Guestsnow is the go-to platform for managing events

It’s a warm Saturday evening in Los Angeles and a group of revelers are waiting in the queue at Factory 93. Techno titan Carl Cox is in town to play one of his only North American gigs of the year. With that in mind it’s obviously a sold out night and hoards of fans have gathered. It’s still a bit early, but the queue is stacked, yet there isn’t much waiting around as the line moves swiftly forward. It’s easy to imagine being stuck outside the club for hours on a night like this, but Factory 93 is using Guestsnow, a guestlist and ticket management platform that’s quickly becoming the go-to app in the industry.

Founded by entrepreneur Jocelyn Loo, Guestsnow has grown from a simple check-in service to an all encompassing event management system. Features like Facebook integration so users can upload guest lists directly from Facebook, tracking of guest stats, social sharing tools and offline mode so users can use the platform without being connected to WiFi or cell service are just a few of the reasons why many industry leaders are choosing to use the app.

As the industry continues to grow rapidly and more people aim to host their own events, event management is quickly becoming a necessity. With this in mind, Mixmag linked up with Jocelyn Loo to learn about her platform, Guestsnow. Read on to find out more...

What's up Jocelyn! Tell us a bit about yourself, what’s your background?

I’m an Applied Math major and I initially worked in finance before going into tech. I’ve always been a do-er -- when I see something that needs to be done or could be done better, I don’t waste any time. That’s what attracted me to entrepreneurship. Now, I’m the founder of three startups with two current ventures in Guestsnow and ICBRKR.

Mixmag has been using Guestsnow in The Lab NYC for the past few years. What specifically inspired you to develop and launch it?

Yes! I was inspired to develop Guestsnow when I went to a Red Bull event a few years ago and they were checking in about 800 people, using a clipboard. Imagine how frustrated everyone was at the door. Then I started noticing how a lot of events are still using the old-school clipboard to check guests in. It's the digital age, why are we still resorting to using paper?

On top of that, I love going to shows and concerts and I think ticketing is such a monopoly. You have absolutely no choice but to pay absurd service charges. It's really not fair. After doing more research, I found it mostly comes down to cost and habit. I decided I wanted to change that and developed Guestsnow to offer price-friendly services that everyone can benefit from. Something easy to use and cost effective - a ticketing system with a robust guest list system all-in-one.

Can you tell us about the evolution of the app and what are the new features?

We started by offering a check-in only service to get feedback from professional event organizers and venue owners, which helped us improve the app. We sought to find out what event organizers needed in order to efficiently manage their check-ins and guest lists. This helped us identify a few key features like a ticketing system, tracking ticket traffic, manually managing guest list submissions and cashing out revenue directly to you bank account.

What sets this platform apart from other apps with a similar purpose?

We have a truly robust guest list submission system that helps you manage your guest lists effectively. You can assign guest lists to promoters, music agents, or artist managers so they can upload their lists anytime, anywhere and even during events. You can limit total guests per list, additional guests, and limit each guest list's check-in. This way, you can relax and focus on other things without dealing with guest list submissions from different people before and during the event. Our biggest clients, Insomniac and CRSSD, find this super useful. The price is straightforward as well: one flat rate and users are able to use all our features (except for our ticketing system, which is $1/ticket) for unlimited check-in. Why pay more for more guests?

Who is currently using the app and what has been the response?

Insomniac's Factory 93 and Do Lab are all using us. We’re very grateful to have such great clients who understand what we are trying to do.

What are some of your goals for Guestsnow in the future?

We would love to make an impact in the event ticketing world. I think each venue should provide at least 2 ticketing systems instead of supporting a monopoly that forces people to pay excessive service charges. Our system has the added benefit of helping with cash flow: you can cash out your ticket sales directly to your account whenever you need. We don't hold up your money!

Find out more and download the app here