---
title: "Event operations and crew management questions answered"
description: "Get straight answers to 24 questions operations managers ask, from what your buyers pay and when your ticket money reaches you to how your team runs the day."
canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/operations-managers/questions"
---

1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/)
2. [Solutions](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions)
3. [Operations & crew](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/operations-managers)
4. Operations managers: your questions answered

# Operations managers: your questions answered

  [Get started free](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome?utm_source=compare&utm_campaign=solutions-operations-managers-questions) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo)

- **24** questions answered
- **20** pages that show you how

Every shift covered and every team briefed means fewer questions reach you on show day. Here you can find out how you recruit volunteers, fill each shift with people who are free and qualified, have passes, meals, kit and deliveries ready before doors, and approve the hours your crew worked.

1. [What if two people accept the same shift at once?](#what-if-two-people-accept-the-same-shift-at-once)
2. [Do offers go out without my approval?](#do-offers-go-out-without-my-approval)
3. [Do crew and volunteers need an account?](#do-crew-and-volunteers-need-an-account)
4. [Can under-18s volunteer?](#can-under-18s-volunteer)
5. [How many volunteers can I reward or invite back at once?](#how-many-volunteers-can-i-reward-or-invite-back-at-once)
6. [Can I text my teams?](#can-i-text-my-teams)
7. [Will the pass and meal desks keep going if the signal drops?](#will-the-pass-and-meal-desks-keep-going-if-the-signal-drops)
8. [Can department leads see what people cost?](#can-department-leads-see-what-people-cost)
9. [Does Ticket Fairy rate my crew and volunteers?](#does-ticket-fairy-rate-my-crew-and-volunteers)
10. [How do I recruit volunteers for my event?](#how-do-i-recruit-volunteers-for-my-event)
11. [Can I invite last year's volunteers back?](#can-i-invite-last-year-s-volunteers-back)
12. [Can I build my rota from a spreadsheet?](#can-i-build-my-rota-from-a-spreadsheet)
13. [How do I stop people working too many hours?](#how-do-i-stop-people-working-too-many-hours)
14. [How do I find out who is still coming the day before?](#how-do-i-find-out-who-is-still-coming-the-day-before)
15. [Can I keep anyone off a shift until they have their first aid certificate or safety induction?](#can-i-keep-anyone-off-a-shift-until-they-have-their-first-aid-certificate-or-safety-induction)
16. [How do my crew, volunteers and outside teams get their passes?](#how-do-my-crew-volunteers-and-outside-teams-get-their-passes)
17. [How do I know who still has our radios at the end of the night?](#how-do-i-know-who-still-has-our-radios-at-the-end-of-the-night)
18. [How does the kitchen know how many crew meals to make?](#how-does-the-kitchen-know-how-many-crew-meals-to-make)
19. [Can suppliers book their own delivery times so the gate does not jam?](#can-suppliers-book-their-own-delivery-times-so-the-gate-does-not-jam)
20. [How do I collect insurance and risk assessments from my suppliers?](#how-do-i-collect-insurance-and-risk-assessments-from-my-suppliers)
21. [Can I share my site map with my team, attendees and the emergency services?](#can-i-share-my-site-map-with-my-team-attendees-and-the-emergency-services)
22. [How does my team report an incident on show day?](#how-does-my-team-report-an-incident-on-show-day)
23. [How do I check an agency's invoice against the hours its people worked?](#how-do-i-check-an-agency-s-invoice-against-the-hours-its-people-worked)
24. [How do I brief every team without printing a pack for each one?](#how-do-i-brief-every-team-without-printing-a-pack-for-each-one)

## What if two people accept the same shift at once?

The first person to accept gets the place. If the shift is then full, the other person's page thanks them and says the place was filled.

On the event, you select Operations, select Shifts, then select Offers. You select Offer to people on a shift, tick the people Fai lists and send the offers. Each person accepts or says no thanks on their My shifts page.

Before a place goes to anyone, Ticket Fairy checks again that the shift still has room and still fits them. The second person's offer then shows as Place filled, so nobody is placed over the number the shift needs.

