As an event planner, one of your major responsibilities is anticipating problems. Even more important, is to have a solution at-the-ready so your client or your boss doesn’t have to worry.

Some of the most common problems arise during guest check-in, luckily they can usually be handled quickly and easily if you prepare beforehand. Here are the five biggest check-in hurdles and how to handle them seamlessly.

Unexpected Guests

While some of your registered guests may never show up, you’ll also likely have to deal with a few unexpected attendees. Whether they never sent in their RSVP, missed the RSVP deadline, or brought along a plus one, it’s important to have a plan in place for those extra attendees.
Speak with your client ahead of time to determine how your check-in staff should handle those extra guests. You don’t want them to be caught off guard, especially since they are the first people your guests are encountering.

Decide who has the authority to allow additional guests into the event, and how they should be added to the guest list. Make sure you go over these questions with your client:

• Do additional guests need to be cleared with the client first?
• Can any of your check-in staff allow for additional guests or should one point person be assigned to handle all questions?
• Is there any additional information they need from unexpected guests?

Then, once you’ve planned on how to authorize extra guests, train your check-in staff on how to update your guest list. With a guest list app like zkipster, it’s easy to add new guests and plus ones to the list. And those lists are seamlessly synched for all of your staff to see the updates.

Slow Check-In

Once the doors open, you want your guests to start enjoying the event as soon as possible, and no one likes to wait in a slow line.
With traditional paper guest lists, event check-in can take forever as your staff flips through page after page of names. Using a check-in app on an iPad or other tablet, checking in each attendee only takes a few seconds. The faster you can move guests through the line, the happier they will be.

The other key when designing your check-in area is to provide an area just past check-in where guests can ask questions or find out information. That way your check-in staff can focus solely on greeting guests, and then direct any additional questions to a designated person. The most your check-in team should have to answer is where guests can find the coat check and the bathroom.

Handing Out Materials

Handing out name badges, wristbands, or escort cards as part of check-in can dramatically slow down your line and leave you with some very impatient guests.
One way to solve this problem is to create a smart layout that leads attendees away from the check-in tables to pick up their materials that are they are already on display.

Or further increase your efficiency and cut back on prep work, by setting up wireless printing via your guest list management software. By connecting your guest list app with a wireless printer, you can quickly handle name badge or escort card printing for each guest as they arrive. Not only will unexpected guests be able to have name badges or place cards, but you’ll also save by not printing materials for guests who don’t show up.

Living Up to the VIP Experience

While check-in is important for all of the guests of your event, it’s especially important for your VIPs. You want to be sure they know where to go and that any of their needs can be accommodated.
The best way to manage this is to designate certain members of your staff as VIP or key account handlers, but alerting them when a VIP arrives can be a bigger challenge. Luckily, with a guest list app, you can enable internal staff alerts to subtly notify key team members and hosts when important guests check in.
Then, they can actively greet guests at check in and guide them through the event — no shouting across the room necessary.

Event Crashers

We already know how to handle extra guests, but what happens when someone shows up to your event that was never invited to begin with? The most common trick to crashing an event is to catch a glimpse at the guest list and pretend to be a guest who hasn’t arrived yet.
If you’re using a paper list, keep it close and don’t let anyone look at it, even if it seems like they’re just trying to help you find their name. Train your check-in staff to ask how to spell the attendee’s name to help them find it before just showing the list to let a guest point it out. If you’re using an app, get a privacy screen for your device to make it more difficult to see.
For high-profile events, your event crashers might already come with a prepared name. This can easily be handled by having a photo of each guest displayed on your check-in app. All it takes is uploading the photos of your guests. Not only will it make it easier on your check-in team, but it’s also an extra level of security for your event.

Preparing for these problems beforehand will ensure that your check-in will go quickly, smoothly, and securely. For more tips and advice on making your check-in process run smoothly download the Definitive Guide to Event Check-In e-book.

In Conclusion

Attendees have expectations. Digitize your guest list management and check-in process to earn extra brownie points with your guests. Not to mention, you will also be better prepared for the unexpected. At the end of the day, your job is to make people happy. But you also deserve to enjoy the results of your hard work when the doors open. It is best to be organized from the beginning so you can relax. The perfect welcome starts with a smile.

No one in the event industry likes no-shows. Yet this awful plague affects all types of events, small or big, free or paid, popular or fairly new. Here are few tips to avoid no-shows at events.

