Event guest management
One guest. One record. The whole event. Guest management is the whole of an event, seen through its guests.
Winglark keeps guest identity, invitation, RSVP, access and attendance connected throughout the event lifecycle.
- Importedmarta.ruiz@press.example
- CleanedExact duplicate set aside
- InvitedDelivered · opened
- RSVPAttending · vegetarian
- AccessQR code issued
- Arrival20:14 · Main entrance
- ReportAttended
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
One person, one record
A guest should not become a new record every time the tool changes.
The person who arrives in a spreadsheet is the person who is invited, who replies, who is scanned at the door and who appears in the report. Winglark keeps that person as one record from the first import to the last scan, so every later step builds on what the earlier ones learned.
The list you start with, the invitation you send, the replies you collect, the door you run and the report you hand over — one record per guest, from the first spreadsheet to the last scan.
Event guest management software keeps one record for every guest across the whole life of an event. The name that arrives in a spreadsheet is the name on the invitation, the name that replies, the name that is scanned at the door and the name in the attendance report. When those are five separate tools, the same person exists five times and nobody can say how many people actually came.
Winglark is built around that one record. It is not a venue booker or a budget planner: it is the guest side of an event — invitation-only events in particular, where there is a list before there is anything else, and where the door has to recognise a person rather than sell to one. Where an event also sells places, ticketing runs on the same record.
Below is what guest management covers, which part of Winglark does each part, and what to look for in any tool that claims to do it — including this one.
What breaks when tools are disconnected
One person should not become six different records.
- SpreadsheetMarta Ruiz
- Email toolM. Ruiz
- RSVP formMarta R.
- MessagingMARTA RUIZ
- QR scannermarta.ruiz@press.example
- ReportMarta Ruiz +1
One person. Six versions.
The unified guest record
The guest record gets richer. It does not get replaced.
Each stage adds what it learns to the same record — and each field below is one the product really keeps.
- Spreadsheet→
- ListGuard→
- TemplateForge→
- MailFlow→
- RSVP→
- GatePass→
- Report
- Name
- Marta Ruiz List and cleaning
- marta.ruiz@press.example List and cleaning
- Category
- Press · VIP List and cleaning
- Language
- Spanish List and cleaning
- Plus-one allowance
- 1 List and cleaning
- Invitation
- Prepared from version 2 Invitation
- Delivery
- Delivered · opened Delivery and reply
- RSVP
- Attending Delivery and reply
- Plus-one
- Jonas Weber Delivery and reply
- Meal
- Vegetarian Delivery and reply
- Reply history
- Undecided → Attending Updates
- QR code
- Issued Door and check-in
- Check-in
- Admitted · Main entrance · 20:14 Door and check-in
- Report
- Attended, with plus-one Reporting
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
The guest operations pipeline
What guest management covers, and what does it here.
Nine parts of the guest side, one guest record. Each links to its own page, written only from what the product verifiably does.
AudiencePass
An audience that comes back
Venue visitors → your own audience
A permanent QR code at your venue: visitors join with their own consent, and the next invitation reaches them in one step.
Open the page →ListGuard
The guest list, imported and cleaned
Raw guest data → clean guest record
Paste it or upload it as it is. Duplicates, invalid addresses and mixed-up columns are found before a single invitation is sent.
Open the page →TemplateForge
The invitation, designed from the event
Event data → invitation
Blocks bound to the event — date, place, programme, reply button — so the invitation cannot say a date the event no longer has.
Open the page →MailFlow
Sending, with the delivery record
Invitation → delivery status
Invitations under your own sender and domain, and every message followed from queued to delivered, bounced or held back.
Open the page →InvitePulse
Guests added after the send
Late guests → safe additions
Late names matched against the event, so only the genuinely new are invited and nobody is written to twice.
Open the page →GatePass
The door, on any phone
Guest identity → arrival
A QR code per guest, staff roles, several doors at once, walk-ins and re-entry, and check-in that keeps working without signal.
Open the page →Companion
The evening, on every guest’s phone
Admitted guest → their evening on the phone
Their pass, the programme, the map and live updates on one page of their own, with no app to install.