[Offer open shifts to your crew and volunteers](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/offer-open-shifts-to-your-crew-and-volunteers)

## Do offers go out without my approval?

Fai suggests each batch of offers, and a person on your team approves it. On each event, you can choose to let the first batch and the Still coming? question go out by themselves.

Fai leaves out anyone who is already on a shift at that time, would get too little rest or work more hours than your rota rules allow, is under the shift's minimum age, or lacks its skill or a document it needs. You tick the people you want and send the offers yourself.

To let Fai send the first offers, you select Rota rules at the foot of Shifts and turn on Send shift offers without asking me first. The Ask "still coming?" without asking me first switch does the same for the day-before question. Both switches stay off until you turn them on, and you still approve any offers after the first batch.

[Let Fai send shift offers for you](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/offer-open-shifts-to-your-crew-and-volunteers)

## Do crew and volunteers need an account?

No. Each person opens their own My shifts link, and volunteers apply from a form on their phone. Desk staff run a desk from a link without a dashboard login.

In your brand's Event Operations, under People, you select a person and select Email their My shifts link. The page shows their offers, their shifts at every one of your events, the days they can work, the documents their shifts need and the safety induction.

Volunteers apply from the link you share, with no account, and accepted volunteers get their own page for the event. Desk staff, such as the hand-out desk or a meal service point, open a desk link on their phone that does only that desk's work.

[Give your crew one page for all their shifts](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/give-your-crew-one-page-for-all-their-shifts)

## Can under-18s volunteer?

Yes. Volunteers must be 16 or older by default, and you can change the minimum age for your program. A volunteer under 18 adds a parent or guardian, who agrees too.

You set the Minimum age when you open volunteer applications. The application form asks anyone under 18 for a parent or guardian's name, phone number and agreement.

A shift can have its own minimum age, such as 18 for a bar. Fai leaves anyone known to be younger out of the offers, and a person whose age nobody has confirmed ticks that they are old enough when they accept. On People, a teammate who has seen their ID can confirm that someone is at least a given age, and the record keeps who confirmed it, never the date of birth.

[Recruit volunteers for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/recruit-volunteers-for-your-event)

## How many volunteers can I reward or invite back at once?

Up to 500 people in each reward batch. You can invite back up to 5,000 people from up to 25 past events. The hours download covers events with up to 5,000 volunteers.

Each reward sets up under Rewards in the volunteer settings, such as a free weekend ticket for a number of hours worked. In Hours, the button named after the reward shows who earned it before you give the tickets. Each person gets one guest ticket by email, and nobody gets the same reward twice.

To bring people back, Invite last year's volunteers lets you choose the event. Fai suggests who to ask from the shifts they worked, and their answers from last time are filled in. Download hours gives a file of names and hours, and each download is recorded with your name.

[Track volunteer hours and give their rewards](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/give-volunteers-their-own-page-and-track-hours)

## Can I text my teams?

Yes. You can message up to 2,000 people at a time by email or text. You see exactly who will get it before you send.

On the event, you select Operations, then Messages, and select Message people. You tick the groups, such as a department, people on the rota for one day, all crew, volunteers or traders, and choose Email, Text message or both. Someone in two groups gets the message once.

A quick show-day message such as Weather hold gives you a start, or Fai drafts one. Check before sending shows who gets it by email and by text, and who is left out, such as someone with no mobile number. Afterwards, each person shows Sent, Opened, On the way or Not sent.

Replies to an email go to your brand's email address. Replies to a text are not collected, so ask people to reply by email or phone.

[Message the people working on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/message-the-people-working-on-your-event)

## Will the pass and meal desks keep going if the signal drops?

Yes. The hand-out desk and the meal desk still work without a connection and catch up when it is back. Staff gates and the Entry Fairy ticket scanning app need a connection, so it is worth checking it at each gate before you open.

Without a connection, the hand-out desk and meal desks keep each action on the device, and a bar counts what is waiting until everything is sent. A meal counts on the day it was given, as long as it is sent within 12 hours, so keep the page open until the bar says everything is sent.