Having the Right Approach to Solve the No-Show Plague

I believe we should not be fatalist about no-shows. I also believe we should not blame attendees for not turning up at events. Such approaches just increase the chance to have the same problem at your next event.
The worst attitude you may have in tackling no-shows is to think it is not your responsibility to decrease them. You are effectively denying reality. And reality is some people will not turn up.
The right approach to curing your event from the no-show virus is to acknowledge that the problem exists, understand the dynamics that foster the virus and coming up with a plan to repel it.
As you have a plan B, C or D for every aspect of your event, you should have one for no-shows.
Just remember that your objective is not to force attendees to show up but to get them to update their RSVP on time so you can take actions to allocate that free space.

When Do No-Shows Happen?

There could be a number of reasons why no-shows happen. Thoroughly understanding why we don’t turn up, will help to better communicate with attendees.

Plans changed. This is probably the most popular reason why we end up not attending an event even if we committed to. My calendar changes all the time and so does yours. What was 100% sure ten months ago, may not be still feasible today. It’s just the way it is.

Excitement Dropped. If you are good at your marketing, you will probably excite prospects to the stage that they reserve a ticket. The thing is that if you are not able to keep that excitement going that feeling may soon navigate away.

No Money Involved. Whether we like it or not, money is a big deterrent and motivator. Free events are plagued by no-shows as money is not part of the process.

Sponsor/VIP/Media/Partners Tickets. Tickets allocated to these categories go often times unused. These guys are busy bees and while they say they would be there, probably they won’t. Generous sponsor packages usually mean large patches of empty seats

You Are Not the Only One Upset by No-Shows

The thing is that that annoyance is not only felt by you, the event professional. Several groups of stakeholders share the pain with you.
Unfortunately, such frustration will then be addressed to you as you should have done something about it. Those who will be upset by your lack of no-shows contingency planning will usually include:

• Other prospects who wanted a ticket. These guys will be pretty upset. You told them no tickets were available and they learned empty seats were all over the place. Not good.
• Sponsors. You promised them a full and vibrant room and look at what we got, hundreds of unclaimed goodie bags.
• Performers.

  While I like to think things have changed since this post, the norm is that speakers or performers hardly get paid at small/medium sized events. They get drawn in by the promise of new contacts in the audience. I can understand why some speakers comply but if the room is semi-full because of no-shows, you’ll have a tough nut to crack.

• You or your boss.

  Empty seats in several instances will mean money loss. Trust me, that is not something you (or your boss) will love.

Be Careful With Tickets

Before I share some insights on how you can make sure the room is always crammed with attendees, let me give you a word of warning.
In most countries, when you sell a ticket, that’s it. You can’t sell it again. If you have numbered seating and you sell a space twice, you are probably going against the law.

That does not mean the story is over. There are still tactics you can adopt to fill in the room but selling a ticket twice is not one of them.

The majority of the tactics below are applicable to free tickets or tickets allocated to different stakeholders as sign of goodwill. In fact this tends to be the culprit in spreading the no-shows plague in events around the world.

Before you implement any of the tactics below, make sure to play by the rules!

9. Raffle for Charity
   If you don’t want to be bothered with secondhand trade and constant email communications, you could give away last minute no-shows in return for donations.
   This way you will be able to fill up the seats and do something good. If your event is in demand then this is often times a great way to solve the problem.
10. Mandatory Online Check-In Before The Event

    What do you think about getting attendees to check-in online 24 hours before the event? I’ll tell you what I think: it’s brilliant!
    This process not only gives you a definite indication of who will not make it but will also speed up on-site registration.
    Event mobile apps can help with that.

11. In Person Pick Up

    One thing for sure is that online is making us lazier. If you run a free event, it does not cost me anything to click on ‘Get Tickets’ and then completely forget about it.
    What about getting your prospective attendees to think about what they are about to do? What about getting a taste of their real motivation?
    Get them to collect the tickets in person, as we used to do in the olden days. If they don’t, then you can allocate your tickets to someone else with ease of mind.
    This is by no means exclusive to free events

12. Set an Expiry Date

    Who said that tickets cannot be perishable? In a social media world, knowing the exact number of no-shows 30 minutes before your event starts can still give you enough time to allocate those tickets.
    You can use registration time as the cutoff date for the ticket validity. If attendees do not redeem their ticket before your registration time, then you will allocate ticket to someone else.
    Of course be careful with what ticket rules you have to respect.

13. Watch Your Real Time Analytics

    One of the trends for this year is real time analytics. How can you use technology to minimize no-shows?
    That is fairly simple if you are constantly monitoring the response to different ticket types, on-site registration and online check-ins. Technology will help you to understand if the volumes of people showing up is adequate to fill up the room.
    There are a number of communication tactics that you can adopt to respond to no shows but they are meaningless if you do not constantly monitor the visitor flow.

