Running an event is difficult; there are so many things to consider, and so many things to prepare – and before you even have a single person registered! Read on for some of our tips and tricks for setting up the best registration for your event.
Think Like a Participant
When setting up your own event, put yourself in the shoes of your participants. What information would you want to have on the registration page? What questions would you want answered? Participants want to know things that will be relevant to them on event day. Here are a few good examples of questions you should be able to readily answer:
- How do I get there?
- Where do I park when I get there?
- Will there be food at the event?
- Is it a good event for kids/pets to attend?
- Where do I pick up my number/packet?
- Where is the start line?
You can head off a lot of phone calls and emails by having information like this easily accessible to the participant on your registration page.
Have Route Maps
Maps are a great way to show participants what the event is going to be like. You may have a wide range of abilities at your event, and including things like links to route maps or elevation profiles helps ensure that participants choose the option that fits their ability. There are some great mapping websites available for free that you can include links to in your event:
Websites like Strava even allow your participants to upload their times from your event!
Use Email Reminders
It seems like we all run on reminders. We keep notifications on our phones and sticky notes on our desks to make sure we don’t forget the important things. As your event draws closer, it’s always a good practice to send out reminder emails to your registered participants. Let them know the event is still happening (especially if they registered months in advance), and any critical information that will help your participants as event day approaches. For example, if temperatures are going to spike, sending out an email right before the event reminding participants to bring plenty of water is always a good idea!
Make It Fun for The Whole Family
If your event is serving food or having entertainment afterward, don’t miss out on letting your participants know that their family is welcome too! Selling tickets for food or entertainment along with your event registration is a great way to boost event income, and spectator participation. This also gives you a much better idea of the number of people you are expecting when you place orders for food.
Think About Refunds
It’s going to happen. A portion of your participants will be contacting you for refunds. For whatever reason, sickness, prior commitments, etc., you will get a certain number of people who want their money refunded.
Get a jump on this by stating your refund policy clearly on your registration page. This way, participants will see it before they register, and you will have something to reference down the line when you are deciding whether to honor specific refund requests.
Enabling registration transfers is also a great way to handle some of these scenarios. Oftentimes your participants have someone in mind that they would like to take their registration if they cannot attend your event. Enabling a feature like this on your event registration makes this process quick and easy for your participants, and less work for you! Learn more about transfers here.
All athleteReg platforms also offer registration insurance for participants to purchase when registering. For more information on that, read about it here.
Encourage Sharing
Sometimes the best marketing for your event is through your participants themselves. Make sure that your event is connected in to the mainstream social media channels, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from day one. Encourage your participants to share their registration on their own social media platforms to drum up interest for your event. Utilizing hashtags is also a great way to get people excited.
Learn more about social sharing on athleteReg here.
Keep these six things in mind when setting up your event and your registration process will benefit! Check out any of our athleteReg sites below to get registration started for your event today.