A staff gate checks every pass with the server. With no connection, it asks your staff to check passes by eye.

[Let event staff work a desk from their phone](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-event-staff-work-a-desk-from-their-phone)

## Can department leads see what people cost?

No. A department lead approves and corrects the hours on their department's shifts from their My shifts page. They never see costs and never approve their own hours.

Leads this department or Make lead makes someone a department's lead, using the email address their My shifts link goes to. They then find Your team's hours on their My shifts page, approve the lines with nothing odd in one go, and change a line with a reason.

A lead's own line waits for the event's owners, admins or producers. The cost per hour and the approved cost are for those roles only.

[Let department leads approve their team's hours](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-department-leads-approve-their-teams-hours)

## Does Ticket Fairy rate my crew and volunteers?

No. Each person shows the shifts they worked, times they did not arrive, late cancellations and hours, with their skills. Nobody is rated, and the list shows one person for each email address.

In your brand's Event Operations, you open People. Shifts worked counts the shifts a person checked in to, Turned up compares those with the shifts they were marked as not arrived, and Missed or canceled late counts no-shows and cancellations less than 48 hours before the start.

Each person's skills can be added, or you pick one of Fai's suggestions from the teams and roles they worked most. A shift that asks for a skill is offered only to people who have it. You can open People with an owner, admin or producer role on the brand, and Ticket Fairy records every time someone opens it.

[Find the crew and volunteers who work your events](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/find-the-crew-and-volunteers-who-work-your-events)

## How do I recruit volunteers for my event?

You open applications in the event's Volunteers section, add the roles you need and share the application link. People apply from their phone with no account, and Fai reads each application against your roles.

On the event, you select Operations, then Volunteers, and select Open applications. You add the Roles you need, your Welcome text, any questions of your own and the Minimum age. You check the Privacy notice, turn on Take applications, select Save, then select Copy application link and share it.

You narrow To decide by role, day or Strong fits only, tick people and select Accept, Waiting list, Decline or Shortlist. You check the email, then confirm, and each person gets one email with your decision.

Already collect applications with your own event form? With Volunteers, as applied chosen under Also add each person to, everyone who sends it joins your volunteer applications.

[Recruit volunteers for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/recruit-volunteers-for-your-event)

## Can I invite last year's volunteers back?

Yes. In Volunteers, Invite last year's volunteers lets you choose the earlier event. Fai suggests who to ask from the shifts they worked, and their answers from last time are already filled in.

Each person shows the shifts they worked and Fai's reason, such as Worked every shift. You select Invite everyone Fai suggests, or tick people and select the invite button with the number beside it.

You need applications open for the event, so the invitation has a form to fill in. Returning volunteers enter their emergency contact again.

[Invite your past volunteers back](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/recruit-volunteers-for-your-event)

## Can I build my rota from a spreadsheet?

Yes. In Shifts, Import from a spreadsheet takes a CSV or Excel file, or rows you paste. Fai reads which column holds the day, the times and the department, and up to 500 shifts are added.

Under What each column holds, you change any column Fai read wrongly, choose the date order, and fix or leave out any row with a problem. You then select the button that counts the rows ready to add.

Prefer to start from nothing? With Let Fai suggest shifts, you enter the people at the busiest time and your opening hours, and Fai suggests how many people each team needs hour by hour. You can also add each shift yourself with Add a shift, including Repeat over several days.

[Add shifts to your rota from a spreadsheet](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/add-shifts-to-your-event-rota-from-a-spreadsheet)

## How do I stop people working too many hours?

Your rota rules cover it: the shortest rest between shifts, the most hours in one day and the most hours in 7 days. Fai never suggests a shift to someone if it would break a rule, and the rota warns you about clashes as you plan.

In Shifts, under Rota rules, you set Shortest rest between shifts (hours), Most hours in one day and Most hours in 7 days, then select Save. The 7-day limit counts shifts at all your brand's events and starts at 48 hours.

A warning above the rota names each person on two shifts at once, over the day's hours or with too little rest. If you add someone who would break a rule, they are added with a note to check them.