14. Pacing Ticket Release

    One of the most trivial mistakes I see when marketing events is to release too many tickets too soon.
    You have to be wise in how you create the feeling of scarcity for your event. Getting hold of a ticket for your event should always test the motivation of your attendees and finding the optimal release pace is key.
    On the other hand, I’ve seen several event marketers almost threatening the attendee on their ticket description. This is not what I am discussing here. I want you to create the appetite, not to make them scared of attending.

15. Keep The Excitement Going

    One of the most common scenarios of no-shows involves early birds. If in fact I obtain a ticket too soon, that excitement I feel when getting it usually disappears a few months later when the actual event takes place.
    Keeping the excitement going is paramount to make attendees feel motivated at all times. Establish a relationship with them immediately via social networks, email or newsletters. Let them know that the purchase of a ticket is just the start.
    They will also feel they could talk to you if they need to update their RSVP. In fact sometime people are actually embarrassed to say they won’t make it. Keeping a constant relationship with them will increase your RSVP update conversion rates.

In Conclusion

I hope this mini-guide inspired you to better combat the plague of no-shows at events.
Of course the issue is very complex and there are tons of scenarios and contexts to take into account. Yet I believe this is a comprehensive starting point for those who committed to reduce no shows at events.

Working in corporate events can be a challenge, especially when the senior management team expects magic. Here are a few tips to help you set expectations early and look like a rock star.

Corporate event planners have their work cut out for them. Often the senior management team is concerned about budget but little else. Their lack of event knowledge leads to trouble for the event planner who is likely being assessed on their ability to deliver a wonderful event on budget.
This means the event planner must find their voice and set expectations early. Neither of these things is easy to do when the people you need to push back on have a say in your career. Still, these are the things you need to communicate early on and the tips on how you can do it professionally and effectively.

Why Bother With Setting Expectations?

Setting expectations in a formal way is time-consuming. Let’s be honest. There’s no quick way to ensure everyone is on the same page on something as large and complicated as a corporate event.
While it’s important that everyone involved understand what’s going on with the event, the largest reason you want to set expectations is to avoid the expectation gap. If you don’t know how they define success, you may never meet it. Be clear on what everyone considers a successful event. This is at the root of all of the other work you’ll be doing with setting expectations.

What You Need to Tell Senior Management about the Event Planning Process

1. The total budget shouldn’t be changed by anyone other than them but if it is, the return on investment ROI will change too or costs will have to change.
2. Budget line items can be manipulated and altered if need be but only if something else gives. For instance, if management decides they need to invite more people, and thus feed more people, something will need to be substituted or cut to cover the increased cost. Lay this out early on so they understand. Then if they ask you to do this just before the event, explain what will change, such as 5 more people means no flowers on the table. Let them make the decision but make them aware early on that every additional cost has an equal and opposite cut.
3. There are no built-in extra meals for people who just show up without an RSVP. If you do have a buffer, make sure they are clear about just how small that is.
4. You could use their support. When you present the event plans, make sure you give senior management a small to-do list so they know what is expected of them. This could be live tweeting or taking photos during the event. Whatever it is, make sure they know it and agree to it. Getting them onboard, and reminding them of these roles often, will help you have a more successful event because people will emulate what management is doing.
5. Communication. Setting expectations on communication early should keep them from asking when they’ll see the next attendees list. Lay it all out for them in writing before you even open registration. They need to know when to expect deliverables and maybe, just maybe, they’ll stop asking for them.
6. Make sure they are clear on your role. You don’t want them angry the day of the event because they’re waiting for you to bring them refreshments. Make sure they are clear on who’s doing what at the event.
7. Set realistic expectations. If you know from past history that a sell-out crowd is not likely, explain why that is. Make sure the goals they set are reasonable and measurable. It may be difficult to tell them their expectations or goals aren’t reasonable and walk through how they can be. But in the long run, it’s easier to do that than it is to agree to the goals knowing they’re impossible. Make sure if they aren’t reasonable, you suggest some that are.
8. Technology use. If you’ll be working on an app and you want them to have access to your information, let them know that they can access it whenever they please using the technology you’re working in.
9. How overflow will be handled by sharing what the protocol is. They are times during events that some areas have more urgent needs than others like everyone checking in at the same time. Let senior management know how you plan on handling these event hiccups and where you will pull help to accommodate overflow.
10. Be clear about who you need on your team. If you need to pull someone to help with the planning or the administration, or there’s the potential that you might, advise senior management of this ahead of time and make sure you have their blessing. You don’t want to pull a marketing coordinator only to find out the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) says the marketing department can’t spare them. There is no reason to get on the wrong side of management for something that is easy to get a sign-off on ahead of time.

There may be other things that are industry-specific that you need to make sure you set clear expectations with senior management in the beginning. Add these to your list. Make sure you go over everything with them by following these suggestions.

