What belongs on the morning-of checklist for a conference?

A. Roster and devices

• Every door device is charged, signed in, and on this event—not yesterday’s.
• The attendee list is on the device. Search by name works with the network off.
• Offline test: network off, at least twenty scans, then back online and the same scan does not become two.
• A spare phone and a spare battery are on the exception desk, not in a bag in the office.
• Walk-in rule is written down: a person already on the list can be scanned offline; a brand-new walk-in needs the network, because only the server can issue a ticket.

B. Badges and the printer you will use

• One test badge printed on the printer and the stock that will run at doors—not an office printer last week.
• VIP or speaker badges that were pre-printed used print-only, so they are not already marked as checked in.
• Reprint path is known: who may reprint, and where the person stands so they do not block a lane.
• Lanyards and badge stock for the first two hours are at the desk, not in a crate at the loading dock.

C. How people enter

Most multi-day conferences want a hybrid door, not a single gadget. Staffed lanes do the handover—badge, lanyard, the one sentence about which hall. A phone is for a roaming check or a session door. A self-serve kiosk only works when the attendee can finish without a decision; the moment someone has to ask “which ticket am I?”, they belong at a person. Keep one exception desk for unpaid, wrong ticket, unnamed group seats, and reprints.

• Lane count matches the on-site guide for this morning’s peak, including the exception desk.
• Signs name the lanes in the words on the ticket: full conference, day pass, speaker, exhibitor—not “Lane A”.
• The first half-hour has a named person who only watches the queues and moves people, and does not also scan.

D. Exhibitors, if the hall has stands

This section is a check, not the work. Staff seats, questions, export rights, and consent should already be finished—see the exhibitor prep guide. On the morning, confirm one stand can scan a test badge and that the live booth code, if you require it, is changing.

E. People

• Each lane has two people if you are handing over a badge and a bag: one on the device, one on the handover.
• The exception desk has someone who can take payment or approve a pending registration while the desk is online.
• The support channel for this morning is one place—name, phone, and who covers printer jams.
• Volunteers have the script for the three sentences they are allowed to say, and a place to send every other question.

Stop when the first real queue forms

A checklist that is still being edited at doors is a conversation, not a control. If A and B passed yesterday evening, this morning is a confirmation. If they did not, open later or staff the exception desk honestly—do not discover offline mode in front of the keynote speaker.