A Bedfordshire motoring day, run on forms, a folder and a paper list.
A recent classic motoring event ran the way most events still do: a Word form by email, drivers retyped into a spreadsheet, insurance documents matched up by name, and a paper check-in list at the gate. It worked. It also took far more handling than it needed to.
Here is how the day actually ran, step by step, and how SmartGig would have handled each part from one connected event workspace.
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The day was held together by hand.
Applications arrived as emailed forms and were typed into a spreadsheet. Insurance documents came in separately and had to be married up by name, then dropped in a folder linked to the application by nothing but a driver's name.
At the gate, arrivals were found on a paper list, checked in, and handed a number to display. The site plan was built by dragging car shapes onto a screenshot of a map. The stage running order lived in another spreadsheet and a long email thread.
None of it was wrong. It was just spread across forms, inboxes, folders and spreadsheets that never spoke to each other.
Step by step, on the day and with SmartGig.
Each part of the day below is what actually happened, paired with how SmartGig would keep the same task tied to the event, the driver and the document it belongs to.
Step
On the day
With SmartGig
Driver applications
Trader Manager
On the day
A Word form was emailed out, then every reply was opened and typed into a spreadsheet by hand, one driver at a time.
With SmartGig
SmartGig files every application the moment it lands. No copy-paste, no second spreadsheet to babysit, and the driver list builds itself as entries come in.
Insurance documents
Compliance documents
On the day
Insurance came in separately, was matched up to the right driver by name, ticked off the spreadsheet, and saved in a folder linked to the application by nothing but that name.
With SmartGig
Drivers upload insurance straight onto their own application, so the document, the car and the driver stay tied together. Nothing to match up by name, ever.
Arrival check-in
SmartGig Scanner
On the day
Arrivals were found on a paper list. People who had booked under a different name or a group name took time to track down at the gate.
With SmartGig
The free SmartGig Scanner app pulls anyone up in a second, by QR, name, registration plate or group name, so the queue keeps moving and the gate stays calm.
Pitches and passes
Trader Manager
On the day
Pitches were handed out on arrival and a number to display was decided on the spot, so where each car ended up came down to whoever reached the gate first, splitting up groups and clubs who wanted to exhibit together.
With SmartGig
Pitches and passes are assigned in Trader Manager before the day, so every driver knows their spot and arrives to a place already set aside for their car.
Movement timing
Event notifications
On the day
Cars started leaving early, expecting a 4pm finish, even though movement was not until 4.30pm. There was no quick way to tell everyone at once.
With SmartGig
SmartGig sends one timed SMS to every driver the moment the plan moves, so nobody leaves on a guess.
Site plan
Site Plan
On the day
The layout was built by dragging car-sized shapes onto a screenshot of a map in a publishing tool, with sizes judged by eye.
With SmartGig
The pitches you assign in Trader Manager flow straight into the Site Planner, so the plan is the real layout, not a sketch. Drag and drop each car, sized from its own application, and every space fits the car that booked it.
Stage schedule
Stage Manager
On the day
Stage performances were arranged over email and laid out in a spreadsheet, with each act contacted individually about their tech needs.
With SmartGig
The running order and every act’s tech needs live in one place and reach the crew as a single clean schedule. No thread to dig through.
Thank you and photos
Event notifications
On the day
Thank-you emails went out in batches by hand, each one carrying the link to the event photos.
With SmartGig
SmartGig sends the thank-you to everyone who attended in one go, photo link included. One message, no batching.
Post-event feedback
Event feedback
On the day
A separate survey link was sent out by copying and pasting it into an email after the day.
With SmartGig
SmartGig canvasses everyone for feedback automatically after the day, then keeps every response tied to the event it came from.
As it happens, Darren from SmartGig was on site that day. One walk through how the same event would run on SmartGig was enough. The local authority organiser signed up there and then, and now runs every event on SmartGig, not on a Word form and a folder named by hand.
Run your next event from one place.
Most teams start with the part that hurts most: applications, documents, check-in or the site plan. The rest stays connected from there.
Show us the day you’d rather not run by hand again.
The emailed forms, the documents matched up by name, the paper check-in list, the running order in a spreadsheet. We can show how SmartGig keeps all of it tied to the same event.