How to Manage Event Expectations with Senior Management:

Make Sure You’re Clear First

Before placing anything in writing to senior management, you need to know the goals they had in mind for the event. Speak to them first and look to understand their professional and corporate goals. A corporate goal might be to increase revenue by 10% but their professional goal may be to get the board to notice their hard work. These unofficial goals are often more important to them and drive their concern more than the corporate ones. Understanding these will help you understand attitude and future concern as well as hot button topics such as fear of looking bad when being considered for another position.
Next, give solid thought as to what you need from them, other departments at your company, budgets, and other details and protocols. You want to be absolutely clear on the moving components of the event plan.
When you present your plan to senior management they will most likely need to clarify some piece of it. If they don’t, it’s likely they’re not paying attention. So ensure you know it inside and out before you present it to them. This also includes understanding the why behind what you’re asking for or stipulating. Be prepared for questions on the “why” as well as the “what” or “how.”

Understand Different Types of Expectations

There are multiple levels of expectations. There are corporate expectations for the event, department expectations, individual employee expectations, and day-to-day forward-facing expectations to stakeholders including customers, peers, managers and more. Be clear on the different levels so that you can cover all of them.

Place Everything in Writing

Even if you have a lot of expectations you need to specify them, it’s important that you place all of this in writing to senior management. While they may not appreciate the War and Peace sized work, it gives them a reference guide if they can’t remember the discussion you had about it, which brings us to….

Present the Details Face to Face

When you send your event expectations, budget, and details, you should also make some time to review the highlights with them in person. Don’t read every line to them. No one has time for that. Instead, summarize the main points, particularly the ones that involve them directly.
While this may feel like a presentation on your part, you should open it up as a discussion. You want them to:

• Understand the process
• Know why you’re asking for what you are
• Understand what would happen if you did it another way
• Know how their goals for the event are tracked and reflected

Adopt Changes

First, it’s important to be open to changes. Those who help create something are more apt to support it. If anyone has any changes to the document or refuses to do something that is asked, add that to your senior management event guide and reissue it to them.
Your guide should have the most up-to-date information so you may want to consider placing it on a cloud drive so that everyone has access to it. Just make sure you lock it down.

Get Commitment on Roles

As mentioned earlier, it’s important senior management understands what’s expected of them as well as people who report into them. Once you have agreement on these things, make sure you issue timelines and personalized lists of responsibilities. This way they don’t need to read through the entire document to refresh their memories.
Also, don’t double assign individual tasks. It may be tempting to give the same assignment to each senior manager in the hopes that someone gets it done but when everyone is assigned the same task that should only be performed once, most managers will assume somebody else has got it under control and mark it off. If everyone does that, the task won’t get completed.
You must assemble the complete plan first so that you can assess what’s missing. Then break it up into the departments and ensure every senior team member gets a copy of what they and their group are responsible for. This is meant to be their reminder. You’ll want to reach out to their subordinates as required. Don’t rely on the senior manager to do so, unless they specifically ask for that task.

Under Promise and Over Deliver

Always agree to lesser goals than you believe you can manage. To challenge yourself personally is one thing but never feel uncomfortable with a goal for an event.
You should never be so stretched that you question your ability to achieve it. Because guess what? Things always get crazier than you predicted. If they don’t, you can deliver on more than they ever expected. If they do, you’ve still achieved the goal set for you and the event.

Communicate Changes

Communicate changes as they come up. In addition to your scheduled, periodic communications bring up anything that will affect the plan. For instance, if you’re relying on a large part of the marketing department to help out and then they decide they can no longer spare the time, you want to bring that up as soon as possible with executive management.
Of course, you’re bringing this up only as a courtesy FYI because you had a contingency plan for volunteers that gave you a second place to draw from. Senior management signed off on it during the original discussions so they should know your next steps.

Don’t Over-manage

Most people hate a micro manager. When managing expectations you want to communicate effectively and make sure everyone knows the goals and how you will meet them. But at the end of the day, that’s all you can do. They will still have their own expectations and while you can partially manage them through communication, you can’t entirely do so. People will still choose to think what they think.
In addition to communication, it’s important that you continue to establish the cause and effect principles at work. Many executives think event planners work magic by fitting in people at the last minute without a change to the budget. Just keep reiterating that with every change, something else happens. You don’t mind canceling flowers so additional people can eat but you can’t perform one without cutting something else. If they’re insistent, let them make the call about which is more important to them.

In Conclusion

It can be difficult to manage a corporate event when dealing with a team of senior executives who know little about event design and planning. But they are business people. If you take the time to explain basic expectations, they should understand how that affects the bottom line. The one thing you need to be sure on is that they understand what you’re doing and why.
Don’t leave them any surprises as you navigate the planning process. If you do, they’re likely to become obstacles in the future.