The quiet half of every event

Guests remember the stage, the food and the room. The people running the event remember the guest list. Most of the stress on show day traces back to a record that was wrong, missing or duplicated weeks earlier, or to an email that told people the wrong thing.

These notes cover that quieter half of event work: how lists are built, how arrivals are handled, how messages are timed and what happens to the data once everyone has gone home. They are written for admin, marketing, HR and events teams who have been handed the registration desk and want it to run calmly.

The notes

• Mapping exhibition technology before you buy anything: start with journeys, not demos.
• Planning a conference email sequence: which message goes to whom, and when.
• Sorting visitors and exhibitors into categories: the map every form depends on.
• Rehearsing check-in with messy data: why a tidy test list proves very little.
• Launch leads after the doors close: getting usable records to sales.

One habit that helps everywhere

For general guidance on handling personal data, the Personal Data Protection Commission is the official place to start.