Before
SECTION. runs a weekly event that guests apply to. Before the system, the event ran on Instagram posts, word of mouth and open doors.
Guests who wanted in wrote to the founder, so his inbox filled up before every single event. After each event, someone exported the contacts by hand and imported them into Mailchimp. Artist agents sent guest names without email addresses, and the door staff sorted it out on the night. Nobody could say who had actually come, because attendance wasn't recorded anywhere.
The co-founder had already tried to build it himself: two application intakes, a priority list and two versions of a raffle, in Make and Google Sheets. What was missing was one system that ran every step in order, every week.
What we built
The system follows a guest from the first click to the door.
- Applications. When the team opens applications for an event, the system creates that event's form and links it back. Each application finds or creates the guest's record in Airtable and sends a confirmation.
- The raffle. Applications close on their own, and the co-founder gets an email saying it's time to draw. One button picks the guest list at random from the applications.
- Results. Accepted guests get an email with their QR code. Everyone else hears back too. If an email fails, it waits, reads the application again and retries.
- Changes of plan. Accepted guests can give up their place from their email or from the reminder. A place given back can go to someone on the waitlist, who gets their own email and QR code.
- The door. Staff scan QR codes at the door, so attendance is recorded. Walk-ins sign in through a QR code on the door and are counted too.
- After the event. Guests who agreed to hear about events join the Mailchimp audience on their own. Each guest has a tier that moves up as they keep applying, so regulars and superfans stand out without anyone tagging them.
Behind it are Make scenarios and Airtable automations under one naming scheme, so every automation has a code the team can find in both tools. The team has written guides and a dated log of every change in their client portal.
How it runs week to week
The team's part is short. They create the event, open applications and press Raffle when the email tells them to. The results, reminders, cancellations, waitlist and check-in all run after that without them.
Most problems start with a guest rather than the system: someone who arrives with only an email address, or one person applying under two. A guest with missing details gets a short form, and their answers fill in their record. Guests who look like the same person go into a review table for the team to decide. Nothing is merged automatically.
We look after the system as it grows. In October 2026 we checked every scenario and automation against its run history and the live data. Nothing had failed in the previous 30 days, so nothing needed changing.
Timeline
Build starts with application intake
Version 1 handed over after a run-through call
QR check-in at the door begins
Walk-ins recorded at the door
New guests join Mailchimp on their own
Guest tiers update on their own
A short form fills in missing guest details
A partner event gets its own branded emails
Every automation reviewed against its run history
Results
Since November 2025 the system has handled 13,351 applications for 51 events, about one a week, and holds 5,996 guest records. Since scanning started at the door in December 2025, it has recorded 3,925 check-ins and 390 walk-ins. Guests have given back 1,858 places themselves instead of simply not turning up, and those places can go to the waitlist.
The founder's inbox changed first. A month after handover he told us only about 10 people still emailed him before an event; before, it felt like every guest did.
SECTION. also knows who actually comes now. Before the system, that wasn't recorded at all.
What this looks like for your business
The pattern isn't special to events. Any business where people apply, get picked, get told and show up has the same steps: interviews, onboarding, classes, client intake, sample requests.
If your team answers the same emails every week and keeps the list in a spreadsheet, those steps can run on their own, and you'll see who actually turns up.