Case study · GEL Events
A national events company needed its guests checked in fast and badged on the spot, at events of every size. We’ve built and run its systems and software since 2014: the event management app, the self check-in kiosk, badge printing and the reporting behind them.
2014
Building their systems since
1,000+
Events run
5,000+
Delegates at the largest conferences
3
Ways to check in: kiosk, print station and counter
GEL Events runs onsite check-in and badge printing for conferences, exhibitions and corporate events across South Africa. From its head office in Sandton, with staff and equipment in Durban and Cape Town, it has run more than 1,000 events, from 80-person boardroom sessions to conferences of 5,000+ delegates.
Its promise to clients is simple: send a spreadsheet, and GEL runs your front door. Guests don’t need to download an app or learn a platform.
The front door is where an event makes its first impression, and there’s no second chance at it. GEL needed software that would:
Read it like the run sheet for an event. The software is there at every point, from the moment the guest list arrives to the report the sponsors read afterwards.
The day before
The client’s guest list is imported, and roles, sessions and badge layouts are set up for the event.
Doors open
Guests scan a code or look themselves up, confirm their details and collect a badge printed for their role.
Through the day
Walk-ins, changes and reprints are handled on the spot, while session access and CPD attendance are tracked.
Afterwards
Organisers and sponsors get attendance figures they can trust, from arrivals over time to session numbers.
One event platform at the centre, with every screen GEL’s team and guests use connected to it. We’ve built every part, and kept it growing with the business for more than a decade.
A walk through the screens we designed for GEL’s team and guests, taken from our prototype.
Only GEL’s staff can open the system and run an event, so guest data stays in the right hands.
The team sets up each event, loads the guest list and keeps an eye on who has arrived.
Search the list, open a guest’s details and make changes before their badge prints.
Badges print on demand for each guest’s role, with instant reprints when something changes.
At the kiosk, guests scan their code or look themselves up, confirm their details and collect their badge.
Events don’t happen in ideal conditions. The system is designed for busy foyers, queues out the door and patchy venue Wi-Fi.
Check-in and printing keep going when the venue’s connection drops.
Session-level and room-level restrictions, so guests only get into the sessions they’re registered for.
Arrival, departure and session attendance tracked for CPD, with records clients can rely on.
Check-in only feels instant when the software and the equipment work as one. The system talks directly to the badge printers, scanners and touchscreens GEL takes to every venue.
That’s the kind of work our desktop and mobile teams love: software that has to work reliably with real devices, in a busy room, first time.
Since
2014
We’ve been building GEL’s systems and software for more than a decade. As its events got bigger and its services grew, from pre-printed name tags to CPD tracking, the software grew with it.
Knowing the business this well means new features land quickly, and when something needs attention on an event day, GEL knows exactly who to call.
We have been working with Epicdev for more than 11 years, and they have built us some wonderful apps and great front-end and back-end management systems. Their customer service is superb and they’re always available to help out with any technical issues.
RH
Ross Holmes
Director, Labels4school and GEL Events
If your team relies on spreadsheets, paper or a patchwork of tools to run something that matters, we can build software around the way you actually work.
Tell us how your team works today and where it gets stuck. We’ll come back with a plan and a quote.