[Build your event rota and check staff in](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/build-your-event-rota-and-check-staff-in)

## How do I find out who is still coming the day before?

You select the ask button in Still coming? at the top of Offers. Everyone on shifts that start 12 to 36 hours from now gets the question, and Still coming? counts who is coming, who can't make it and who has not answered.

Anyone who says they can't make it frees their place straight away, and Fai suggests who to offer it to. Offer to people on the shift fills it.

On the day, Offers lists anyone who has not checked in 15 minutes after their shift started. With Mark not arrived and find cover beside the person, you offer their place to people who fit.

[Ask who is still coming and find cover](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/offer-open-shifts-to-your-crew-and-volunteers)

## Can I keep anyone off a shift until they have their first aid certificate or safety induction?

Yes. You can ask for each document in Licenses and certificates, such as a first aid certificate for medics, and set up a safety induction with an optional short test. Fai leaves people without a needed document out of shift offers.

With Ask for a document, you enter its name or pick a common document, and choose who needs it: everyone on a shift, a department, a role or one shift. Each person adds it once on their My shifts page, and it counts at every one of your events until it expires. If nobody entered an expiry date, Fai reads it from the file.

With Set up the induction, you enter what people read or a video link, and choose who needs it. Ask Fai to draft a test gives you questions to check before you select Make it live. With Check it at the hand-out desk before a pass is handed over turned on, the hand-out desk shows Induction not done for anyone who has not done it, before they collect a pass.

[Collect crew certificates before they work a shift](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/collect-crew-certificates-before-they-work-a-shift)

## How do my crew, volunteers and outside teams get their passes?

You open Accreditation, set your zones and pass types, then select Bring in people. Fai adds your crew, confirmed volunteers, performers' travel parties, approved traders' staff and approved press, and nobody gets a pass until you issue it.

Under Pass types, you choose the zones each wristband or badge opens, the days and hours it works, the meals per day and parking. You set each group's Passes allowed and when names close under Groups and allowances.

With the issue button at the top of Passes, you check the count and confirm. Each person gets their pass by email, and your door team scans it in the check-in app like any ticket. To print photo badges, you tick the passes and select the print button.

Outside teams, such as a security firm or a caterer, can name their own people from their own page, up to the allowance you give them. Those names wait in Accreditation for you to issue.

[Issue accreditation passes for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-accreditation-passes-for-your-event)

## How do I know who still has our radios at the end of the night?

Who has what in Kit and equipment shows it. It lists every person with kit still out and anything overdue, because your kit desk scans or enters each tag as the kit goes out and comes back.

You select Add kit and choose One thing, A numbered set, such as radios R-01 to R-40, or A batch of the same, such as 200 hi-vis vests. At the kit desk, your team scans the tag, selects Hand out and chooses who is taking it. A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner works in the scan field.

After the event, Not returned, then Let Fai draft reminders, chases what is still out. Fai drafts one email to each person listing what they still have, and you approve each one before it is sent. Your radio plan with its channels and call signs shows on each team's day sheet.

[Hand out radios and kit to your event crew](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hand-out-radios-and-kit-to-your-event-crew)

## How does the kitchen know how many crew meals to make?

In Meals, Suggest times from the shifts does it for you. Each meal time counts everyone whose shift overlaps it by at least 30 minutes, with their food needs, such as vegetarian or nut allergy.

You untick any meal you don't serve and add the rest, or select Add a meal time for one of your own. Crew and volunteers give their food needs on their My shifts page, and the line that counts who has not given them tells you who to ask.

With Share a kitchen count link, the kitchen opens it on any phone, tablet or computer without signing in. It shows the day's meals expected, served and still to serve, with the food needs and no names. Your staff give the meals from the meal desk against each person's pass.

[Plan crew meal times and food needs](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/plan-crew-meal-times-and-food-needs-for-your-event)

## Can suppliers book their own delivery times so the gate does not jam?

Yes. In Arrivals and parking, you add arrival times by gate, with how many vehicles each can take. Each outside team books a vehicle into a time from its own page, with no sign-in, and gets a code your gate can scan.

