Run ticketing for a fan convention

Build the convention from the Convention template

Select Create Event, choose Convention and turn on Add an exhibitor booth if you rent booths. The template builds a Weekend pass, a Day pass and a VIP pass with a name on every ticket, and Add a child ticket adds a discounted Child ticket.

Note: Each pass, the Cloakroom add-on and the booth are yours to rename, reprice or remove before you create the event. A convention you ran last year is quicker to duplicate than to rebuild.

Create an event

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Group the passes by the days they cover

On the event's Tickets page, create a ticket category for Weekend and one for each single day, then put every pass and price release in its category. Fans then choose the days first and the price second.

Group your tickets into categories

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Let a weekend pass in once a day

On the Weekend pass, turn on Tickets can be scanned multiple times per event, choose Day and enter 1 in Max Scans. The scanner then admits the pass once in each 24 hours, so one fan cannot pass it back over the barrier for a friend.

Note: A Day pass keeps the standard rule of one entry per event. Enter a higher number when fans may leave and come back during the day.

Set ticket entry and repeat-scan rules

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Sell merchandise, parking and extras with the pass

Under Add-Ons, select Create Add-On for each extra, such as a convention tote, a parking pass or the cloakroom, with its own price and stock. Fans add them in the same checkout as their pass.

Note: Limit an add-on to the passes it belongs with, so a Sunday-only fan is not offered weekend parking.

Sell parking, camping and merchandise with your tickets

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Take artist alley and trader applications

Open Forms on the event and select Create Form for artist alley and a second one for traders. Every application arrives in one list with the same questions answered, ready for you to accept or decline.

Note: Once you accept an applicant, their row offers you a guest ticket or an invitation to buy for them.

Take act and trader applications for your event

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Price the exhibitor booth

Open the Exhibitor booth under Table Types and enter its price, how many booths you have, the smallest and largest team one booking admits, and 100 in Online Deposit Percentage. With 100 there, we hold the whole booth price on the trader's card and charge it once they pass the identity check.

Note: After paying, each trader photographs an ID document and takes a selfie before their booking is confirmed. A trader who has passed the check before skips it.

Tip: Create a separate table type for each booth size or position with its own price, such as a corner booth or an artist alley table.

Sell VIP tables and bottle service through your promoters

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Send guest tickets to your guests and press

Open Guest Tickets, select Send Guest Tickets and send each guest, cosplay judge and journalist a ticket on the pass they should hold. They scan in like a paying fan, and the issued list records who sent each one.

Note: A guest ticket comes out of that pass's stock, so leave room in the allocation for the guests you invite.

Send free tickets to your guest list

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Give crew, volunteers and traders a multi-entry pass

Open Multi-Entry Passes on your brand, create a pass type for crew, volunteers and booth staff, then add each person under Enter Recipient and send the passes. The same app scans passes and tickets, and a pass does not take a ticket out of your allocation.

Note: The maximum number of uses covers the whole convention rather than one day, so set it high enough for every trip in and out across all your days. We turn passes on for a brand, so ask us if the page is not in your menu.

Issue reusable event passes to crew and artists

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Open the on-sale at the minute you announced

Select Publish, then Schedule Publish, and choose the date and time your announcement promised. The convention page goes public at that minute in the event's own timezone.

Schedule when your event goes live

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Put the scanning app on the door team's phones

Open Check-In and select Download App for the Entry Fairy links on both app stores. Each person scanning signs in with their own Door Staff login, so every admission carries a name.

Scan tickets at the door

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Follow arrivals while the doors are open

Open Check-In and select Hourly on each day of the convention. Arrivals by hour against passes sold show you when the queue peaks and when to move volunteers from the doors to the hall.

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