How to run event check-in without queues

Before the first song, speech or game, fans meet your door. A quick, calm entry sets the mood for the whole night; a long queue in the cold does the opposite, and a crush at the gate is a safety problem. Here is how to plan check-in so everyone gets in quickly and safely.

Plan for the peak, not the average

Fans don’t arrive evenly. Most turn up in a short window: when doors open, just before the headliner or right before the start. So work out your busiest minute, not your average one.

The numbers from a real show make the point. When 40,000 fans came to see Pitbull at Ta’ Qali, scanning averaged 207 scans a minute across the site, and the busiest single minute admitted 838 people: four times the average. Entry that copes with the average will still queue at the peak.

To size your entrances:

1. Estimate your peak arrivals per minute. Past events, the timings on your tickets and when your public transport arrives all help.
2. Time one lane. At a smaller event or a rehearsal, count how many fans one steward scans in a minute, with phones out and bags checked.
3. Divide, then add a spare. Peak arrivals divided by one lane’s speed gives the lanes you need. Add at least one spare for a problem ticket or a steward’s break.

Scan on phones your team already has

Entry doesn’t need special hardware. With Eventworks, every steward installs the Eventworks scanner app on a phone and scans tickets, passes and access cards straight away. For your busiest entrances, dedicated laser scanners are available to rent, and venues with turnstiles can connect entry to their gates, so tickets and access cards open the turnstiles.

Keep scanning when the Wi-Fi drops

A big crowd can overload the mobile network just when you need it most. Make sure your scanning doesn’t depend on it.

Eventworks scanning works offline. Each ticket is checked on the phone itself, and everything syncs when the connection comes back. Tickets aren’t preloaded onto the devices, so a ticket bought an hour before doors still opens the door.

Stop copied tickets at the gate

A screenshot of a ticket looks exactly like the real thing. What matters is that it can only get in once. Each Eventworks ticket is refused if it has already been scanned, and every scan is on record with the reason a ticket was refused: already in, wrong day or not valid. Your stewards see the answer in a fraction of a second and can send the fan to the help point instead of arguing at the lane.

Brief the people on the door

Your stewards are the face of your event. Before doors:

• Give everyone the right access. Door Manager and Scanner roles show staff only what they need.
• Explain what each result means. Valid, already in, wrong day: and what to do for each.
• Set up a help point. Fans who can’t find their ticket shouldn’t hold up a lane. Someone with access to orders at the help point can find the order and resend the ticket by email or WhatsApp.
• Test every device days before. Log in, scan a test ticket and check the result on every phone, with time to swap any that don’t work.
• Bring power. Charged phones and a power bank per lane.

Handle guests and walk-ups without clipboards

Guest lists and door sales are where queues often start.

• Guest lists: add guests one by one or import a spreadsheet, then check them in like any other ticket. No printed list, no crossing out names.
• Box office: sell at the door from the same ticket stock as your online shop, cash or card, so you never sell a place twice.

Watch arrivals live and move your team

Live check-in shows arrivals by ticket type and show as they happen. If one entrance backs up while another is quiet, you see it in time to move stewards or open another lane.

At the Pitbull show, the live numbers gave the organisers, the performers’ team and the safety officers a headcount for every area of the venue at once, and the crew opened extra lanes and moved queuing barriers whenever a zone filled faster than planned. Read the full story.

Your door checklist

• Estimate your peak arrivals per minute.
• Time one lane, then plan lanes for the peak, plus a spare.
• Install the scanner app and give each steward the right role.
• Test every device days before the event.
• Charge phones and bring power banks.
• Import your guest lists.
• Set up box office sales on the same stock.
• Brief stewards on each scan result and the help point.
• Open doors early enough for the peak.
• Watch arrivals live and move your team as queues build.

See everything the door can do on our entry page, or book a demo and we’ll walk through the entry plan for your next event.