When should multi-entity and multi-currency decisions be locked?

In Define, before first sale and first invoice. Settlement entity, pricing currency, tax posture, ticket categories and the time zone of record are cheap to write down early and expensive to move later.

How do you size check-in lanes for a conference?

Against the arrival peak created by the programme, using throughput per lane and a spare lane for failure — not against total attendance alone. The on-site check-in field guide and the Run phase of the playbook walk through the arithmetic.

What should you close first after a conference?

Counts within about 24 hours, then money within about 48 hours, then the debrief. Closing money or debating channels before the counts are agreed usually invents numbers.

Where is the full large-scale conference operations playbook?

On the open /playbook page — six phases on one page, plus a direct PDF download. This field guide is the map; the playbook is the topic-level manual.

How do you run a large-scale conference from brief to close?

By Donghui Qian (Milo)Updated 16 September 20265 min read

Short answer

Run it in six phases — define, build, sell, run, close and comply — and lock the expensive decisions in the first: settlement entity, pricing currency, tax posture, ticket categories and time zone of record. Size check-in against the arrival peak, and after the event close counts within about 24 hours, money within about 48, and only then the debrief.

Summarise with

A large offline conference rarely fails because one tool hiccupped at check-in. It fails earlier: which legal entity settles, which currency sits on the ticket face, who owns the door plan when arrivals bunch into a short window, and who closes the money before anyone argues about the debrief.

This field guide is a map of that work from brief to close. It is useful whether or not you use BagEvent. The full sequential playbook — six phases, topic by topic — is open on the web with a direct PDF download.

What “large-scale” usually means here

Not a headcount trophy. The shape that needs this map is an offline conference where several of these are true at once: more than one legal entity or bank account in play, more than one currency on the ticket or the invoice, a programme that creates an arrival peak, and a close that has to finish before memories and bank statements diverge.

If every sale, refund and settlement stays inside one entity and one currency, you can still use the same phases — you just skip fewer of the early locks.

Six phases, in the order the work actually runs

Nothing below is a marketing funnel. It is the order in which irreversible choices show up. Jump into any phase; hand single topics to the people who run them.

Phase	When	What it owns
Define	Roughly T−12 to T−8 weeks	Settlement entity, pricing currency, tax posture, ticket categories, time zone of record
Build	Roughly T−10 to T−6 weeks	Venue survey, programme peaks, speaker letter, ticket identity system, pricing mechanics
Sell	Roughly T−8 to T−1 weeks	One link per source, approval seats, registration messages, agents, sponsor obligations
Run	On-site	Briefing, door arithmetic, lanes, floor plan, desk scripts, offline fallback, session gates
Close	Roughly T+1 to T+14 days	Counts within 24 hours, money within 48 hours, debrief, sign-off, feedback
Comply	From the dates that apply to you	What you must disclose, the afternoon audit, attendee data boundaries

The open playbook expands each row into stand-alone topics. Open /playbook and use the phase guide to jump — full link in Read next below.

Define: five locks that are cheap now and expensive later

Write these down before the kick-off pack travels. Moving any of them after first sale, first invoice, or badge sign-off usually means re-issuing orders, reprinting access rules, or arguing across two tax years.

Settlement entity — which company takes the money and returns refunds.
Pricing currency — what the buyer sees as the ticket face.
Tax and place of supply — locked by the first invoice you cannot quietly rewrite.
Ticket categories — not a design choice; they become the identity system for badges and access.
Time zone of record — a time without a zone is venue-local; everything else must carry its zone.

Related deep dives on this site (linked under Read next): who sells the ticket, pricing conference tickets, refunds and cancellations.

Build: the programme sets your arrival peak

Venue capacity and badge design matter, but the timetable decides when people arrive. A single keynote start packs the door; staggered openings spread it. Door staffing and lane counts are downstream of that choice — not a volunteer surprise on the morning.

Ticket categories here are an identity system: each category must map to a printable badge rule and an access rule you can still explain at 08:30. Pricing mechanics (what is disclosed, what is bundled) belong in Build, not as a checkout afterthought.

Sell: every registration should know where it came from

One link per source. If two campaigns share a URL, the debrief ends at “we do not know which channel worked.” Employer-funded tickets need approval seats that match how companies actually buy — not a single form field labelled “manager.”

Four messages usually carry the registration (invite, reminder, confirmation, day-before). Agents filling forms for someone else need different validation than self-registration. Sponsors need a written list of what you owe them before the floor opens.

Run: size the door against the peak, not against hope

Hand volunteers pages they can follow after one hour of briefing: shift plan, lane layout, desk scripts, what to do when the network fails. Lane count is arithmetic against the arrival peak and throughput — then one spare lane, because one printer or scanner will fail.

Related deep dives (Read next): on-site check-in, session access and attendance, hosted invitation events, controlled-list registration.

Close: three closes, in this order

Counts within 24 hours — who arrived, which category, which sessions — while the floor memory is still fresh.
Money within 48 hours — settled by entity, not pooled into a story nobody can unpick.
Debrief — channels, door, programme, sponsors — after the first two, or the discussion becomes inventing numbers.

Skipping the first close turns the other two into arguments. Sign-off and archive are what let next year’s team inherit decisions instead of Slack archaeology.

Comply: disclose what you must, audit in an afternoon

Where pricing mechanics and AI-assisted systems meet the law, treat the playbook pages as an operator summary with dates — not legal advice. Attendee data rules decide what may cross the venue network and what stays on the desk that printed the badge.

Related deep dive (Read next): GDPR for event organisers.

How to use the open playbook with this guide

Read this page once for the map.
Open the operations playbook and jump to the phase you are in.
Hand a single topic to the owner of that row — venue, finance, door lead, compliance.
Download the PDF when you need a print pack for the war room; the web edition stays open for search and citation.

Examples in the playbook are fictional. Converted figures are marked and dated. A time without a timezone is venue-local.

Frequently asked questions

A phase-ordered set of stand-alone topics covering how a large offline conference is defined, built, sold, run, closed and kept compliant. It is written so one page can be handed to the person who owns that job.