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.
Step 1 of 7
The type of event decides how people arrive, and arrival is what sizes a registration desk.
Step 2 of 7
Your main check-in lanes handle pre-registered guests. Separate lanes keep slower or special arrivals from blocking the main queue.
Walk-ins fill in their details at the counter, so each one takes roughly twice as long as a pre-registered guest. They get their own counter so they never slow the main lanes.
Step 3 of 7
Colour-coding lets ushers and security tell a VIP from a delegate at a glance. Use it when access differs by category, like a VIP lounge, backstage or the press area. Keep to four to six colours so they stay easy to read.
Headcount and colour per category
Preview
Step 4 of 7
Most badges should print on demand at check-in, so no-shows cost nothing and name changes are free. A few groups are better printed the day before and handed over personally or collected in advance.
Pre-print badges for
Pre-printed guests skip the main lanes. They collect at the VIP, exhibitor or crew desk, or during bump-in, which also lightens your peak.
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For dinners, award nights and seated sessions, the badge is the easiest place to tell each guest where to go.
Step 6 of 7
Pick a desk layout and we'll work out the tables, devices, printers and power points it needs, plus a checklist for the week before.
What to prepare
Checklist (tick as you go, it's saved in this browser)
Step 7 of 7
Here's the whole plan in one place. Print it, copy it into your run sheet, or send it to our team and we'll review it with you.
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.
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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