Q:
To those of you using wristbands for access control into premium areas:
- What is your process?
- Do the employees distribute the bands from a kiosk? An apron? A desk?
- Do you have any advice for a venue looking to implement and streamline this process?
A:
We use wristbands for access into our club lounge for those that own seats in the club area. There are two entrance areas to our club – a private one for club seat owners and a public one for the public that wishes to visit the bar area. There is a concierge located at the private club entrance, and their job is to verify access based on the ticket the club seat owner presents.
Once verified, the concierge places a wristband on the club seat owner. The club seat owner can come and go into the club without having to take out their ticket, and they also have access to complimentary snacks and beverages.
We do I.D. and wristband all public areas for alcohol service, so we work together and make sure we never use the same color or type of wristband for club access as we do for alcohol.
We also print the name of our Club sponsor on the wristbands that are used for Club Lounges.
A:
- We use wristbands in the club of our football stadium for around 300 ticket holders. The reason for this is because it is an all-inclusive ticket, and we don't want people passing tickets so they can get in the space for free F&B. Upon first entrance, guests receive a wristband, and we punch their game ticket. In order to get back into the club, guests must have both the wristband and the punched ticket.
- We distribute wristbands at a concierge desk just outside of the club. Our club hosts (two people) facilitate wristbanding/punching the tickets and do so through halftime.
A:
We have had good success using wristbands for large groups in our club area. Since the guests have access to a common lounge before they move out to loge seating for their meal and the show, wristbands allow the staff to easily recognize the group members and charge all beverages and food to the one account.
Handing out the wristbands can be challenging. We usually put one staff member at the main entrance door with a list of the seat/ticket numbers for each group using wristbands. This way we “catch†most of the guests as they enter. It’s not perfect. We try also to have the company’s event coordinator or host stand with us to identify their guests, but often they do not know all the guests by sight either.
Believe it or not, we have actually had better luck with the rubber Lance Armstrong-style wristbands rather than the paper or vinyl tamper-proof type. The rubber ones are much easier to hand out and don’t require the time to attach them for people. We find that the guests are pretty honest and passing them to other people does not occur.
A:
We use wristbands to control access into our courtside club. Our courtside club is an all-inclusive area for our first and second row season ticket members. Our average attendance is 220-240 a night.
When they arrive to the club, we have one usher that checks their ticket to make sure they are allowed in, then the following usher will hole punch their ticket to make sure they do not pass their tickets to friends, then the following usher will put a wristband on them. In total, we have four ushers that help us with the process into the club.
At halftime when it is quite crowded, we have one usher that will look for wristbands and keep moving people into the club. The other ushers remain doing their checks for tickets, hole punching, and wristbanding.
At the end of the night, we receive a count of the wristbands that we will bill Levy Restaurants on. We also have one of the ushers with a “Counter†so we know for the most part what our crowd looks like pre-game, half, and post-game.
A:
This year, we are going to invisible ink stamps that are detectable via UV light, which we will have at every checkpoint. We will conduct random checks when necessary.
A:
We use wristbands in our club seating which is an all -inclusive area. Guests enter the park through a special valet parking entrance, and their tickets are scanned, and a wristband is put on the wrist of the guest. We do not on the suite level. Make sure the band is labeled and a different color is used each day.
A:
We have a separate VIP Entrance for members only. We have a “counter†that serves as a private will-call just for them. If the client does not have his tickets yet, he goes to the counter where our staff/concierges will go through the list and hand in the tickets. Right after, he will go through our ushers, who scan the tickets and put on the wristbands, and then security. We use different colors, from any other entrance in our venue, and it has our VIP logo, plus it says VIP for quick identification later on.
A:
We do a mix depending on the area. You need a spot to put the adhesive papers to once you put the bracelet on. If you have in and out policy reminder to mark the ticket so they don’t pass the tickets to someone else.
A:
We have 25 units that all have access to the buffet at our club. When our clients enter into this premium area, they are greeted by guest services representatives who will distribute wristbands to all guests. There is a permanent podium where one representative checks the tickets, while a second representative puts on each wristband.
I think it is critical for there to be more than one representative checking tickets and putting on wristbands to make the process as quick and easy as possible.
A:
We only use wristbands in our all-inclusive clubs. Because these areas include F&B with their ticket, we punch the ticket and issue a wristband to ensure there is no fraud/ticket passing occurring.
This takes two staff members – one to punch the ticket and one to wristband, so staffing must be considered in order to handle the amount of traffic these areas see right before first pitch.
In our club location that I staff, we have a host stand where the two staff members will stand by so there is a designated welcome area and point of check in for guests when they arrive rather than having floating staff trying to chase guests down as they enter.
We have debated wristbands for our suites to try and alleviate some of the ticket passing abuse that can occur, but I’ve found that it would feel less luxurious to be wristbanded for a private suite.
A:
We use wristbands for access into our all-inclusive suite. We have a security officer (dressed in a jacket and tie) and one of our gameday staffers at a concierge desk near the elevators for this level. When each guest shows their ticket, they receive a snap-wristband and have their ticket hole-punched. Wristbands are a different color for each game and are imprinted with that game’s opponent and date.
Our system has worked fine since we opened the suite in 2005. There are only 185 guests in this premium area, so you might need additional staff if you have more ticket holders.
A:
We use wristbands to indicate patrons for two of our premium spaces (we have different bands for our two areas). The guests are wristbanded when they arrive by our employees. We also have a unique paper punch for each premium space, and we punch their ticket when they are wristbanded.
We purchase our wrist bands from a company in Milwaukee that is great to work with, as far as designing them to fit our needs. We had them create a unique band for the Kenny Chesney concert this year, and it helped the process on concert day when ALL premium level guests were banded (we don’t typically band everyone on gameday).
A:
We distribute wristbands (and mark the back of the tickets with highlighter/permanent marker) when guests enter the lounge, club seats, and club. For the lounge, there is a table set up just outside of the entrance. For the club seats, they have the wristbands in an apron (not too many fans enter through the seats; however, if they enter the ballpark from a gate other than their private entrance, then they will be directed to this area). For the club, wristbands are distributed from a podium at the entrance.
A:
- We wristband everyone who enters the skybox on three of our four floors. The wristband allows access to roam from floor to floor. The club area that does not get wristbanded can only access that floor.
- Wristbands are put on guests as they enter the main doors. This happens immediately after their tickets are verified and scanned.
- Educate your fans of any changes, early and often. Also, encourage them to arrive early as it does take time to wristband, if you haven’t in the past.