Hosting an event should be a happy and productive experience whether you’re doing it for business, causes or recreation. Setting up a gathering of 10-20 people is easy enough, but you can’t say the same for events where a hundred or more people are expected to attend. Things can get even more complex if you don’t necessarily know some of the attendees and the gathering is done at night.
For challenges like this, effective human traffic control solutions are necessary. Verification of identity, regulation of visitor flow, order and security can be greatly enhanced
Tickets
The simplest way to regulate the attendees of an event is to control entry through tickets. You can have a portion of the ticket torn, cut, stamped, or otherwise marked to indicate that it has already been used and cannot be reused for entry again. More modern approaches include printing bar codes or QR codes, which can also serve as special access passes to different areas or activities within the event, depending on the ticket price.
For events that have booth activities and freebies, you can have the tickets stamped or stickered to indicate that the attendee has already participated or claimed his giveaway to avoid redundancy.
You can use this simple crowd control method for almost all kinds of events, from school fairs, to small business events, to large-scale concerts.
ID Tags or Bracelets
Color-coded lanyards or wristbands can be of great help in monitoring the entry and exit of people in events that have designated areas or multiple mini-events within the venue. Examples include concerts, conferences, and conventions.
You can increase the security by adding labels to the lanyards or bracelets like admission wristbands. Print a special code – VIP, UB1, LB1, for example – in large, bold letters so that security personnel and ushers know where to lead incoming guests.
These lanyards and bracelets can double as part of your event’s participant kits or goodie bags. You can even give away multiple trinkets as these items are relatively cheap and easy to produce.
Pre-Registration
For events that have a longer period of preparation, you can have the guests pre-register and have their names printed on a guest list. Upon arrival, those who have pre-registered can have a special lane for faster processing, separate from those who bought tickets at a later date or on-site.
Pre-registered guests can also have specially marked IDs that can entitle them to special privileges like premium items, and meet-and-greets or autograph signings.
This method of crowd control is ideal for conferences and conventions, where participants can get early-bird discounts for buying their tickets and number of seats beforehand.
Good Ol’ Sign Boards
If you’re having a relatively small event that’s open-for-all, say a weekend market, an art fair, or a local bazaar, you can rely on the classic sign boards and stanchions to direct and “rope off” crowds based on their interests.
Regulating human traffic through sign boards can be as simple as printing aisle markers (think supermarkets) with labels for each section. If you want to drive traffic to a certain direction – for example, if you want audiences to view a certain art series in a specific order – you can create waypoint indicators to mark a path. Your signboards can also go the classic route of “This Way” to lead people to the different attractions, products, and booths in your event.
Computers and Mobile Apps
Large-scale events such as international conventions can take advantage of the latest technological advances to regulate human traffic and improve security. For example, you can have guests check in through a specially developed mobile application that can also house the event’s handbook, speaker profiles, and more.
Those who do not or cannot download the app can instead check in through laptop or desktop computers situated at a designated registration area. Only when the guest has properly checked in will he or she be issued an event kit, ID, and other materials to be used for the event.
You can even up the ante by issuing RFID cards to attendees, so you can filter those who can enter the venue even without the help of door staff.
Whether you opt for simple or sophisticated methods, managing human traffic can become an easier task once you take stock of all the relevant event details. It’s not just about regulating and handling the crowd – it’s also ensuring that both attendees and organizers have a safe, stress-free, enjoyable event.
