Organising a quiz night with your club: let teams register and pay online in one go

A quiz is an evening of tables, not of single tickets

In many Belgian clubs, the quiz is on the calendar every year. The youth movement, the football club, the parents' association or the photo club: a hall, a quizmaster, ten or so rounds and a busy bar. Registrations usually run the way they did in previous years. A form or an e-mail, then a bank transfer with "quiz + team name" as the reference, and the registration only counts once the money is in.

That works, until someone puts the bank statements next to the list of teams a week before the quiz. Who has paid? Is "The Clever Squirrels" the same team as "Clever Squirrels 2"? How many tables are still free? And who was on the waitlist again?

A quiz differs from ordinary ticket sales on a few points:

• You sell per team, not per person.
• The number of tables in the hall determines how many teams can take part.
• You need a team name for the scoreboard, and preferably the number of players.
• When the quiz is full, teams often still want to join.

Below you read how to handle those four points, with or without a ticketing system, and how to set it up in ClearTix.

1. Start with the hall: how many tables, how many players per team

First decide how many teams you can fit. Count the tables, and leave room for the quizmaster, the screen, the bar and a path to the toilets. Agree on the maximum number of players per team. Many clubs choose four to six. Put that number clearly in the announcement, because it determines how many chairs you put at each table.

Then choose one price per team. A price per person makes it more complicated for you (who counts, who joins later) and a team usually pools the money anyway.

2. One ticket type "Team" with the tables as capacity

In ClearTix you create an event for the quiz and add one ticket type, for example Team (max. 6 players):

• Price: the registration fee per team.
• Capacity: the number of tables. Once it is reached, sales stop automatically.
• Max. per order: 1. That way each team captain registers one team. If a company or another club wants to send several teams, they register several times, each with its own team name.
• Sales period (optional): close registrations, for example, the day before the quiz, so you can prepare the answer sheets and the scoreboard in time.

Through the extra info on the ticket you add a short practical line, such as "Doors open at 19:30, first round at 20:00".

3. Team name and number of players via a form

Attach a form to the ticket type and choose once per order, because you want the team's details, not every player's. Keep it short:

• Team name (text, required)
• Number of players (drop-down, for example 2 to 6)
• Captain's mobile number (phone), in case something changes on the night

Every extra field is a hurdle at registration. So only ask for what you will really use on the night. You do not need addresses or dates of birth for a quiz, and what you do not ask for, you do not have to store or protect. More on that in GDPR-compliant ticketing.

The answers sit with the order in your dashboard. So you can prepare the list of team names for the scoreboard in advance, without retyping anything from e-mails.

4. Pay at registration, straight to the club

The biggest difference with a bank transfer: in ClearTix a team registers and pays in the same step, with Bancontact, iDEAL or card; without a successful payment it gets no ticket. So you no longer need to check payment references or remind anyone about an outstanding amount.

The money does not come to us. You connect the club's own Mollie or Stripe account, and payments go straight there. Unsure which of the two to pick? Read Mollie or Stripe for events.

After payment, the team captain gets a confirmation e-mail with one QR ticket for the team. That ticket can also go into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, so it is at hand on the night.

5. Full? Let the waitlist do the work

A quiz that runs well fills up fast. As soon as the tables are gone, teams can join the waitlist instead of dropping out. In the dashboard you see who is waiting and in which order.

If a team cancels and you refund them, the table frees up. ClearTix then automatically e-mails the next team on the waitlist a link to register. You do not have to ring round. The length of the waitlist is also a good reason to consider a bigger hall or a second quiz night next year. How it works is explained in Waitlist for sold-out events.

6. Sell drink tokens and snacks too

On a quiz night the bar matters too. Want to sell drink tokens or a snack platter per table in advance? Add them as an add-on. The captain picks them when registering and gets, alongside the team ticket, an extras voucher with its own QR code. At the bar you tick it off with the scanner. In the add-on you also fill in the collection info, for example "At the bar, after the third round".

Add-ons are included in the Studio and Pro plans. On the Free plan you can simply keep the bar as it is.

7. At the door: one scan per team

On the night, put a volunteer with an ordinary smartphone at the entrance. The scanner runs in the browser, no app needed. Each team shows its QR code, the volunteer scans once and sees straight away whether the ticket is valid. If someone scans a ticket that has already been used, the scanner reports that it is already checked in.

Give the volunteer the Scanner role: they can check people in, but do not see orders, payouts or settings. The scanner needs internet and keeps working if the connection drops for a moment. That is handy in a parish hall or club canteen with a weak signal.

At 20:00 you see at a glance which teams have not arrived yet, and the quizmaster knows whether he can start. Want to admit teams that turn up without registering? You can, with the point of sale in the Studio and Pro plans. Door sales come off the same tables as online sales.

8. After the quiz

Afterwards, Statistics shows how many teams registered and how many actually checked in. That helps you plan the hall and the number of tables next year. Want to export the attendees to CSV, for example to invite teams to the next edition? That is possible in Pro. Only e-mail teams that gave their consent when registering.

Quick checklist for your quiz night

• Number of tables and maximum players per team decided
• One ticket type "Team" with a price per team, the tables as capacity and max. 1 per order
• Form once per order: team name, number of players, captain's mobile
• Sales period that closes before the quiz
• Waitlist for when you are full (on every plan, including Free)
• Drink tokens or snacks as an add-on (Studio or Pro)
• Browser scanner at the entrance, point of sale for late teams (Studio or Pro)

Why this matters to us

ClearTix was made in Haaltert, by a photo club that could not find a ticketing platform that suited a club. A quiz is a good example: a few volunteers, little time and takings that should go to the club. That is why the registration fees go straight to the club's Mollie or Stripe account.

Organising a quiz this year? Create a free account and set up your quiz night. Getting started is free: no setup cost and no subscription for your first 3 events per month. The fee per ticket sold is on our pricing page.