Blog
Notes from the door.
Field notes, product thinking and practical guides from the CheckInHub team — on events, check-in, crew and the front door.
The front door when the trains are running late
Leaf fall, storms and engineering works mean autumn is the season for late trains, and a late train turns a steady arrival into a gap and then a rush. Here is how to run the door on a disruption day so the people stuck on the platform still get a calm welcome.
Read articleTimed entry slots that actually spread the queue
Pumpkin patches, Halloween trails and Christmas grottos all sell timed slots, and plenty of them still end up with a queue at the gate. Here is how to size the slots, set the rules and brief the door so the slots do the job they were sold to do.
Read articleRunning the front door at a fireworks night
Bonfire Night falls on a Thursday this year, so most displays will run across two weekends. It is dark by half past four, the crowd arrives in one wave and everyone leaves at once. Here is how to run the gate so the count holds from first arrival to last car out.
Read articleRunning the front door at an open day
Autumn is open day season for colleges, universities and schools. Families arrive in twos and threes, half of them never registered, and they all want to be somewhere at the same time. Here is how to run the door so the count holds and the follow-up works.
Read articleThe front door after the clocks go back
From Sunday 25 October, most evening events start in the dark. Here is what changes at the front door, from the walk up to the entrance to the last guest out, and how to plan for it now.
Read articleChecking guests in at an awards dinner
An awards dinner fills a room in forty minutes and then sits everyone down at once. Here is how to run the front door for an evening of round tables, company bookings and a ceremony that starts on time.
Read articleChecking in speakers before they are needed on stage
Speakers are the guests with a deadline. They arrive at odd times, by odd doors, and the programme falls over if nobody knows they are in the building. Here is how to give them a front door of their own.
Read articlePlanning the Christmas party front door in September
The venue and the date for the work Christmas party get booked early. The front door usually gets planned the week before. Here is what to settle now, while there is still time to do it properly.
Read articleThe numbers worth pulling after the event
The front door records more than a headcount. Here are the five figures worth pulling from check-in the week after an event, and what each one tells you about the next one.
Read articleOpening badge collection the night before
An evening desk at the conference hotel takes a chunk of the morning queue away before it forms. Here is when it is worth running, how to staff it, and how to keep one count across both desks.
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