You select Add an arrival time, choose the day and times, enter how many vehicles can arrive, and choose whether outside teams, traders or both can book it. You add the gate and what drivers need to know.

On the day, your gate team selects Gate on a phone or tablet. They find each vehicle by its reference or number plate and select Check in, then Check out when it leaves. The top of the Gate page counts the vehicles expected, here, gone, late and not arrived.

[Book delivery times and check vehicles in at the gate](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/book-delivery-times-and-check-vehicles-in-at-the-gate)

## How do I collect insurance and risk assessments from my suppliers?

In Licenses and certificates, under Outside teams, Ask for a document lets you choose who needs to send it and by when. Each team adds the file on its own page, and Fai shows what she read in it before you accept it.

You pick a common document, such as public liability insurance, a risk assessment or a gas safety certificate, or enter your own. You tick the kinds of team that need to send it, or choose teams by name, and set a due date. With Send reminders automatically on, reminders go out for you, or Fai suggests each reminder for you to send.

Under each file, Fai shows the expiry date, the cover and the name it insures, and flags what does not match, such as a policy that ends before the event does. You select Accept and check the expiry date, or select Ask for changes and say what needs to change. Fai never accepts a file for you.

[Collect insurance and certificates from your outside teams](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/collect-insurance-and-certificates-from-your-outside-teams)

## Can I share my site map with my team, attendees and the emergency services?

Yes. In Site map, you upload your site plan, mark your areas, points and routes, and publish an attendee map with only the places you choose. Share links give the fire service or a supplier a private live map that ends on a date.

You select Area, Point or Line to draw on the plan, name each place and set the scale. With Check my map and the people at the busiest time entered, Fai says which first aid, drinking water, exits, toilets or accessible viewing are missing.

Publish map shows attendees the places you turned on for them, under the line-up on your event page. In Share links, you select Make a map link, choose Emergency services, Accessibility, Suppliers or Choose the places, and how long it works.

[Draw your event site map and share it](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/draw-your-event-site-map-and-share-it)

## How does my team report an incident on show day?

In Incidents, you select Report incident and enter what happened, where and how serious it is. Any member of your event's team can also ask Fai to log it, and a high or critical incident emails your safety lead straight away.

Sensitive keeps anything personal private. It is on by default for medical, safeguarding and welfare incidents, and only your safety team and the reporter can then read it in full.

Under Next step, you select Start handling, Mark resolved or Close, and add updates as things happen. Every step is kept with who took it and when, and an incident is never deleted, so your record stays complete. Your safety lead and their email go in Rota rules.

[Report and handle incidents at your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/report-and-handle-incidents-at-your-event)

## How do I check an agency's invoice against the hours its people worked?

You name the agency as the shift's Outside team and enter a Cost per hour. Hours on Shifts, By outside team, then shows each team's hours recorded and approved and the approved cost.

Each line counts from check-in to check-out. Fai flags lines such as No check-out, Did not check in, Left late or Two shifts at once. The button that counts the lines with nothing odd approves them together, and you open each flagged line with Check.

Change the hours adds or takes away time, or sets the total, with a reason such as Unpaid break, and you then select Approve. Approved hours times the cost per hour go into the Staff and crew section of the event's Budget.

[Approve the hours your crew and volunteers worked](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/approve-the-hours-your-crew-and-volunteers-worked)

## How do I brief every team without printing a pack for each one?

Each team's day sheet shares as a link. In Day sheets, you choose a department, performer or stage and the day, and select Share link. Anyone with the link reads the sheet on their phone without signing in, and it always shows the latest run of show.

A department's sheet lists its cues from the run of show, its people, pickups and arrivals, key contacts and its rota shifts. Each department's people and its lead go under Departments in Run of show.

With Send to department leads, each lead gets an email with a link to their own department's sheet for the day. Include phone numbers and hotel addresses is best ticked only when everyone you share the link with needs them.

[Share day sheets with your on-site teams](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/share-day-sheets-with-your-on-site-teams)

[Ticket Fairy for operations & crew](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/operations-managers)

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This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) · [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)