Listing your first event: an organiser's checklist

Putting your first event online can feel like a lot of small decisions at once. This checklist walks through them in order, so nothing important gets missed between creating a draft and welcoming your first attendees.

1. Set up as an organiser

Anyone can list events on IslandLive, but you start by creating an account and completing a short organiser application. This is a one-time step that lets us reach you about payouts and any issues with your event. Once you're approved, the full event tools open up.

2. Write the event details properly

This is where most first-time listings fall short, so give it real attention:

Title. Clear and specific — the act or occasion plus a hint of what it is. Avoid all-caps and filler.
Description. Write a genuine few paragraphs: what's happening, who it's for, what the night looks like, the line-up or schedule, age limits, and anything attendees must bring. A published event needs a real description — a one-line note isn't enough, and a fuller page helps people decide to buy and helps your event get found on Google.
Date, time and venue. Set the start (and end, if you have one) in local time, and add the venue with an accurate address so the map pin is right. For multi-day or multi-venue events, add each occurrence as its own date.

3. Add good images

Listings with strong visuals convert far better. Upload a clear cover image — the artwork, poster or a sharp photo — plus a few supporting images if you have them. Avoid blurry screenshots and images with heavy text baked in; they look unprofessional and read badly on small screens.

4. Build your ticket tiers

Think about pricing before you create tiers:

Keep it simple. Two or three tiers (for example early-bird, general, VIP) are easier for buyers than a long list.
Set quantities and limits. Each tier has a total quantity and a maximum per order. Per-order limits help spread tickets across more buyers and reduce bulk resale.
Reserved seating. If your venue is seated, mark the tier as seated and lay out sections and rows. Buyers then pick their exact seats at checkout.

Remember that buyers pay a 10% service charge on top of your face price; it's shown to them before they pay, so price your tiers at the figure you actually want to receive per ticket.

5. Publish (and the listing fee)

Publishing charges a one-time flat listing fee, paid securely through PayHere. There's no subscription — you pay per event. When the payment is confirmed, your event goes live automatically and appears in search, category and city pages.

Two things worth knowing before you hit publish:

Your event needs a proper description to go live — if it's too short, you'll be asked to flesh it out first.
You can keep editing after publishing, but big changes (date, venue) should be communicated to people who've already bought.

6. Run check-in on the day

On event day, use the gate scanner to check tickets in. Each ticket checks in exactly once — the first scan wins, and any duplicate shows as already used, with the time it happened. If you're collecting attendee names, the scanner shows them so your gate staff can match the ticket to the person. You can add gate staff so more than one person scans at once, and export the attendee list as a CSV beforehand.

7. Get paid

After your event, you're settled for your ticket sales through organiser payouts. Keep your contact and payment details current so there's no delay. If a buyer needs a refund, that's handled according to your event's policy and the platform's refund rules.

A quick pre-publish checklist

Before you publish, confirm:

The title is clear and the description is genuinely informative.
The date, time, venue and map pin are correct.
A sharp cover image is set.
Ticket tiers, quantities and per-order limits are right.
Reserved seating (if used) is laid out and assigned to the correct tier.

Get those right and your first event will look as trustworthy as it is — which is exactly what turns a browser into a buyer.