Despite technological advances that have revolutionized virtually every aspect of the attendee experience — from registration to education to networking — some elements of events remain hopelessly and stubbornly archaic. One of those elements is coat check.
A new company wants to change that, however. Called CoatChex, it's launched a digital coat check system for events and venues that eliminates paper coat check tickets in favor of digital tracking.
"Paper tickets create chaotic coat check environments — from lost tickets to long lines, venues just don't want to deal with it," said Derek Pacqué, founder and CEO of CoatChex. "We set out to change that. Because our system virtually eliminates liability, customers feel secure in checking their coats, and venue partners see increased revenues — usually in more than one area of their business."
The CoatChex system, which includes portable racks and a ticketless kiosk, utilizes the following process to securely and paperlessly check coats:
1. The event attendee signs in by entering his or her phone number.
2. The attendee hands his or her coat to an attendant, who hangs it on a barcoded hanger that is scanned into the system for the purpose of tracking.
3. The attendee pays with cash, credit card or a prepaid CoatChex account.
4. When they pick up their coat, attendees again sign in using their phone number, at which point the coat check attendant verifies their identity and coat using the digital system.
"We'll always be looking to optimize the process and make CoatChex's service as beneficial to the user as possible," Pacqué continued. "This launch is our first step toward taking a simple, yet often disorderly, process and making it easier and flawless."