In ancient Greece, the first known tickets were used for events that took place in the theatres, and in the Roman Era, small disks of clay about the size of a penny were used to stamp seating details. This evolved to pre-paid ‘checks” made of brass or bronze which were used to control the crowd trooping into the theatres and to know how much they were making for each performance. This continued with the introduction of tokens and later, paper tickets.

Paper tickets evolved design-wise all through the 19th century and could be purchased at record stores, event venues, sports arenas and cinema halls.

In the early 2000s, ticketing transited online and became mainstream because all you had to do to have an e-ticket was to have a computer and internet connection. Between 2009-2018, more companies sprung up to embrace online ticketing and registration, generating as much as 115 billion dollars as revenue annually.

In 2021, the joy of every event organizer is to have a smooth and seamless event at little or no cost but is this possible? It is no longer news that large physical gatherings have been banned by the Nigerian government, therefore, restricting everyone to exclusive physical events Now, let’s examine an important aspect of exclusive events (both corporate and social events); registration, ticketing, and activation. In event planning, getting the numbers is as good as getting the right mix of attendees because you may have the number of people you want to invite figured out but the quality you desire may prove somewhat herculean.

Once you are done with figuring out the numbers, send out a registration link across groups and networks where these people may likely belong, informing them about the event and encourage them to register on your most preferred platform, which could be a website and close registration once you have gotten the right audience for your event. @trax.com.ng offers an innovative platform that is easy to use characterized by features that can aid in event registrations, ticketing, communications and directory.

Done with registration? Head on to set up an activation team that will be on standby at the venue to activate the registered attendees. Activation helps to admit the exact set of people who registered for your event, wading off unwanted guests. Biodata gathered from the entire process can be used for pre, during, and post-event communications. It also provides information on how to plan for your next event. Online ticketing has been around for some time now but only strategic event organizers can use this event process to their advantage. The idea is to provide a unique persona for each of your registered attendees which only you(the event organizer) can identify. It saves the cost of printing paper tickets and helps to curb waste (which may be harmful to the immediate environment ) generated from the entire process. With this method, sales of tickets can be tracked and monitored effectively. We will review other event aspects in subsequent weeks.