Pre-Gala Checklist

Are you ready? Use this checklist to delegate unfinished tasks or calm your nerves . . .

Have you seen the Pre-event review notes we emailed to you about a week prior to your event? Our support team reviews all standard, plus and premium subscription events a week prior and emails our notes to each person listed on your team at Site Settings > General > Organization info. If you missed it, check your inbox and spam folder.

Items:

Have you created items for selling drinks, raffle tickets, games (wine wall, heads or tails, dessert dash), paddle raise/special appeal? Check to make sure these items have an appropriate quantity available to sell.
Are you displaying Table Names and/or Closing times on your bid sheets? If so, have you set up and organized the items on your tables?
Have you selected the elements to display on your printed materials? Have you printed your bid sheets, signup and sellable item sheets, item descriptions, and gift certificates?

Guests and Check-in:

Have you issued tickets to all known guests?
Have you linked couples who wish to share a bidder number?
Are you going to preassign bidder numbers (match paddle to guest at check-in) or assign them as guests check-in (by assigning the paddle number on top of the stack)?
Are you using pre-printed paddles or writing bidder numbers on the back of catalogs? Are the materials you need prepared? Do you have extra for guests who buy tickets at the door?
Are you inviting guests to check-in online prior to the event? If so, how will they receive their bidder number/paddle?
Will you have tickets available to purchase at the door?
Do you have a comp ticket available to issue at the door for unexpected VIPs and as an easy fix for missing or messed up tickets?
Do you have items available to sell from the check-in screen?
If you offer(ed) items for sale during ticket sales and/or the check-in screen, how will these items be distributed to guests?

Front Desk Stations:

Have you confirmed your hardware for the evening?

Do you have enough stations? (1 per 50 guests.)
Are your printers compatible with your computers?

Does your site have Internet connectivity that you can control or recover?

Do you have access to the network if you are using it for connectivity?
If wireless, have you tested it from the event location and at the same time of day?

Volunteers:

Have you designated a Front Desk Manager?
Have you created User Accounts for each volunteer that will be working with the software?
Are your volunteers trained?
Have you issued tickets to volunteers to provide them with a bidder number in case they want to bid on or buy items?

Check-out and Will Call:

Have you set up your Sales Receipt?
What payment methods will you be accepting?
Do you want to allow guests to pay cash for incidental purchases (such as raffle tickets or drinks)?
Have you tested your credit card processing and vaulting with a live transaction? Following the instructions as provided will also alert you to potential problems with the CVV or AVS settings on your gateway account.
Does your gateway/merchant account allow AMEX transactions? Check your gateway settings at Site Settings > Customize Your Site > Payments/Credit Card > Setup Credit Card Gateway >Credit Types Accepted, and make sure they align with the cards you are accepting.
Do you know what the transaction limit is for your gateway account? A low limit ($1000) may cause transactions to fail when checking out big spenders.
Will you be inviting guests to check out via their smartphones? If so, are the email messages edited and ready to go?
How will buyers/winners receive their items? Do they need a printed receipt to claim their items?

In Case of Emergency:

Your biggest fears can be calmed by taking precautionary measures BEFORE the disaster strikes:

Q: What if we lose electricity or our Internet connection during our event? A: Before your event, download the Excel Backup* spreadsheet onto one of the computers that will be at the event and bring a printed copy in case of a power outage.
* Found at Admin > View Reports > View Summary Reports > Sales Revenue > Common Follow-up Reports.

Q: What if my credit card processing stops working? A: Make sure you have access (login/password) to your gateway account with you at the event. Read any transaction failure message(s) carefully. Contact Support for assistance.

Remember that our Support team is available by phone during your event. (The phone number will display on your Dashboard a day prior to your event.)