EventNook provides everything you need to create, manage, and grow successful events of any size.
Custom solutions for every type of event and organization, tailored to your specific needs.
Plan your registration desk the way experienced event teams do. Answer a few questions and get a working plan: how many counters and lanes, what to set up at the desk, badge categories and lanyard colours, which badges to print before the day, and how to handle table and seat numbers.
Quick estimate · 5 questions
1. What kind of event?
2. How many guests, and how fast do they arrive?
3. Who does the check-in?
4. How fast does each badge print?
5. How do guests find their registration?
The estimate above is all most teams need to start. Open a section when you're ready to plan that part. Your answers update the estimate as you go.
Walk-ins fill in their details at the counter, so each takes about twice as long as a pre-registered guest. Without a walk-in counter below, they join the main queue and the estimate allows for that.
Headcount and colour per category
Preview
Pre-print badges for
Everyone else prints on demand at check-in, so no-shows cost nothing. Pre-printed guests collect at their own desk, which lightens your peak.
What to prepare
Checklist (tick as you go, it's saved in this browser)
Start over
Plan for your arrival peak, not your total headcount. EventNook's rule of thumb is about six check-in stations, each with a badge printer, for 1,000 pre-registered guests arriving within an hour. If the same 1,000 arrive within 30 minutes, as they often do for a gala dinner, you need about twice as many. Add separate counters for walk-ins, VIPs, media and exhibitors so they never slow the main lanes.
Every second at the counter adds up at peak. With a 2-second badge printer and QR codes, each guest takes about 7 seconds at a staffed counter and about 12 at a self-service kiosk, including 5 to 10 seconds to walk up, scan and hook the lanyard. Trained staff scan fast, so staffed counters move quickest. A 20-second printer adds 18 seconds to every guest and a 45-second printer adds 43, so slow printers can multiply the counters you need several times over. Searching by name instead of scanning a QR code adds about 10 seconds a guest. Fast printing and QR check-in keep the desk small.
Guests at a dinner or awards night tend to arrive together in the half hour before doors open. A conference spreads arrivals across the morning, and an exhibition across the whole day. The same headcount inside a shorter window means a higher peak, so the planner adds counters as the window gets shorter.
Print most badges on demand at check-in. No-shows cost nothing, name changes and walk-ins are easy, and there's no alphabetical badge table to search. Pre-print only for small groups you greet personally or who arrive before doors open: VIPs, speakers, exhibitors and crew.
Only when access or treatment differs by category, such as a VIP lounge, backstage, the press area or the exhibition floor during setup. Four to six colours are easy for ushers and security to read. You can colour the lanyard, a band on the badge, or both.
Allow two power points per station, one for the badge printer and one for the tablet or laptop, plus spares for the network router and charging. Confirm the power points and their positions with the venue before you fix the counter layout.
No. They're a first estimate for planning. Venue layout, how fast your guests move and the badge format all change the answer, so our team confirms station numbers with you before the event.
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