Open the page →The report of what happened
Attendance → evidence
Who was invited, who replied, who came — by name — and the gap between the promise and the door.
Open the page →AfterFlow
The follow-up, decided by the door
Who came → the right follow-up
A thank-you to those who came and a note to those who could not, chosen from who was actually scanned in.
Open the page →
What cleaning actually does
As it arrives
- Marta Ruizmarta.ruiz@press.exampleUsable
- MARTA RUIZmarta.ruiz@press.exampleExact duplicate — same address. Set aside.
- Marta Ruismarta.ruiz@pres.exampleLikely duplicate — same name, address one letter apart. Sent to review.
ListGuard → One guest reaches the event: Marta Ruiz · Press
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
The invitation reads from the event
Event data
- 14 · 11
19:0020:00- Depo Hall 2
- Istanbul
Invitation
14 · 11 · 20:00Depo Hall 2 · IstanbulThe start moves from 19:00 to 20:00
“Sent” is not “delivered”
- QueuedWaiting to be sent
- SentAccepted by the mail server
- DeliveredReached the guest’s mailbox
- OpenedSeen by the guest
- BouncedThe address refused it
- ComplainedMarked as spam by the recipient
- SuppressedHeld back: the address asked not to be written to
Late additions without duplicates
412 guests on the eventInvitations already sent
Two names arrive late
- + Anna WeberAlready on the event — skipped
- + Théo MarchandNew — invitation prepared
Matched against the event → Only the new guest is prepared an invitation; nobody is written to twice.
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
RSVP as record enrichment
A reply fills in the record. It does not start a new one.
The guest answers from their own link, and every answer lands on the record that was invited — with the plus-ones and the questions the event type asks.
- RSVP
- Attending
- Plus-one
- Jonas Weber
- Meal
- Vegetarian
- Language
- Spanish
- Changed
- Undecided → Attending
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
For the guest
No account. No app.
No. A guest receives an invitation with their own link and, if the door is on, their own QR code. They reply in a browser and show the code on a phone or on paper.
- InvitationA personal link in the email
- BrowserOpens on any phone or computer
- ReplyComing, not coming or undecided
- QR codeOn a phone or on paper, when the event has a door
Arrival
The door checks the same record that was invited.
A personal code per guest, checked against the record on the server, admitted once — on any phone, at several doors, and without signal when the room has none.
A scan
- QR scannedA personal code, nothing readable inside
- Guest foundName, category and party size on the screen
- Checked inRecorded once
- Main entrance · 20:14Door, phone and time on the record
The second scan
No signal
- OfflineThe door keeps scanning
- Checked on the phoneAgainst a copy of the list without contact details
- SyncedThe server re-checks every admission and shows any conflict
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
From RSVP to reality
RSVP tells you what people intended. Check-in tells you what actually happened.
Because the reply and the arrival sit on one record, the gap between them has names.
- Invited
- 412
- Said yes
- 338
- Arrived
- 301
- Said yes, did not come
- 48
- Came without replying
- 11
| Invited | RSVP | Check-in |
|---|---|---|
| Marta Ruiz | Yes | Yes |
| Jonas Weber | Yes | No |
| Sofia Lindqvist | No reply | Yes |
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
Reporting
The event ends. The guest record does not disappear.
The attendance export is built from the same records — one row per guest, with the invitation, the reply and every entry at the door.
| Guest | Category | Invitation | RSVP | Admitted | First in | Doors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marta Ruiz | Press · VIP | Delivered | Attending | 2 | 20:14 | Main entrance |
| Jonas Weber | VIP | Opened | Attending | 0 | — | — |
| Sofia Lindqvist | — | Delivered | — | 1 | 19:52 | Main entrance |
CSV · Excel · PDF
Illustrative example — invented names, addresses and figures, not customer data.
Before you choose a guest management system
What to look for in guest management software.
Seven questions worth asking of any tool, ours included. The answers are on the linked pages.
Does it find duplicates and unreachable addresses before the invitation goes out, or after guests complain?
ListGuardExact duplicates set aside, likely ones sent to review, addresses checked before anything is sent.
