech is today at a level where on-site badge printing requires less time than preprinting badges and searching for them when the attendees show up at the desk. run.events, for example, promises that the time between ticket scan and badge printing will be under 10 seconds.

The 10 seconds promise

Therefore, we have developed the "run.events Registration Desk" feature, which offers all the speed, power, and flexibility needed by the registration staff to perform their tasks in the shortest time possible.

If attendees come with a prepared event ticket - either a digital ticket in the mobile app or mobile wallet, or a printed ticket, all what the registration staff needs to do is scan that ticket with any barcode scanner that supports QR codes, and the ticket is already being printed. Alternatively, registration staff can type someone's name or company, click on the ticket, and proceed with printing. This is what we internally call the "Battle-stations" mode of the run.events Registration Desk.

Searching for the attendees in Advanced Mode

Now, obviously, there will be cases when the ticket or attendee cannot be uniquely identified, mainly because the ticket has been bought by someone other than the attendee and it has not been properly assigned, thus the attendee cannot be found. Those are also the cases where event badges cannot be printed in a quick manner. That's what the "Advanced mode" of the "run.events Registration Desk" is for: it allows registration staff to easily find tickets and attendees by any possible criteria - name, company name, the name of the person who purchased tickets, ticket number, etc. The registration process and badge printing take a bit longer in this scenario, but the registration staff is given all the power and flexibility they need to find those tickets in the system and register attendees in the easiest possible way.

The best practice is to create one Help Desk just for those cases to keep the registration flow at the other counters quick. If attendees cannot be found quickly by the registration staff, they will be politely asked to turn to the help desk, that way minimizing the queues at the regular registration desks.

Badge invalidation and replacement badges

The run.events Registration Desk feature has another important role: it allows the registration desk staff to easily invalidate old badges and create replacement badges. It is often the case that attendees approach the registration desk with claims that the original badge has been damaged or lost and require a new badge. run.events fully supports this scenario: attendees can get their replacement badges, but the old lost or damaged badges will be invalidated in the system, so if anyone tries to use them, they will not be admitted by entrance control or session control.

Recap

In conclusion, when orchestrating the check-in flow for your event, choosing between traditional registration desks and self-service check-in kiosks hinges on your event's unique requirements and the experience you aim to provide for attendees. While registration desks offer a personal touch and immediate assistance, they can also lead to longer wait times and queues. On the other hand, advancements in event technology significantly streamline the process, offering rapid badge printing and a range of features to accommodate different scenarios. Whether opting for the efficiency and speed of "Battle-stations mode" or the detailed assistance of "Advanced mode," run.events offers event organizers the power and flexibility to create a seamless, welcoming, and efficient entry experience for all attendees, ensuring a positive first impression and a smooth start to the event.