QR Codes for Events: Tickets, Registration, and Check-In

Events are full of moments where people need information quickly while standing up, holding a coffee and talking to someone: Where's room B? When does the keynote start? How do I connect to the Wi-Fi? Where do I leave feedback? QR codes are good at exactly these moments, and they're inexpensive to add to things you're printing anyway.

This guide follows an event from first announcement to final thank-you, with the codes that help at each stage and the practical details that keep queues moving.

Before the event

Promotion

Posters, flyers and printed invitations can link straight to the registration page. Use a separate code for each channel, tagged with a different utm_source (for example poster, flyer, partner-newsletter) so your web analytics show which promotion brought people in. The bulk generator makes a set of tagged codes from a spreadsheet in one go.

Registration

Link to a mobile-friendly form with as few required fields as possible. People scanning a poster will abandon a ten-field form on a phone keyboard.

Save-the-date calendar codes

A calendar event QR code adds the event straight to someone's calendar with the title, start and end time, location and description. It's a simple, reliable way to stop people forgetting.

Calendar codes use the iCalendar event format (a BEGIN:VEVENT block). Most current phones offer to add the event when they scan one, but support varies by device and calendar app, so many organisers also put an "Add to calendar" link on the registration confirmation page. You can make a calendar code with the Event type in our generator.

A note on times: our generator writes times as "floating" local time, so the event shows at the same clock time wherever it's opened. That's what you want for an in-person event. For online events with an international audience, state the time zone in the description too.

Tickets and check-in

Ticketing platforms generate a unique QR code per ticket and provide a scanning app for the door. Use theirs: unique codes need to be checked against a live list of valid, unused tickets, which a simple QR generator can't do. A static code that's the same for everyone can't stop a screenshot being shared.

Tips for faster check-in:

• Ask attendees to have the code ready in the confirmation email ("Show this at the door") and add it to phone wallets if your platform supports it.
• Brighten up: phone screens on low brightness and cracked screens slow scanning. Staff can politely ask people to turn brightness up.
• Plan for failures. Have a name-lookup fallback at every check-in point for dead batteries and lost emails.
• Test scanners at the venue's real lighting, especially outdoors in bright sun, where screens are hard to read.
• Use more lanes than you think during the peak arrival window.

At the venue

Signage and wayfinding

Codes on signs can open a venue map, the session schedule, or directions to an overflow room. Keep codes large on signs: people read signs from a few metres away. A rule of thumb is that the code should be at least one tenth of the scanning distance, so a sign read from 2 m needs a code of about 20 cm.

Wi-Fi

A Wi-Fi QR code on the badge, the agenda and the screens between sessions stops the most common question at any conference. Make sure the venue's guest network can handle the number of attendees.

Badges

A vCard code on each attendee badge lets people swap contact details by scanning, which is particularly popular at trade shows. Generate them in bulk from the attendee list, but ask for consent before putting anyone's phone number or email on a badge that others can scan. Name, company and a professional profile link is a safer default.

Sessions and speakers

• A code on each speaker's final slide linking to the slides, resources or their profile.
• A code on session-room doors linking to that room's schedule.
• A code for live Q&A or polls.

Make on-screen codes big and on screen long enough. People at the back of a room are far from the screen, and someone needs time to get their phone out.