Designing your check-in experience
Check-in is often the first touch point with your attendees, why not get off to a great start.
Kiosks, staffed or both?
The key choice that will decide the design of your check-in experience is just how attendees will be checked-in and badged. The two main types are kiosks or staffed check-in. Kiosks rely on the attendees themselves to check themselves in and then trigger a badge print, they may then either collect their badge or directly take it from a printer. Staffed check-in’s use “greeters” to meet with your attendees as they arrive, they will scan the attendee QR code/look up the attendee and then trigger a badge print.
Kiosks require less staff but are generally slower than staffed check-ins. The choice of which is best to use generally comes down to the throughput of attendees required in your given check-in period. If there is a short window of time to get attendees through the door, staffed works best, if check-in lasts all day and attendees will continuously arrive, kiosks may be your best option. Another consideration is space, staffed check-ins usually require less space as the throughput is higher. Space is something which needs to be considered on a per event basis, we here at Badgy can help you design your check-in experience once we have a layout of your event space.
Hybrid options can also work well. Typically this is a kiosk based check-in with a single lane of staffed check-in or an “Assistance desk”. Either of these will allow for attendees who are having issues or need something changed on their ticket to be catered for without causing delays in the main queue.
In general we here at Badgy see far more staffed check-ins than other setups. A key reason for a lot of our customers is that they want to have that initial experience for their attendees to be a personal one. They want to give that morning greeting to their attendees, answer a question they might have as they arrive, guide them right to where they need to go. The event experience starts as soon as your attendees begin their check-in, don’t let that contact point go to waste.
Queuing
Queues are necessary when it comes to check-in, but wait times are not. Effective queues balance the load of attendees as they arrive in to check-in, focus attendees so that they are ready with their information and allow staff members to quickly identify and help attendees who need it.
Your queuing should be straight forward for your attendees, label the lanes to identify them, A, B C, or 1, 2, 3 etc. Erect signage to remind attendees to have their QR code ready to be scanned. Clearly label the Assistance desk for attendees who may need more help. It’s also important to ensure attendees know where to move to after check-in, ideally they clear the check-in area once they have their badge to allow for space for attendees behind them.
A top-tip is to add a little bit of space between check-in and badge collection when using a staffed check-in. If you can give a 5 meter gap between the person scanning the attendee QR code and the area where the badge is being printed, you can really enhance the attendee experience. The gap allows the staff member at the printer prep the badge for collection but also gives them a moment to read the badge. The staff member can now greet your attendee by their name and welcome them as they pass out the badge. It’s a simple thing but a very nice touch.
The number of queues will likely be decided by the number of printers in use. They do not have to translate 1-1 but they often do for larger events. The question then becomes how many printers do I need. We have found a single printer if used within a staffed check-in can handle around 200 attendees per hour. You can use this rough calculation to decide the number of printers you might need for your event.
Sticky labels or all-in-one badges
There are a number of factors that will decide the type of badge to be used, but the primary one is likely cost. Thermal coated all-in-one badges, these are badges with preprinted designs and a gap left for attendee info, look beautiful and are often the first choice for our clients when they see the options. However they are significantly more expensive than other options. These badges depending on volume will cost from $2-$5 a piece. The cheaper option is to use sticky-labels. These are thermal labels that come in large rolls. They are very cost effective with thousands of labels included in a $60 box. These can be directly applied to the attendee’s clothing or stuck onto some form of backing card. Sticking these badges to a backing card is the most common form of badging for our clients. The reason is the blend of cost and appearance. Backing card for the labels to adhere to are far cheaper than having the designs printed on an all in one badge. The card is designed and printed in full color with a gap left for the sticky label to be adhered. These are generally very cheap to print at around 50c a piece.
Outside of price another factor may be speed, sticky-labels by themselves or all-in-one badges are quicker than sticking onto backing card. Environmental concerns often come up as another reason for using sticky-labels alone. Companies are more conscious of the footprint and want to reduce waste as much as is possible. Similarly we have seen companies create backing cards whereby the design can be used for multiple events, this helps them reduce the waste of unused cards.
Wrap up
The main focus of your check-in experience should be convenience and speed. We know our clients create amazing events and conferences for their attendees. Our mission at Badgy is to get your attendees into your event as seamlessly and as quickly as possible so that they can get straight to enjoying the amazing experiences you have crafted for them.
Use the above to craft your check-in setup, whether that is kiosks or staffed, sticky-labels or all-in-ones. Think about your queues and how best they might suit your venue and space available. Most of all ensure that your setup is aligned with getting your attendees checked-in, badged and enjoying the experience you have spent so much time creating for them as quickly as possible.
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