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We’ve added per ticket type limits

Tuesday, September 05, 2017

In addition to setting an overall limit on the number of participants for your event, you can now set participant limits on a per ticket type basis. This option is available for any new events you create. With this change the waitlist will behave slightly differently for any newly created events. For existing events, the waitlist will continue to behave in the same way.

The waitlist and ticket type limits

With the introduction of ticket type limits, in addition to an event becoming full by reaching the overall participant limit, individual ticket types can also become full. When a ticket type becomes full, a person can register for that ticket type’s waitlist. When a non-waitlisted participant cancels, the first person on that ticket type’s waitlist will get their spot. The waitlist for a given ticket type will only advance while the registration for the ticket type is open.

In addition to joining the waitlist because a given ticket type is full, a person may also join the waitlist because the event’s overall capacity has been exceeded. In this case, when a person cancels, the first waitlisted person eligible across all ticket types will get their spot. To be eligible, registration on their ticket type still needs to be open, and their their given ticket type needs to have an open spot.

Previous to the introduction of ticket type limits, the waitlist behaved slightly differently. Under the old behaviour, someone was eligible to be moved off the waitlist regardless of whether registration for their ticket type was open or not. As long as there was at least one open ticket type, the waitlist would advance, meaning someone could be moved off the waitlist even if registration for their ticket type had ended. Events created before the introduction of ticket type limits will keep this behaviour.

Configuring limits on multiple ticket types

Using multiple ticket types, we support many different patterns for holding events. We’ve come up with some common scenarios for how you might want to configure registration.

Main event with an optional reception that has room for all attendees

Example: You’re holding a seminar for 40 people. After the seminar, you’ll have networking time for participants, where you’ll order pizza and drinks.

Create two ticket types:

Ticket typeAttendance limit
Seminar onlyNone
Seminar plus receptionNone

Then set an overall attendance limit of 40 people.

Main event with an optional reception that has room for limited attendees

Example: You’re holding a seminar for 100 people. After the seminar, you’ll hold a reception at a nearby restaurant. The restaurant has capacity for 40 people.

Create two ticket types:

Ticket typeAttendance limit
Seminar onlyNone
Seminar plus reception40 people

Then set an overall attendance limit of 100 people.

Tickets set aside for specific participant category

Example: You’re holding a workshop for 100 people. You want to set aside 10 spots for students, who will be able to join at a discounted price.

Ticket typeAttendance limit
Regular90 people
Students10 people

There’s no need to set an overall attendance limit.

Balanced participant categories

Example: You’re holding a networking event for software developers and designers. You want to ensure there’s a rough balance between developers and designers, but it doesn’t need to be exactly equal. You have a total capacity of 50 people.

Create two ticket types:

Ticket typeAttendance limit
Developer30 people
Designer30 people

Then set an overall attendance limit of 50 people.

Discount for early registration

Example: You’re holding a conference for 300 people. You want to incentivize people to register early, and so the first 50 people who register, up to one month before the event starts, can get a discounted price.

Ticket typeAttendance limitRegistration Closes
Early Bird30 peopleCustom (1 month before event)
NormalNoneStart of event

Then set an overall attendance limit of 300 people.