Managing the flow of your attendees is essential to a well run secure event where your invited guests can enjoy themselves without worrying about the risk of unauthorised individuals gaining access.
No matter if those trying to access the venue without a ticket have malicious intentions or simply want to see the event itself they are still a serious safety risk.
It’s not only thew fact they could harm other attendees or disrupt the event but if no-one knows they are there non-one will know to ensure they have evacuated the building in the event of an emergency and they could do themselves harm accidentally.
All your health and safety plans will also have been based on a set number of visitors and if more people are on-site than are meant to be there could be issues with congestion or overcrowding.
At the end of the day, controlling access at your event is critical and there are a few select access control top tips that you can follow to enable you to do just that.
Top tips for event access control
Check tickets
The most obvious and important security tip for any event. You have issued tickets for a reason so make sure to check them properly before granting any attendee access to the venue.
You could do this manually or hire security guards to check tickets but in the modern world scanners are by far the quickest and most effective way to evaluate if a ticket is genuine.
Depending on the event in question you might decide to ask for identification on the gate as well as a ticket and ensure that the names match up.
This is a good way to avoid the touting or theft of tickets as it ensure that only the buyer of the ticket or the desired recipient of an invite is able to use the ticket.
Manage queues
A smooth and orderly queuing system is the key to a calm and secure entry process at any event. Queue control can take many different forms but will usually involve fencing and some form of signage showing your attendees in the right direction.
Security Searches
A preliminary search by security guard might be a good idea if you are worried about illicit items being brought into your event. Legally, both male and female security guards must be available for this if you decide it is something you want to do.
Sniffer dogs are another great asset to have as they can detect drugs and other illicit substances far more efficiently than a human guard.
Metal Detectors
Airport style metal detectors at the entrance to your venue will pick up any suspicious items such as knives or guns and reassure visitors that they are safe once inside the venue. Of course this isn’t something that is required at every event and can cost a decent amount of money but it is certainly a good option to have available.