How to manage a guest list

Every door disaster involves the guest list: the promised-but-not-added, the plus-four who swears they're a plus-six, the list on someone's phone in someone else's pocket. The fixes are structural, not vigilance.

The four rules that prevent 90% of it

1. One owner. A single person controls additions; everyone else requests. Doors close on the list at a published time (e.g. 6pm day-of).
2. Everything written. Verbal promises don't exist. If it isn't in the system, it isn't on the list — announce this in advance so it's policy, not insult.
3. Named plus-ones. 'Sam +2' becomes three names by the deadline or becomes 'Sam'. Anonymous plus-Ns are where lists rot.
4. Caps by category. Artists (per rider), press (earned), venue (contractual), promo — each with a number, agreed before anyone's added.

Run it as free tickets, not paper

Issue guest-list places as £0 tickets through your ticketing platform: they scan like everything else, the door sees one interface, entries are timestamped, and no-shows become data. Comp tickets that scan also close the classic leak — paper lists that quietly grow at the door. (Platforms that charge fees on free tickets make this expensive; zero-fee rails don't.)

Comps are margin — budget them

A 300-cap show comping 40 people gave away 13% of the room. Set a comp budget (5–8% of capacity is a common healthy range), report against it per event, and price the difference between 'guest list' (free) and 'reduced list' (£5 door) — scenes run happily on the latter.