Event check-in with QR codes, step by step

One code per guest

The idea is a ticket for each person that carries a QR code. At the door, someone scans it and the guest is marked as arrived. There is nothing to buy; the ticket is just a way of saying “this person is on the list”.

Guests keep it on their phone, where it can be reached from their reply. They can also screenshot it, or print it if they prefer paper. Tell them in your invitation or reminder to have it ready, and where to find it. If they say yes and then lose the link, they can ask for it again by email.

You do not need every guest to bring one. The point is to make the common case fast and leave a sensible route for everyone else.

Who stands where

A small event can be run by one person. Anything with more than a few dozen people is better with roles, and four is a good number:

• The scanner. Stands at the front and does only one thing: scan, say the name, say hello.
• The list. Sits to one side with the guest list, for people who cannot find their code or arrive without one. They search by name and check them in.
• The greeter. Welcomes everyone, points to the bar or the cloakroom, and keeps the queue calm. They do not handle devices.
• The runner. Takes anything awkward away from the door: a guest not on the list, a missing plus-one, a question for the host. The line keeps moving.

Smaller gatherings can double up. The point is that the person scanning is never also the person solving a problem.

Self check-in and walk-ins

If many guests arrive at once, a kiosk helps. Set a tablet or laptop on a stand with a sign, and guests find their own name and check themselves in. It suits a conference registration, a workshop or a large party, and the person freed from the door can greet people instead.

Walk-ins are the guests who were not on the list. Decide before the day how you will treat them. You might welcome anyone who turns up, you might say no, or you might allow a few. Whatever you choose, the door team should know it, and only one person, usually the runner, gets to say yes.

When things go wrong

A guest cannot find their code

Do not make them hunt in a queue. Send them to the list, search by name, and check them in. They can sort out their link later.

A guest checks in by mistake

It happens: a wrong tap, a guest checked in for a friend who has not arrived. Undo the check-in, so your count stays honest.

No-shows

After the event starts, you will know who is missing. Mark them as no-shows rather than leaving them blank, because it tells you more afterwards: who said yes and did not come, and who you can follow up with next time. If a guest says they are not coming after all, that is a no, not a no-show.

Practical tips

• Screen brightness. A dim phone screen is hard to scan. Ask guests to turn their brightness up, and keep a light off the glass if the room is bright.
• A printed list as backup. Phones die, signal drops and venues are not always kind to Wi-Fi. Bring a printed guest list so you can still welcome people.
• Test with one phone before the day. Scan one real ticket at the actual door, in the actual light. You will learn more in two minutes than in an evening of planning.
• A second device, charged. Keep a spare phone or tablet signed in and on a charger, so a failure does not end the evening.
• Agree the rules in advance. Who may override, how walk-ins are handled and what happens at capacity.

A setup checklist for the day

Run through this when you arrive, with enough time before the doors open to fix what you find.

1. Confirm the final guest list matches your latest replies.
2. Give each door team member their role, and the access they need.
3. Open the check-in tools on the main device and the spare, and check both are charged.
4. Scan one real ticket to make sure it works in the light at the door.
5. Set up the kiosk, if you are using one, with a clear sign and a place to stand.
6. Put the printed backup list where the list person can reach it.
7. Brief the team on walk-ins, capacity and who decides exceptions.
8. Place the greeter where the queue forms, not behind the desk.

How JoinMe handles the door

For events with check-in, every guest gets a ticket with a QR code. The host has a door page where staff can search the list, tap to check someone in, undo it, add walk-ins, do a bulk check-in, or scan a guest’s QR code with the phone camera. On the kiosk, a party can pick which of its people have arrived. See what a work event page includes.

You can give door staff their own links. These only open the door tools, so a volunteer on the entrance does not see the rest of your event. A separate kiosk page lets guests check themselves in.

Afterwards you can mark no-shows, with an audit trail you can download as a CSV. You can also print name badges for the guests. The door tools need a connection, so keep that printed list handy for patchy venues.

Getting people to reply in the first place is the other half of a smooth door. See how to get people to RSVP, and for weddings, choosing a deadline and building a seating chart from a spreadsheet.