The Secret to Speeding Up Event Check-Ins 

Event planners lose sleep over many things, but nothing spikes cortisol faster than a line that refuses to move.

Because here’s what your attendees remember first:
Not your headliner.
Not your stage design.
Not your beautiful sponsor booths.

They remember whether they were stuck outside… waiting… watching another line move faster than theirs.

However, the good news is that check-in bottlenecks are fixable. 

With a bit of foresight and the right workflow, you can turn your entry from “Uh-oh…” to “Wow, that was fast.”

In this edition, we’re breaking down simple ways to eliminate bottlenecks, smooth out your flow, and create a check-in experience that sets the tone for the entire event.

Let’s get into it.

In This Issue, We Cover:

• Spotlight: Steal-worthy moves to prevent check-in bottlenecks
• Fresh from the Pod: Laura Lilley decodes how smaller and intimate event experiences can do big.
• Reads Worth Your Time: Learn why check-in tech works, how QR-code check-ins are quick and efficient, and the top 12 platforms for the best check-in solutions.

Spotlight: Your Anti-Bottleneck Check-In Playbook

Check-in chaos rarely comes from too many attendees.

It comes from unclear flow, wrong tech, unprepared guests, or uneven staffing.

Here are the top 5 most important moves that stop bottlenecks before they start. Share them with your team before your next show.

1. Map the Flow Before Anything Else

Bad layout is the root of most entry congestion.

If walk-ins, printed tickets, mobile tickets, and VIPs all pile into one line, nothing moves.

Try this:

Map the guest journey from door → scanner → exit and separate every flow with signs and vertical poles.

A clean path prevents early pileups.

2. Forecast Your Peak 30-Minute Window

Bottlenecks don’t happen across the whole day.
They happen in the sharp surge where 60 to 70 percent of attendees arrive at once.

Use the following data points to estimate your peak window:
• Registration data
• Past event data
• Group booking patterns

Know your real peak, not your total attendance.

3. Choose Tech Your Audience Can Actually Use Quickly

Right tech = speed.
Wrong tech = delay.

Your cheat sheet:
• QR scanning → best universal option
• Onsite badge printing → eliminates sorting
• Self-check-in Kiosks → great for tech-comfortable groups
• RFID / NFC → fastest for high volume
• Offline mode → non-negotiable for weak WiFi

Pick the tools your attendees can move through confidently.

4. Use the Station Formula Instead of Guessing

Most planners underestimate how many check-in stations they need.

Salman Saeed, Director of Product at vFairs, shared a simple way to calculate it:

Let’s say you are expecting 300 attendees arriving in a 30-minute window, then you need enough devices to process 10 attendees per minute. Quality check-in software allows you to check in someone in 5-8 seconds, meaning 2-3 tablets can handle the load.

Salman Saeed

Director of Product at vFairs

Test → estimate → adjust. Always do a mock check-in with at least 20 test attendees to ensure your setup works.

5. Train Staff and Assign Clear Roles

The fastest check-ins happen with confident teams.
Confused staff = stalled lines.

Train your team on:
• Scanning
• Redirecting
• Handling walk-ins
• Troubleshooting
• Switching to backup plans

Assign roles like: line manager, scanner operator, kiosk helper, and help desk support.

A well-trained team keeps the flow moving even when surprises pop up.

Here’s a checklist that you can follow to make sure your check-in experience is smooth:

Fresh From the Pod: Designing Experiences That Make Attendees Feel Seen

Check-in matters. It kicks things off. But it’s really just the start. 

Once people are in the room, the real work begins. They need to feel engaged, not just impressed.

While a lot of B2B companies are chasing bigger, flashier events, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re creating better experiences.

Our conversation with Laura Lilley from Hootsuite, one of the leading social media management platforms, revealed a different picture.

According to her, the strongest experiences come from smaller moments that feel personal, intentional, and human.

Here’s her take:

You don’t need 2,000 people to create impact. Sometimes 20 of the right people in the room drives deeper engagement and better outcomes.

Laura Lilley

Senior Manager, Global Event Marketing at Hootsuite

Here’s how Laura curates small experiences that work big:

• Curate the room, don’t fill it: The right mix of customers, prospects, and a limited number of staff leads to more authentic conversations. Her team keeps dinners to around 20 people with tight ratios so the room feels balanced, not salesy.
• Match formats to local behavior: Breakfasts thrive in London. Dinners win in Paris. Morning events often drive higher attendance because they’re pre-planned into the day. A simple timing shift can lift your attendance and improve the overall vibe.
• Focus on quality over quantity: Small-format events feel more intimate, less overwhelming, and far more memorable for attendees. They also encourage customers to naturally advocate for your product in front of prospects without forced facilitation.

Want more from Laura’s playbook on building attendee-first experiences? Listen to the full episode on the Epic Events Podcast.

How to Make Small Events Work Big for You | Laura Lilley | Epic Events by vFairs

Reads Worth Your Time

Are you still wondering how to ace that perfect check-in experience? These reads will clarify all the confusion.

• Which check-in method is the most reliable? Learn why QR-code check-in is fast, efficient, and never fails
• Which software is best to streamline event check-ins? Here’s a review of the 12 leading check-in platforms today.
• Does check-in software really help? Here’s a real example of how it saves money, time, and improves the attendee experience.

Here’s to running events that bring people together.

See you next month