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How to check guests in fast at the door
By Connections team · Published November 12, 2026
A slow door usually fails for one of three reasons: the list is in the wrong order, there is one line for everyone, or nobody knows what to do with a name that is not on the list. Each of those can be fixed before the first guest arrives. Plan for the rush, not the average. Most people arrive in the fifteen minutes before the start time, so the setup has to work when fifteen people reach the table at once.
Set up the table before anyone arrives
Put the table where people come in, not in a corner of the room. Leave about two steps of clear floor behind it, so the volunteer can turn to the room without someone squeezing past. Tape the power cable down so nobody trips on it at 7:02.
- A table or stand just inside the entrance, with a chair for the volunteer
- Two charged devices: one for looking up names or scanning, and a spare
- A printed copy of the guest list, sorted the way you will search it, in a folder
- Pens, a box of name badges or blank stickers, and a marker
- A sign that says where each lane goes, so guests sort themselves before they reach the table
Sort the list before doors open
Sort the list by last name for most events. For a group that arrives by company or team, sort by company first. Print it in a large font. A paper copy is worth having even if you use a phone or a screen, because it still works when the Wi-Fi drops.
Mark three things on the printed list: people who have paid, people who RSVP'd yes but have not confirmed, and anyone with a guest. A worked example: say 40 people RSVP yes and six of them bring a plus-one. The volunteer now has 46 names to find. If eight of the 40 pay at the door, those eight need a payment step that the other 38 do not.
Run two lanes, not one
One line is the most common reason a queue goes out the door. Make the first lane for people with a ticket or an RSVP. Make the second lane for anything that takes longer: paying at the door, adding a name, or a question about a refund. Two people work the first lane and one works the second. The volunteer in the second lane must never hold up the first.
- Ask for the name, not the ticket. Most people say their name faster than they find a code.
- Find the name on the list and read it back quietly: 'Yes, Priya Shah, you are on the list.'
- Hand over the badge and point to the room, or to the coat rack if it is on the way.
- Mark the guest in before you speak to the next person. A guest you forget to mark is a guest the count will get wrong all night.
Handle walk-ins without stopping the line
A walk-in is someone who is not on the list. Decide the rule before the night, not at the table. A common rule is that a walk-in is welcome if there is room, and they pay or sign up on the spot. Write the rule on a card at the table, so the volunteer does not have to make the call alone while a line waits.
Keep walk-ins in the second lane. Take the name and an email, take payment if you charge, and send them in. Say 12 walk-ins arrive at a 60-person night and each one takes 90 seconds at the table. That is 18 minutes of work for one volunteer, which is why it belongs in its own lane and not in the way of the first.
Keep a live count while the room fills
Know your capacity and check the count every fifteen minutes. Count arrivals, not names on the list, because a missing guest is not a problem at the door. On Connections the check-in screen is the Event Check-In Kiosk. You open it on the device at the entrance, and it runs in a browser, so there is nothing to install for a one-night event. A scan shows a result line for each guest, and a second scan of the same ticket says the guest is already checked in. Guests who came together appear under one Party heading. The kiosk asks for an exit PIN before it closes, so a volunteer cannot leave the scanner by accident.
Put the scanner where people stop, not where they queue. A device at the front of a line gets crowded. A device at the table, with the line behind it, gets used.
After the last guest walks in
- Count the badges left on the table and the names still not checked in. Write both numbers down.
- List every walk-in and every payment taken at the door, with the time it happened.
- Save the guest list before you pack up. The names you checked in tonight are the first invitation for the next event.
- Send a short note to the people who did not come. Say you missed them, and say when the next one is. Do not make them feel removed from the list.
Fix a wrong name at the table, before the guest walks in. A name corrected later leaves a mismatch on the list that you will have to find by hand.
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