‘Doors’ is the term used to describe the point of entry to your show and how guests/ticket holders check-in. The single most important piece of advice for running doors: have a door person! As the Host you may be floating around greeting guests, assisting Performers, preparing snacks, etc., so it’s always good to have a dedicated door person whose sole responsibility is to greet guests, check people in, and ensure a smooth check-in process. Ask someone you trust to help in this capacity. You could even offer this individual free entry to the show and put them down as a complimentary ticket.
How to run doors:
Set up a welcome table and/or station at the door where you would like guests to arrive.
Have a friend/neighbour/family member help you at the door!
On this table you can include Performers’ merchandise, your mailing list sign up sheet, a poster, some flowers, etc.
Have a laptop/iPad/mobile phone and log in to your Side Door account. Pull up the virtual guest list associated by the show. If you would rather use paper, you can print the guest list ahead of time.
As people arrive, guests who have already purchased tickets in advance will be listed in the guest list by name and email address - they can be checked off in the system (or on your sheet).
If guests arrive who would like to purchase tickets at the door, collect cash for the ticket at the same price as advertised online (or slightly more, if the Performer agrees - this encourages advance sales). Make note of how many cash tickets you sell.
Use the Door Sales link in the Settlement sheet (more info here or see below) for the buy-back option. You and/or your friend working the door can use this feature to purchase the same amount of tickets through the system that you sold for cash at the door. You can buy back each ticket one at a time as people arrive, or keep track on a separate sheet and do a bulk purchase when things are less busy. Keep the cash, it is yours to pay you back for purchasing the equivalent tickets electronically.
In the door sales link you will see a QR code for people who want to pay with Apple/Android Pay or Card. We send a unique QR code the night of the show that can purchase tickets directly while still keeping track of capacity. Have folks scan the QR code with their devices to pay automatically via Apple/Android Pay, or have them input their card information into the link to pay direct. (Not sure how to scan a QR code? More info here!)
After the show, if you haven’t already purchased tickets for any guests who paid cash at the door, be sure to do so as soon as possible! Forgetting to buy back cash sales can delay payment to you and the Performer.
An important piece of information to keep in mind: don’t give any cash sales to the Performer after the show! Side Door automatically pays out Hosts and Performers after each show, and also collects and shares sales data with Performers to help with tracking, leveraging managers and labels, determining ticket metrics, remitting appropriate taxes, collecting SOCAN royalties, and more. Giving cash to the Performer causes the payout to be incorrect, resulting in potential chargebacks for all parties involved, as well as nullifies any sales information collected on behalf of the Performer!
The door sales link can be accessed by clicking on ‘Check in guests or sell tickets at the door’ in the appropriate show thread within your ‘My Shows’ page.
To download a printable PDF copy of your guestlist, click the printer icon next to ‘Manage your guest list’.
Search for a guest’s name in the search bar and click the + or - buttons to keep track of entrants.
If a guest would like to pay for a ticket at the door by card, have them scan the QR code in order to access the ticket link directly. This saves you from fumbling with payment information!
If they cannot scan the QR code but would like to pay by card, have them fill out the purchase tool at the right-hand side of the page.
If a guest would like to pay for a ticket at the door by cash, collect their cash and make note of how many tickets you have sold. You will need to buy those tickets back - you can do so one sale at a time using the payment tool at the right, or better yet save time by making a bulk purchase with all door sales at the end of the night.
