An international guest list, accompanying guests, and a welcome worthy of the occasion: the Bologna Children’s Book Fair opening event requires coordination from the first invitation to arrival at the venue.
Since 2023, Magnetiq has helped Laboratorio Delle Idee and BolognaFiere organize every opening event, connecting attendance confirmations, digital invitations, and guest check-in. What began with the fair’s 60th-anniversary celebration has become an ongoing collaboration supporting the team behind this special occasion.
An International Celebration
Since 1963, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair has brought the international children’s publishing community together in Bologna to discover new work, build relationships, and plan ahead.
The opening event is a special occasion within this international gathering. Organizing it means bringing together guests from different countries and providing a welcome that reflects the fair’s prestige.
Strategic PR agency Laboratorio Delle Idee works with BolognaFiere on this event, with Magnetiq supporting guest management since 2023. The collaboration concerns the opening event, rather than the management of the entire fair.
The Challenge: From an International Guest List to a Coordinated Welcome
For each opening event, the team needs to know which invited guests will attend and how many accompanying guests they will bring. The information collected before the evening must then be available to the staff welcoming guests at the entrance.
An international guest list adds another practical consideration: finding names with unfamiliar spellings can be difficult when reception relies on paper lists or spreadsheets.
Before adopting Magnetiq, the team used paper lists and Excel files. Today, the challenge remains the same — coordinating invitations, confirmations, and arrivals — but Magnetiq connects these steps within one platform.
The Solution: Connecting Guest Preparation and Check-In with Magnetiq
Magnetiq gives Laboratorio Delle Idee and BolognaFiere a shared workflow for preparing the guest list and managing arrivals. Attendance confirmations become part of the information the team uses to organize reception, connecting the work before the event with the welcome on site.
The first edition managed with Magnetiq illustrates this approach. For the 2023 opening event at Palazzo Re Enzo:
- A branded RSVP form presented the event information and allowed invited guests to confirm attendance and add accompanying guests.
- A list of approximately 3,000 participants was managed in Magnetiq, with updated responses and contact information.
- Confirmed participants received an email campaign with their QR code and an Apple Wallet option.
- Three reception staff used the Magnetiq iPhone app to check guests in.
Guests could present their QR code for scanning. When an invitation was not available on their phone, staff could find the guest’s name in the list and record their arrival.
These details describe the 2023 edition. The collaboration has continued with every subsequent opening event, with Magnetiq supporting the team’s guest management.
Explore Magnetiq’s digital tickets and QR codes and event check-in app to see how these tools connect guest preparation with reception.
The Result: An Ongoing Collaboration, from Invitations to Arrival
For Laboratorio Delle Idee and BolognaFiere, Magnetiq connects the information collected during preparation with the work of the reception team. For guests, that coordination supports a clear journey from confirming attendance to arriving at the event.
The 2023 opening event provides a concrete example: digital invitations and QR codes supported arrival, while name lookup gave staff an alternative when a guest did not have their invitation available.
Since then, the team has used Magnetiq for every subsequent opening event. This continued collaboration brings the case beyond a single evening, making Magnetiq part of the organization of this recurring appointment.
Bring the Same Coordination to Your Opening Event
An international guest list, accompanying guests, and a reception team working from phones: these requirements are familiar to organizers of cultural openings, institutional receptions, and invitation-only celebrations.
Find out how to manage Cultural Events with Magnetiq
To plan how invitations, confirmations, and arrival should work together, explore our guide to the event guest journey. If you are evaluating a platform for your team, read the 9 key benefits of using event management software.
Request a Magnetiq demo to discuss your guest list, accompanying guest requirements, and reception workflow — and see how Magnetiq could support your next opening event.
Picture by Paolo Panzera