Learn how to use the Seating feature in zkipster
Welcome to Seating with zkipster! This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about managing a seated event with zkipster. Whether you're planning a formal dinner, a conference, or a multi-room event, this tool ensures a streamlined process that saves time and enhances guest experience.
Follow this quick guide to master the essentials and implement best practices for zkipster Seating. If you prefer video, you can watch our comprehensive webinar on seating here.
Plan Your Seating Strategy
Before diving into the tool, clarify your event’s seating needs. Consider:
Will guests need to be seated on one or multiple floor plans?
If your event requires more than one floorplans, enable multiple floorplans in your Event Settings:
Are there specific sessions requiring its own floorplan? You can link floorplans to a specific session to seat only guests registered to attend the session.
Are the Main guest and +1s seated together? If you want to seat main guests and their +1s separately, you need to account for additional guests using the Guest Relationships feature. You can learn more about the Guest Relationships feature via this article.
Watch this:
Best Practice:
Always plan seating logistics before uploading data to avoid unnecessary rework.
Create separate guest lists for each guest segment or use “seating color” to note guest segments. This will help with guest seating as you will be able to filter by a specific group of guests when placing guests to their seats
1. Design Your Seating Chart
If you are working with multiple floorplans assign a name for each of the floorplans so your team can quickly identify them. If your event has multiple sessions (e.g., a luncheon and a gala dinner), you can link specific floor plans to each session. This ensures only relevant guest lists appear for seating in the session and a clear distinction between seating arrangements for different activities.
Upload a floor plan image of your venue for accurate table placement: supported formats: JPG, PNG, or GIF.
Drag the desired table shape on the floorplan
Click on the table or row to:
Assign Table Lable: this is the table number, also used for automatic seating when uploading an Excel spreadsheet
Assign Table Name (optional): the name is visible on tablet devices and when printing your floorplan
Assign the Number of Seats (number on each side for rectangular tables, or total seats for round tables)
Additional table setting under more options
Watch This:
Read This: Designing your Seating Chart
Best Practices:
Once your first table is perfectly configured, click the duplicate icon to replicate it. Rename and relabel each duplicated table to keep your automated seating assignments correct.
For recurring event layouts, use the "Duplicate" Event feature to save time and maintain consistency.
Use the focal point to note important areas on the floorplan .
2. Seating your Guests
You can seat your guests individually, in groups or together with your guest list import by assigning a table and seat for each person in your spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet Import: Automatically seat guests with your guest list import. Ensure your spreadsheet include table and seat labels columns with the assigned table label and seat label for each person on the list. Make sure you also account for any +1s when assigning seats in your spreadsheet.
Individual Assignment: This happens in zkipster after importing your guestlist. Drag and drop a guest or guests into seat/s directly from the right-hand menu.
Random seat Assignment: select all guests and use the autoseat option to assign them to available seats.
Watch this:
Best Practice:
You can drag and drop multiple guests collectively by selecting the guests you would like to seat on a table then selecting the table, this will be more time efficient.
If you connect your guests via ‘relationships’ it allows event planners to view the relationship between guests in your Seating Map.
Use the seating color to color your guests by segment.
Use filters to narrow down your list by a specific guest list or color when assigning seats
Use Custom Color coded field for any additional color coded categories
Click on a seat to see additional guest information
3. Review and export your seating chart
At any time you can export a PDF verion of your seating chart and share it with external stakeholders or teams outside of zkipster.
Export full overview of your seating plan and define what guest information to see in the PDF export
More PDF options: allow you to export by seating assignments by table or as a list
Watch this:
Read this: Printing your Seating Chart
Best Practice:
For easy identification of guests list ensure each list is colour coordinated, this can either be done in the excel upload, overall/individual guests lists profiles or in the seating function.
Use this feature to prepare for on-site execution or to share with your venue.
4. Review and Communicate Seating Details
Seating assignments are visible in the guest profile. You can pull the details in your guest list overview and also view them on the app at the day of check, or share them with guests prior to the event.
Enable the "Seating" column in the guest list to view assignments at a glance.
Use filters to review seating for specific floor plans or tables.
You can use the dynamic tags to inform guests of their seating arrangements prior to the event or at the time of check-in.
Final Tips for Success
Stay Flexible: Be prepared to adjust seating during the event as needed. You can make changes to seating using the zkipster app on tablets.
Train Your Team: Ensure everyone handling seating logistics understands the basics of the tool.
Focus on Guest Experience: Thoughtful seating arrangements can enhance networking, comfort, and overall satisfaction.
Place Cards: Assign guests a seat or place card and personalize the menu to each guest .
Consider guests needs: Do you have elderly or disabled guests who need to be seated closer to the restrooms or entrance?
Account for dietary preferences and restrictions: Accommodate specific dietary restrictions by marking guests dietary restrictions directly on the seating chart using a color-coded guest field. The printed out version of your seating chart can be provided to the catering staff, this ensures the team is informed and meals are served to the correct guests, enhancing their overall experience.
zkipster Seating is an intuitive tool that empowers you to create memorable, well-organized events. With a little preparation and these best practices, you'll be seating your guests with confidence and ease.