Who'd want to be inside on a balmy summer evening?

One of the first in-person events post Covid

It was a glorious afternnon. The type of warm sunny summer afternoon where you didn't want to spend the evening inside. But I was needed inside because I was helping to run an event at a local museum; the first in-person, volunteer led event to be held in this area since the lifting of Covid restrictions. I was there to help with the registration of all the in-person attendees.

It was time to try out the registration web app designed to cope with the Covid rules of a few incarnations ago and still being used. The organisers wanted our attendees to feel comfortable after being away for so long, so we made sure that there was plenty of sanitiser and touch free tech to smooth the registration. I was about to go into action outside the venue ...

Easy set-up for the alfresco check-in desk

It doesn't have to be complicated - check-in works anywhere, even in a carpark!

First the set up just outside the venue which was nice and easy (thank you to the person who brought me over some refreshment). It was now turning into a beautiful evening and because I was outside, I used a 4G internet connection on the laptop so logging in was simple and quick and the speed was fine as very little data is transferred. And because no data is kept on the device, I didn't need to worry about any power outage or dodgy internet connection because I knew that it would just be an inconvenience, I wouldn't lose anyone's registration details.

Quick check-in and then off to find the stray attendees

Once the device was logged in and as attendees started to drift towards us, they were able to present their ticket, register themselves quickly and easily, then move on to their very welcome refreshments. Sixty people checked-in but because of the site layout, I discovered that they didn't all walk past the check-in desk and register. I found some of them were in the bar already! Not a problem, I got my mobile phone and, using the app, wandered around the bar, saying hello and checking them in at the same time. No one gets past me!

Wonderful evening and great feedback

All in all, the tech side of the evening went very well and we got some lovely feedback from the attendees after the request was emailed out to them. Everyone enjoyed their evening, enjoyed their talk and enjoyed the ability to get back together again in person.

I was impressed because the registrations accurately logged the atttendance and we were able to send out the email request for feedback and when we received the details back, we had the data to analyse whether the audience enjoyed it as well. The team at Head Office that looks after the volunteers could also look at the data and compare it with other volunteer events that month, just to keep an eye on how in-person, hybrid and online events are doing now that things are returning to normal.

The verdict

My verdict, a lovely evening, enhanced and not spoiled by tech.

About the Author

Nigel is a co-founder of Plus4Events, specialising in event tech and production skills. He's a regular host presenter of technology webinars, many available to view on YouTube.

Outside of work he volunteers with several organisations and has previously been a Trustee of The IET, Europe's largest professional body of Engineers with over 150,000 worldwide members.