Now is the time when everyone starts thinking about trends for 2017 - video, crowdsourcing, authentic experiences, and more. When it comes to onsite services and technology one trend holds high above the rest, self-service registration.
Many event professionals are leaning towards using kiosks at events for registration and badging to put the power in the hands of the attendees. Learn the top three reasons to move to self-registration and check-in:
1. Less Waiting
The first impression that your attendees have of your event onsite is your registration area. Nothing is worse than walking into an event and seeing a log line to get in. You don't want to have your attendees waiting 10-20 minutes just to get their badge. When you allow your attendees to check-in themselves, they are actively doing something. This makes the process go faster because they are not just sitting in a line idly waiting.
2. Flexible Deployment
Don't only think about putting a kiosk in the lobby of your event venue. Kiosks can be set up in an instant and this allows you to put them in other locations that your attendees may be first. Think about the airport, transportation center or hotel lobby - this allows them to register in advance and go right into the event when they arrive at the venue.
3. It is the New Standard
People want to do everything themselves. Checking in at the airport, checking out at the grocery store, ordering online, and more – it has simply become the standard. By adding the option for attendees to register and check-in themselves, you are meeting their needs before they even ask. As a result, you are also putting out the reputation that you are a high-tech, trendy event. You most likely already moved away from excel spreadsheet registration to an online registration platform, so why not have your onsite services reflect that?
Remember...
Even though you are upgrading your onsite registration experience to include self-service kiosks you cannot lose the human factor of your events. Having at least one or two staff members dedicated to registration to welcome people, answer questions and more will make a big difference.
