The clipboard behind the till
Your Christmas wreath workshops sold out last year, so this year you have added more evenings. The booking sheet is on a clipboard behind the main till. Customers phone, a cashier writes their name and number, and they pay on the night, or sometimes in advance on a separate key. Some people book by Facebook message. A few are added by the events coordinator from her own notebook.
Three weeks out, nobody is sure which evenings are full. Two people are booked on the same place, one evening has a gap where someone cancelled by phone, and the florist supplying the moss and wire needs numbers by Friday. On the night, four people do not turn up, and they had not paid.
Why events outgrow the clipboard
Events start small, with a talk or two, and a clipboard is fine. As they become a real part of the year, with seasonal workshops, children's clubs, talks and supper evenings, the admin grows faster than the events do.
- Bookings come in by phone, till, email, social media and in person.
- Payment is taken on the night, or on a till key that is not linked to the booking.
- Capacity is managed by counting names on paper.
- Materials and refreshments are ordered from a best guess.
- Cancellations and waiting lists are handled by memory.
What the paper process costs
Unpaid no-shows leave empty places on nights that were full on paper. Double bookings are awkward to fix on the night. Materials are over or under ordered, and anything included with food, such as mince pies or a two course supper, has to be worked out with the restaurant at the last minute.
Popular sessions create their own problem: people who could not get a place ask to be told if one comes up, and those requests end up on the back of the clipboard. When someone cancels, the coordinator has to find the list, ring round and hope somebody answers.
The coordinator spends evenings answering messages and updating lists instead of planning the next season of events, and customers who could not get through simply do not book.
Event booking built for a garden centre
- We build an events page on your website, or connect to it, listing each workshop with dates, places left and what is included.
- Customers book and pay online using Stripe or your card provider, and get a confirmation with directions to the room and what to bring.
- Till staff and phone staff use the same system to book on behalf of customers, so every booking is in one list.
- Capacity is enforced per session, and a waiting list offers cancelled places automatically.
- Materials per place, such as wreath rings, moss and ribbon, are calculated from bookings, with a supplier order summary on the deadline you set.
- If food is included, the restaurant receives numbers and dietary notes for each event.
| Task | With a clipboard | With event booking |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | Name on paper | Online or by staff, one list |
| Payment | On the night, if at all | Taken at booking |
| Full evenings | Counted by hand | Places left shown live |
| Cancellations | Gap stays empty | Waiting list offered the place |
| Materials | Best guess | Totals from bookings |
Your own cancellation and refund terms are shown at booking and applied by the system. We build to them rather than setting them for you.
An events season that runs itself, mostly
The coordinator publishes the autumn programme and the bookings arrive online. She checks the dashboard for sessions filling slowly and posts about those. The florist gets a materials total on Friday. The restaurant knows how many suppers to prep.
On the night, the host has a printed list with names and dietary notes, and everyone on it has paid. When somebody cancels, the next person on the waiting list is offered the place without anyone making a call.
Are your events running on a clipboard?
- Workshop bookings are written on paper at the till.
- People pay on the night, and some never arrive.
- You are not sure which sessions are full.
- Materials are ordered from a guess.
- Waiting lists are kept in someone's head.