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So you want to run an event at school?

James BosenbergCharity & Causes, Event Planning, Event Tech, Everything, Family & Education, Quicket

Streamline your school admin.

There’s a new-school of thought behind school events.


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If you’ve run school events, you’ll know how much time and admin it takes, what with dealing with nit-picky parents, finding ways to track who has paid for what, how they paid, if you remembered to give them their tickets, and whether the cool kids will be there.


The best solution, we’ve found, is to make sure to store all the event information in one place, and of course, for you to not have to collect the money yourself. You’re throwing an event not looking to get into debt collection ;). After all, you need complete control of the event, but you also know how much manual work goes into making something like a school play happen.


Many educational institutions still do things in a very old-school way, where even just making a few small tweaks would simplify the process so much.


So what's the solution?


At Quicket we’ve helped loads of schools completely streamline the process of running their events by allowing them to pass all of the admin to someone who will handle it with confidence. So now you can maintain complete control in running amazing school events, while making your own life so much easier. Quicket has become the leading online ticketing platform for schools due to the diversity of its software, ease of use and array of features. And it’s ability to make you only have to worry about getting a bunch of cute three-year olds to learn their dance moves rather than if their parents have paid for their tickets.


For stage productions, you can implement seating plans and have a variety of differently priced seats. At the click of a button, parents are immediately taken to the seating chart where they will be able to choose the best angle from which to watch little Johnny do his best walrus impression, confirm their purchase, make payment and voila! An email or sms is immediately sent to them upon completion of their payment, with their tickets. You can even reserve seats for staff or special guests.


School plays are just the start


Once you’ve run an event with Quicket, you’ll start thinking of all sorts of creative ways you can use the system to simplify things. Some schools that use Quicket put their extramural activities online, outings, homework classes, and even sell uniforms, etc.


Putting extramural plans in one place and on one database is the most efficient and hassle-free way to manage them, which will make both teachers/coaches and parents alike happy and at ease. Parents get the benefit of choosing all of their child’s extramural activities in one go and in one order and the teacher in charge of the event page has all contact details in one place and will then be able to segment and distribute to the relevant coaches, giving you peace-of-mind while giving teachers and coaches accountability.


Any and all relevant information can be set up so that the coach gets all their information in one fell swoop. For example, if you’re going on a outings or a school camp, put it online! You can then release videos and pictures to ramp up excitement levels and also collect valuable information, for example: dietary requirements, terms and conditions, indemnity forms, perhaps even a choice of activities while you’re at it. Parents can pick and choose what their kids are or are not allowed to do and all that information is yours to download at any stage.


The Quicket platform is also a great space to do merchandising in an efficient and secure way so schools can sell their textbooks, uniforms and anything else that students may require. Our software allows you to put an image next to each item too to give that all important visual representation.



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Collecting money is usually a hassle, right?


If you’re raising funds, Quicket also offers a donation collection platform where donors are able to see the donation target, and watch it creep up and up to its goals, and to see how any donations on their part are actually making an impact.

Everyone on the PTA knows that sports & school derby days are a firm favourite within the school calendar and how often these events involve a wide variety of services needed as well as money collection (which no doubt leads to many sleepless nights amongst parents and teachers alike). One example would be the organisation and funds required to facilitate paid parking, not just for school events, but for international sporting events within the school’s area. With cars paying up to R60 to park on school grounds for the day, that can quickly add up to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of rands. With such an operation, we would strongly suggest collecting money online, upfront after which ticket holders can simply have their tickets scanned from their smartphone (yes their phone!) as you watch that traffic zip through the gates, avoiding traffic jams and, most importantly, disgruntled parents/customers.


What about offline ticket sales for school events?


The biggest concern we hear teachers and staff ask about is the fact that some parents do not have access to online services or perhaps a bank card able to make online payments. This is not an issue at all with Quicket’s vending system, which will allow you to turn your online ticketing platform into your own ticketing kiosk. The vending system allows you to collect the money in whatever way you like, including cash, and let the system record the sale. This too syncs with your guest list. You can then send tickets via sms, email or have a physical, personalised consignment of tickets at the ready at the event or beforehand. It’s completely up to you and your needs.

Make it even easier for parents by making sure you're not committing any of the seven deadly sins of creating a ticketing page.

Of course, we also have a lot of experience throughout the eventing process that we’d love to pass on. So please feel free to contact us to see how we can help to create a customised system that works perfectly for you and your school.


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