LineMarshal for Events & Conventions
Virtual Queues for Events and Conventions
The autograph line wraps twice around the hall, the corridor is sweltering, and half the people in it are missing a panel they planned their day around. LineMarshal lets attendees scan a QR code, hold their place from their phone, and walk the show floor until a text calls them back.
The Queue Problem for Events & Conventions
Attendees stand in line instead of spending on the show floor
Every hour an attendee holds a place in an autograph line is an hour they are not at a vendor booth or in artist alley. With a virtual queue they keep their spot from their phone and keep walking the floor. Your exhibitors get the traffic and the attendee still gets the signature.
One autograph costs them a panel
Attendees plan their whole day around a physical line, then give up the 2 pm panel to protect their spot at the signing table. When the place-holding happens on their phone, they can sit in that panel and watch their position tick down. They walk out when the text arrives.
Volunteers have no idea how long the line actually is
A volunteer at the front of a corridor line cannot see where it ends, so wait quotes are guesses and capacity calls come too late. The LineMarshal dashboard shows the real count and average wait from any browser. Staff can cap the queue before it snakes into the fire lane.
Physical lines clog corridors and create safety headaches
A two-hour line down a hot corridor is a crowd problem, an accessibility problem, and the thing attendees remember when they review the show. Moving the wait onto phones empties the corridor without losing the order of the line. The only people standing are the next few being called.
How It Works
Post a QR code at each line
Tape a printed LineMarshal QR code at the autograph table, the photo-op entrance, or the registration desk. Attendees scan it with their phone camera and join from their browser. No app, no account, no kiosk.
Attendees hold their place from their phone
They see their live position and an estimated wait. Instead of standing in a corridor, they browse artist alley, catch a panel, or go find food.
Volunteers run the line from any browser
Staff advance the queue with one tap from a phone, tablet, or laptop at the table. An optional TV display near the line entrance shows who is up.
A text calls them back
As their turn approaches, attendees get an SMS telling them to head to the table. They arrive right on time, and only a handful of people are ever physically standing in line.
Key Features for Events & Conventions
- QR check-in at every line, no app for attendees
- Live position and wait estimate on each attendee's phone
- SMS call-back as their turn approaches
- Per-guest lanes with Any Available routing on Max
- TV display mode at the line entrance, on every plan
- Queue capacity caps to close a line before it overflows
- Concierge mode for attendees with a dead phone
- Day analytics: people served, busiest hour, average wait
“Our Saturday headliner used to mean a line down the whole west corridor. This year people scanned the code, went off to spend money in artist alley, and came back when their text hit. The signing table stayed busy all day and the corridor stayed clear. Vendors noticed the difference before I did.”
Dana Okafor
Guest Relations Lead, Maple City Comic Expo · Hamilton, ON
FAQs for Events & Conventions
Specific questions from events & conventions operators.
Can attendees book a signing time instead of waiting in the walk-in line?
Same day only. On the Max plan with Dynamic Scheduling turned on for a guest's lane, an attendee who scans the code can either pick that named guest and a time slot later in the current session, or join the walk-in line, from the same scan. Walk-ins automatically fill the gaps around the booked slots. The bookable window runs from now until the end of that guest's open session, so nobody can reserve a Sunday slot on Friday, and LineMarshal is not a pre-show reservation system. The time picker also does not block two people from choosing the same slot; if that happens, staff see both entries side by side and sequence them at the table.
Does LineMarshal sell tickets, print badges, or scan admission?
No. LineMarshal manages the lines inside your event: autographs, photo ops, panel entry, registration desks. It runs alongside whatever ticketing platform you already sell through, and there is no integration between the two. Attendees show their badge at the door exactly the way they do now. LineMarshal takes over once they are inside and facing a line.
What can we measure after the event?
Every plan includes the same analytics: Customers Served, Busiest Hour, Average Wait Time, Show Rate, Average Service Time, Total People, and No Shows, over a 7, 14, or 30 day window. The 7-day view covers a full con weekend, so the post-event report gets real numbers: how many people each line processed, when the crush hit, and how many joined but never showed. On Max, the numbers also break down per guest or table.
Our lines are run by volunteers. How hard is this to operate?
The dashboard is a web page. A volunteer opens it on their own phone or a venue laptop, sees the ordered list, and taps once to call the next attendee. There is no hardware to hand out and nothing to install, so training fits in the five minutes before doors. Concierge mode lets them add an attendee whose phone has died straight from the dashboard.
Can we run a separate line for each guest, and which plan do we need?
Yes, on Max ($69/mo). Each guest table or photo-op setup gets its own lane, and an attendee who does not care which of two artists does their sketch can pick Any Available and get routed to the shorter line. Free covers 50 customers a month, enough to trial the flow before the show, but a real event day needs Pro ($49/mo) or Max. TV display mode is included on every plan.
What about attendees without a phone, or with a dead battery?
A staffer adds them through concierge mode with a name and one tap, and they hold the same place in the same ordered list as everyone who scanned. The optional TV display at the line entrance shows the live queue, so anyone can check their spot by glancing at the screen. The SMS call-back does need a working phone number; without one, they watch the screen or check back with the table.
The Bottom Line
Attendees came to meet guests, buy art, and sit in panels, not to memorize the back of a stranger's head for two hours. LineMarshal moves the waiting onto their phones so the corridor clears, the show floor fills, and your volunteers finally know how long the line really is. It will not sell a ticket or print a badge, and it does not need to. Start free today.