Civic Entertainment Group unlocks flexibility with virtual queues using Waitwhile

The Challenge

With an impressive client portfolio that includes top brands across a variety of industries like media, retail, entertainment, and tech, Civic Entertainment Group is tasked with producing many diverse immersive experiences every year. These pop-up activations are sometimes standalone and at other times are part of larger events like festivals or conferences.

To improve the management of crowds and better control guest flow at these in-person activations, Civic was looking for a flexible queue management system that could be used across a variety of events, each of which come with their own set of requirements. After finding Waitwhile and exploring its virtual waitlist and personalized messaging features, Civic was quickly won over by how simple it was to set up and run.

The Solution

Civic Entertainment Group primarily uses Waitwhile to eliminate or significantly reduce in-person queues at their branded events and activations. These immersive experiences are quite diverse in nature. For example, one of the first activations at which Civic used Waitwhile was an interactive product demo that was part of a major tech festival. Another activation was a multi-city bus tour, during which Civic had to prevent crowds and queues from forming due to city ordinances.

Using Waitwhile, Civic is able to operate virtual queues, eliminating the need for in-person lines. One of their goals is to prevent “anticipointment” for guests – that is, a feeling of anticipation followed by disappointment. Anticipointment can sometimes arise when guests are faced with long wait times in physical queues. With Waitwhile, Civic is able to allow people to maximize their time by allowing them to enjoy other aspects of an event while they virtually queue for a specific activation.

The process is super simple:

• At the activation, guests can join a virtual waitlist with their phones by scanning a QR code or sending a text. Civic often also has brand ambassadors on hand to sign people up on tablets.
• Guests are given an accurate wait time (powered by AI) so they know how long they have until they need to be back for the experience.
• Personalized and automated messages are sent to guests to keep them in the loop. If their turn is coming up and they need more time, they can simply text back and Waitwhile automatically reconfigures the queue accordingly.

Without a blueprint to each activation, Civic needed a queue management system that could flex to meet the needs of any type of experience. Waitwhile has a fully customizable UI, so Civic is able to keep things on-brand and on-message for all of their clients.

Plus, Waitwhile is very easy to learn, which is important since Civic often has new brand ambassadors for each of its activations. Civic reports that it normally takes no longer than 20 minutes to get them fully trained and ready to operate Waitwhile.

The Result

Before Waitwhile, many of the activations that Civic produced in partnership with their clients had long physical queues with long wait times, which created less than ideal experiences and sometimes discouraged guests from even joining the queue.

Now, using Waitwhile to operate virtual queues, Civic is able to create seamless waiting experiences that don’t feel like waiting at all. Rather than standing in a physical queue, guests are given accurate wait times and are free to enjoy other aspects of an event, knowing their spot in line is safe. Plus, Waitwhile Analytics deliver real-time metrics that allow Civic to keep clients in the loop on how many people are at an activation at any given time and to spot key trends in guest volume that allow for better planning.

Civic reports that guests have been more pleased with the overall experience at their activations, which has had cascading positive effects: Happier guests means more positive brand interaction – a key goal for Civic’s clients.