Event planners know it best. The first physical experience your attendees have with your event isn’t when they walk into the venue. It’s not the drinks. It’s not the food. It’s not the decor.
It’s the door.
And the bigger your event, the more details you need to think about. How long will the door be staffed for? Will your door staff need shifts? How will the lines be organized? Do you need a separate entrance for VIPs? How many people do you need to run the door?
When your event runs smoothly, it runs like a duck in water. Above water is what everyone else sees: a duck that’s cool, calm, and collected. But here’s the secret: if you peek under the calm surface, the duck’s legs and feet aren’t calm -- they’re paddling like crazy.
Want your event to run as smoothly as a duck? Here are 5 best practices for reaching your highest door goals.
It goes without saying: your VIPs are the biggest reason you’re having an event. Which is why organizing lines and designating drop-offs and pick-up spots for VIPs is something you need to think seriously about.
In my experience, I’ve found that creating a box with velvet ropes is the most effective way to organize a line.
It creates ample space for you to control the area right in front of the door. It also enables you to create 3 lines (left, right and center). Think of any night club you have gone to, this holding area is super effective.
Additionally, if available, try to find a separate door to sneak in VIPs; the more entrances the better.
Here are a few more tips on how to create a distinctive experience for your VIPs:
• Have the VIP guests come to a specific door.
• Give VIP guests a different arrival time (At least an hour early)
• Give VIP guests a different color wristband/lanyard/etc. (give to your Biz dev people to hand out)
• Have VIPs meet in advance to pick up VIP bracelets.
What’s just as important as the organization of your door is the face of your door. Sure, you may be tempted to put just anyone at your door. But how an attendee, or more importantly, a VIP, interacts with your staff can make or break their experience.
This might sound like the opposite of what you should do, but you need to get the best on your team running the door -- whether it’s the director of communications, your best salesperson, or a marketing executive. These are the people who know the VIPs and customers over the hired help.
Once your boxes of lines are created, think of the flow as a conveyor belt. Have 3 different people working this rotation in shifts with these 3 stages.
• 1) Security: a physical person checking for 21+
• 2) List/Wristbands: a person to ask, “Are you on the list?” and attach a wristband
• 3) Counter: someone to keep track of the number attendees/space/capacity. Not just the numbers but the feeling at the event. (how packed does it feel).
Ditch the clipboard and shrink lines.
Improve your attendees’ experience by using a check-in technology that allows you to not only check in with a quick search-and-click, but also allows you to sync your data with your entire tech stack.
This (bonus!) allows you to add guests on the fly. Not on the list? No problem! Add and capture all the data and send them on their way.
Don’t ever underestimate communication, especially with the team that’s running the door. Whether you use a walkie-talkie, or a messaging app like Slack (keep your team updated automatically and in real-time) as it’s imperative that you always keep in touch with your door.
The last thing you want to think about is hitting capacity. Because hitting capacity for your event would be a good thing… right?
Unfortunately, not keeping track of the number of attendees, and subsequently, violating fire permit laws, is a common problem for many event planners. Avoid this by using an old-fashioned clicker or the Splash App using the “checked out” status -- that’s key for tracking who’s in and out of the space.
Pro tip: have the fire permit in hand and contract printed out. And have another person keep track of how it feels inside the event, whether it’s hot in the venue or too crowded.
A couple good questions to consider asking the venue manager about the space:
• How many people in the venue makes it feel full?
• How many people makes it feel empty?
• Where can lines form?
• How many people can be at the bar at a time? (A typical drink order takes about 2 minutes. Alleviate bar crowds by having cocktail wait staff holding pre-made drinks.)
Sure, attendees may arrive late. Sure, you may still be organizing right up until the last minute. But people will begin showing up 25 minutes after starting time, which means, security has to be ready for the flow of arrivals. Some people will also arrive early and if the door isn’t staffed, you don’t want these people sneaking in before it’s time.
When I was a rookie planner, I remember being very nervous that there were too many RSVPs and the right people wouldn't get in.
As much as the experience at the door matters, remember: a packed event is a good thing. A very good thing. A line makes you look popular, and people don't really mind waiting (if it moves). Much worse than over crowding is UNDER crowding... no one likes an empty room. And when someone on your team is stressing, tell them to chill. You got this.
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Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways.
