Running a door involves precision and a whole lot of logistical planning. You need to ensure guests get inside quickly, happily and with a good first impression of your event and brand. It’s a machine that needs to run efficiently and with minimal hiccups. Here is a list of things to consider when planning your access control.

A successful access point needs enough staff who are both trustworthy and presentable. Staff should preferably be briefed beforehand on what the event is about as well as how to handle themselves. Ask staff to dress according to a single, specific, unified look to make them appear part of a professional outfit... Excuse the pun. As a result, this also helps by making them easier for a guest to identify should any ticket-buyers need assistance.

It is advisable to have one Supervisor at the door at all times. This person can deal with issues and also be the point of contact for you, the organiser. As an organiser, the last thing you want is to be inundated with questions that could have been answered by a Supervisor who was made accountable and briefed properly. Under those circumstances, this will cut out a lot of stress for you on-site.

Wondering how many staff you need? Work out how many guests bought tickets and how quickly you want them through the door before figuring out how many people one staff member can handle within that time frame.

A successful access point needs the correct equipment that is in perfect working order. For scanning you need a barcode scanner and a laptop, or a mobile device if you're using the QuicketGO app. This app is free and available on the App Store or on Google Play. The benefit? It allows you to turn any phone into a scanning device - no additional equipment needed.

For sales, you need a laptop and internet connection to access the sales link on your event dashboard, card machines and optional Snapscan and Zapper codes for alternative ways of paying.

Also, be sure to have an event box at the door. This should include multiplugs, extension cables, stationery, tape and anything else that can help make your access point run as smoothly as possible, and help with disaster management.

There are two ways you can scan your guests in: the scanning link from your Quicket event dashboard and / or the QuicketGO app.

If you are using the scanning link, you need a barcode scanner (2D scanner that can read barcodes from paper and from a mobile screen, which can be hired from us at Quicket), a laptop and an internet connection. Plug the barcode scanner into the USB port on your laptop, open the scanning link from your dashboard and scan. You’ll see green on your laptop screen if the barcode is valid and red if it is invalid.

And remember this very, very important piece of advice: ensure that your laptop is connected to the internet if your online ticket sales are still open. If you closed online sales before the event, make sure you refresh this link before you go offline so it can pull through your entire guest list.

If you are using the QuicketGO app for scanning - which is as fast as a barcode scanner - you will need a mobile device with either Android or iOS. Log into the app using the relevant email address and password for the Quicket account your event is on. Then click on your event and scan using the mobile device camera. An internet connection is also important here.

The app allows you to:

• Switch between your Quicket events
• Scan tickets with your mobile device camera
• Search the guestlist and view complete guest details
• Check guests in and out
• Search the guestlist and view complete guest details
• It also provides real-time check-in statistics

Organisers do not need to give out their own Quicket login details for other people to have app access. Instead, they can grant scanning access to specific users using their own email addresses. In addition, you can even limit the type of access someone has. This is particularly helpful if you want to keep your event finances private and give someone access to scanning only.

If you require assistance with any of this, please do not hesitate to contact our Organiser Success team.

Just like every other aspect of your event, it's important to keep all the different elements of door sales as organised and basic as possible. Notably, things to consider here include ticket prices, payment types accepted (cash, card, Snapscan, Zapper), security and very importantly the float. Let’s go into a bit more detail:

Ticket prices at the door

When choosing pricing for on-the-day sales, use rounded totals to ensure that the float won’t be an issue.

Alternative payments options at the door instead of cash

Consider getting a Snapscan or Zapper code as options for guests to pay using their mobile phones. Also, have a card machine or Yoco card reader available for guests to pay using their bank cards.

We recommend using Yoco to do card sales instead of card machines. Card machines need paper, which is not environmentally friendly and tends to run out at the worst moments, like when the queue is at its longest.

You can keep track of these payment methods using the Quicket ‘Sell at the Door’ option in your event dashboard under the ‘On the day’ section. All you have to do is activate the tickets you want to sell at the door, choose how many tickets to buy and choose the payment method to complete the order. There is also a reconcile option for cashup at the end of the night.

Above: Sales link from your event dashboard

Security

Organisers need to ensure that there is enough security at the door. It helps keep unwanted guests out, provides guests with a sense of security and direction and it also protects the cash (should you be doing cash sales at your door).

Keep the wristbands simple and minimal! Too often we run the door at events with many different wristbands and colours. And as much as we’re all for all the colours of the rainbow you can find, even as much as 3 different colours create confusion and frustration while again slowing down the queues.

It's advisable not to have a printed guest list at the door as this will also slow down the queue. If you have special VIP or "guest list" guests, you can rather send them complimentary tickets from your event dashboard so they can also be scanned in on the day. This is a free service that Quicket offers to its organisers. It’s quick and easy and much easier to manage your numbers afterwards.

Print and leave an information sheet with the staff at the access point, in case guests have questions. When Quicket runs field services at events, guests assume we're part of the organisers and ask us many different questions. For example: Where the bathrooms are, if there are ATM’s inside, where can they find the lineup, program, open and closing times, medics, etc. For this reason, a comprehensive list is always appreciated by gate staff.

Have a safe place set up beforehand where cashups can be done when the event ends or during the event to protect the cash, as well as to keep it at manageable levels. Ensure you have a written cashup sheet where you can tally what you have received.

If you would like a quote for field services, equipment or wristbands for your event, get in touch with the Quicket Field Services Department on [email protected] or complete the ‘Request Field Services’ form on your event dashboard under ‘On The Day’.

If you need any assistance with setting up or running your event, you can call Quicket’s Organiser Success team on +27 21 424 9308 or email [email protected].

Quicket’s internal Quicket Field Services Department has been around since 2017. Our experienced field-services team manages event entry with laser-like precision. It started with small events, growing into a full department in 2018 with offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Uganda. With over 15 years experience between them in the access control field, our Field Officers have a staff database which includes over 500 trained part-time staff and supervisors. A small smattering of events that they have run seamless access control for include: Afrikaburn, Rocking The Daisies, Rand Airshow, SA Bike Fest, Cape Town 10’s and Tshwane 10’s among many other events across South Africa and Africa.