Is the invitation bound to the event’s data, or is it a picture that has to be redone when the time changes?
TemplateForgeBound to the event: date, time and place come from the event record.
Does “sent” mean accepted by a mail server, or does it show delivered, bounced and suppressed per guest?
MailFlowPer guest: queued, sent, delivered, opened, bounced, complained or suppressed.
Can guests be added after the send without anyone receiving the invitation twice?
InvitePulseLate names are matched first; only the genuinely new are prepared an invitation.
Does check-in work with no signal, on a phone the team already owns, at more than one door?
GatePassAny phone, several doors at once, and it keeps scanning without signal.
Does the report name the people who promised and did not come — and the ones who came without replying?
Event attendance reporting: RSVP vs. the doorYes — by name, in both directions.
Do roles match a real team: door staff who see only the scanner, a client who sees only their own events?
Event software for teams and agenciesSeven roles; door staff see only the scanner; an agency keeps each client apart.
How Winglark works
How it runs on Winglark.
Create the event by its type
A conference, a launch, a private view — the type brings the right guest fields, RSVP questions and reports.
0 fields on the recordBring the list you already have
Spreadsheet, paste or a previous event. Every row is checked; nothing reaches the event until you have seen the result.
5 fields on the recordDesign and send the invitation
From blocks bound to the event, previewed as the real email, sent under your own name with a delivery record per guest.
7 fields on the recordCollect replies on the same record
Coming, not coming, undecided, no answer — plus-ones, meal choices and the type’s own questions, changeable until the day.
11 fields on the recordRun the door, then read the report
Scan on any phone, with or without signal; the report shows RSVPs against attendance, by name, exportable to CSV, Excel or PDF.
14 fields on the record
Guest data
Operationally useful, never uncontrolled.
Guest data should stay useful to the people running the event without travelling further than it needs to.
Explore Trust & Security- Each organisation’s data isolated; agencies can keep every client apart
- Role-based access enforced on the server; contact details masked by role
- Sign-in with Google, or a password stored with a strong one-way hash
- Guest data encrypted in transit and at rest
- Production kept apart from every test environment
- Exports with personal data ask for a reason and are recorded
Seating
Once the replies are in, the room.
The same guest record fills the seating plan in SeatMap: chairs counted from the replies, households together, every guest’s table at the door.
See SeatMap →After the reply
The same guest record, on the night.
A guest who replied opens Companion from the same invitation: greeted by name, with their GatePass pass while door check-in is active, the organisers’ announcements and the room’s polls — one identity from the list to the evening.
Integrations
The guest list, reachable from your own systems.
Add and update guests through the API from a ticket site, a form or a CRM, and hear about every change as a signed webhook. Contact details stay masked unless the key may see them.
See the integrations →Questions
Is Winglark an event management platform?
It runs an event through its guests: the list, the invitations, the replies, the door, the evening on every guest’s phone — programme, live questions, photos, sponsors — the follow-up and the attendance report, with paid places through ticketing switched on with our team. It does not plan budgets or manage venues.
Which events is it for?
Invitation-only events of any size — corporate events, conferences, launches, galas, private views, weddings — where there is a guest list before there is anything else. Twenty-five event types, each with its own fields and reports.
Do guests need an account or an app?
No. A guest receives an invitation with their own link and, if the door is on, their own QR code. They reply in a browser and show the code on a phone or on paper.
Can several people work on one event?
Yes. Seven roles — owner, manager, marketing, guest manager, door staff, report viewer and partner staff — each with the access its job needs. An agency gets a workspace per client, with the data separated on the server.
What does it cost to try?
The first event is free: fifty guests, real invitations, real replies, no card. Plans are opened by request while Winglark is in early access.
What does event guest management include?
Everything between “we are inviting” and “the guest is here”: checking and cleaning the guest list, sending personal invitations, collecting replies with plus-ones, meal choices and your own questions, taking late additions, checking guests in at the door with a QR code, and reporting afterwards who actually came. In Winglark each of those steps changes the same guest record, so every team sees the same state.
Keep the guest record intact.
From import to arrival, manage the same guest identity through one workflow.