Event Staffing

The roles most events need to fill

Not every event needs every role, and in a small event one person holds several. Start from the list of jobs, then decide who does each, rather than starting from the people you happen to have.

How to estimate how many staff you need

Do this for each station and each time block, not for the event as a whole. The method is the same every time, and the only numbers in it come from your own event.

1. 1

   List the stations and the time blocks

   Write down every place a person is needed (registration, each session room, the hall entrance) and split the day into blocks that match your run of show: doors open, session changes, lunch, close.

   Run of show guide
2. 2

   Estimate the demand in each block

   How many people will arrive at registration between doors opening and the first session? How many will move between rooms at a session change? Use your registration numbers and, if you have run the event before, last time's arrival pattern. Do not assume everyone arrives evenly: most arrivals bunch just before the start.

3. 3

   Time one person at the task

   Run a dry run with a colleague acting as an attendee. How long does one check-in take with your process? How long does a badge reprint take? That figure is your rate for one person at one station, and it is the only honest basis for a headcount.

4. 4

   Divide demand by what one person handles

   People needed = attendees arriving in the block, divided by what one person can handle in that block (one over the time per attendee, times the minutes in the block). Round up. Check the answer against the longest wait you are willing to accept.

5. 5

   Add cover, breaks and a floater

   Add people so that everyone gets a break without a station closing, and add at least one floater per area who is not tied to a post. Then add a named reserve for no-shows.

6. 6

   Cut the number with process, not people

   Before you hire more staff, see what removes work: self-service kiosks, QR scanning instead of name search, badges printed on demand. Each takes time off the per-attendee figure in step 3.

What to cover in the staff briefing

A briefing that takes ten minutes and is read from a one-page sheet beats a long email nobody opened. Hold it on the day, in the space they will work in, and cover these points:

• The event in one paragraph

  What it is, who is coming, what a good day looks like. Staff answer questions better when they know the whole event, not just their post.

• Their post, their shift and their relief

  Where they stand, when they start, when their break is and who covers them.

• The five questions everyone gets asked

  Where is the toilet, the coffee, the next session, the exit, the registration desk. Give the answers on the sheet and a map.

• How to do the task

  For check-in staff, a walk-through of the check-in screen, the badge printer and what to do when a name is not found. Let them try it before the doors open.

• Who to call and when

  One escalation path with names and numbers: who handles a lost child, a medical problem, an angry guest, a broken printer. Say plainly what staff may decide themselves.

• Dress, behaviour and breaks

  What to wear, how to greet, phone rules, where to eat and when.

Shift sheet template

One sheet for the whole team, printed and pinned at the staff base, with a copy sent to each person's phone. Copy the text below and fill in the brackets.

EVENT STAFF SHIFT SHEET
Event: [name]    Date: [date]    Venue: [venue]
Event lead: [name, mobile]    Backup contact: [name, mobile]
Staff base: [room / location]    Briefing: [time] at [place]

SHIFTS
Name | Role | Post | Start | Break | End | Relief
[name] | Check-in | [desk A] | [07:30] | [10:30, relief: name] | [13:00] | [name]
[name] | Floater | [lobby] | [07:30] | [11:00, relief: name] | [13:00] | [name]
[name] | Session room monitor | [Room 2] | [08:30] | [12:00, relief: name] | [17:00] | [name]

THE FIVE QUESTIONS
Registration: [location]
Toilets: [location]
Coffee and lunch: [location, times]
Next session rooms: [see agenda, map attached]
Exit and first aid: [location]

ESCALATION
Medical or safety: [name, mobile]
VIP or speaker issue: [name, mobile]
Technical problem: [name, mobile]
Venue issue: [name, mobile]

RULES
Dress: [description]
Breaks: [where and how long]
Phones: [rule]

What Eventdex does for event staffing

Eventdex does not supply or hire event staff. You bring the people, whether employees, volunteers or an agency. What Eventdex gives them is the check-in and onsite software they work with, and that can change how many of them you need at the registration desk.

• Staffed check-in on phones and tablets

  Staff check attendees in with iOS and Android phones and tablets, scanning QR codes or barcodes, and multiple devices can be used with one login.

  Attendee check-in app

• Self-service kiosks

  Attendees check themselves in and print their own badge. Eventdex says kiosk mode lets a small team cover check-in while they handle the questions only people can answer.

  Check-in kiosk

• Walk-ins and badges

  Last-minute registrants can be registered and checked in on the spot, and badges print on demand on Zebra, Epson and Brother printers.

  Onsite event management software

• Offline check-in

  Tickets can be scanned and validated offline, and the data syncs back when the connection returns, so a poor venue network does not stop the desk.

  Onsite check-in and badge printing

• Hardware to rent

  iPads, tablets, printers, kiosks and accessories are available to rent for the event.

  Supported devices