Okay. So if you've ever planned, you know, a pretty significant event, could be
anything, a marathon, a big conference, maybe even just a local workshop series,
you definitely know that feeling of being kind of handcuffed by your ticketing
provider.
Absolutely. Those hidden fees that just pop up.
Right. Or having basically zero ability to make it look like your brand.
And the worst part? Maybe. Waiting weeks, sometimes longer, just to get the money
from your ticket sales.
Oh, that waiting period. It really shifts all the financial risk onto you, the
organizer, doesn't it?
It does. You end up having to float cash for everything, marketing, logistics,
venue deposits, all while the platform sits on your income.
It feels like a really bad trade off. You get maybe some convenience from a big
platform, but you lose so much financial control.
Exactly. An unacceptable trade off for many.
But that's why we're here today. We are diving deep into a tool that's really built
from the ground up to fix those specific problems.
It puts the organizer, meaning you, the listener first.
That's promising.
We're exploring high events. It's billed as a comprehensive, open source event
management and ticket selling platform, and it seems to be making waves already got
over, what, 3,200 stars on GitHub?
Yeah, that's significant traction in the open source space. Shows there's real
interest.
Before we jump into the details though, we really want to thank the supporter who
makes this whole deep dive possible today.
Our exploration is supported by Safe Server.
They handle the hosting for software like this and can really support your digital
transformation.
You can find out more at www.safeserver.de.
So our mission today is pretty straightforward.
We need to unpack what high events actually is, explain how this whole open source
idea applies in the world of event ticketing, which maybe isn't obvious.
And crucially highlight the features that could make this a genuine game changer,
especially if you're just starting out organizing events and need something
flexible.
And I think what's really key here based on the sources is this idea of freedom.
It's not just presented as a cheaper option, but as a complete toolbox designed for
you to own long term, not just rent short term.
OK, let's start right there.
Segment one, the core pitch, open source, low fees and getting your money fast.
So in simple terms, what exactly is high events?
Well, think of it as a feature packed platform.
It's open source. You can host it yourself if you want.
And it handles pretty much the whole event lifecycle management, online ticket
sales, works for small workshops, works for huge music festivals.
Right. But you mentioned self hosted.
And I know for some organizers, especially beginners, that might immediately sound
daunting, too technical.
And they've clearly thought about that.
The platform offers two very distinct paths forward, which is, I think, crucial for
making it accessible.
That is key. Yeah, you don't need to be a server admin from day one.
So what are those two paths for someone learning about this?
OK, so the first one, this is the sort of low friction, easy entry option is the
high events cloud.
OK, it's fully managed by them.
Zero installation for you.
They handle the security, the scaling, the updates.
You basically sign up, put your event details in and you can start selling tickets
almost immediately.
So kind of like the standard sauce model we see elsewhere.
Focus on your event, not the tech.
Exactly. That's the pitch for the cloud version.
But the second path, that's where the open source power really comes in, right?
The self-hosted option.
Precisely.
That's the core of the open source promise.
No vendor lock-in.
You get complete, like, 100% control over the whole system.
Meaning you control your data.
Your data, the look and feel when you update, everything.
And the beauty is, a beginner could start with the cloud for convenience,
but then maybe as they grow,
or if they need really deep integration with other systems they use,
they have the option to migrate to the self-hosted version later
without losing everything and starting over.
Okay, that makes sense.
Now let's talk money,
because this is where things get potentially very attractive.
The sources mention this claim of being 70% cheaper than competitors.
Does that really hold up?
Where do those savings come from?
It seems to hold up primarily because their fee structure
is just fundamentally different, is really lean.
Well, first off, if you're running free events, completely free,
zero platform fees from high events.
Okay, that's a good start.
And for paid events, where competitors might charge, you know,
3.5%, 4%, maybe even more, plus a hefty fixed fee per ticket.
Yeah, those can add up fast.
High events charges just 0.75% plus a flat 0.40 cents per ticket.
Wow, okay, 0.75% plus 40 cents versus potentially 4% plus maybe a dollar or more.
Exactly.
That is, that's not just a small difference.
On a large event, say 5,000 attendees,
that could easily mean tens of thousands of dollars staying in the organizer's
pocket.
Absolutely. It goes straight back into your event budget or your bottom line.
And the financial perks don't actually stop at just the low fees.
They integrate directly with Stripe Connect.
And the crucial benefit here is instant payouts.
Instant, like really instant.
Pretty much. You don't wait two weeks.
You don't even wait two days, typically.
As soon as someone buys a ticket,
that revenue becomes available to you through Stripe.
OK, that directly tackles that cash flow problem we mentioned right at the start.
No more floating costs while waiting for a payout.
Exactly. It solves a huge operational headache for organizers.
All right. So it's cheaper. You get your money faster.
That brings us to segment two, the features.
If you're saving that much money,
are you losing out on the tools that professional organizers actually need day to
day?
That's always the question, isn't it?
But looking at the feature list, it seems surprisingly comprehensive.
They haven't skimped.
So what kind of tools are we talking about?
Things that maybe other platforms hide behind higher tiers or charge extra for?
Well, the ticketing flexibility seems really strong.
You can create multiple ticket types, easily standard, paid ones, obviously,
free tickets, donation-based tickets, even tiered tickets like early bird or VIP.
OK, standard stuff, but necessary.
What about marketing tools around tickets?
Yep. They've got promo codes covered for discounts or pre-sales
and something called advanced ticket locking.
Ticket locking. What's that?
It means you can restrict certain ticket types.
So they're only visible or purchasable if someone enters a specific code.
Good for member only sales, sponsor tickets, that sort of thing.
Ah, gotcha. OK.
What about managing attendance numbers?
Capacity can be tricky, especially with different ticket types
maybe sharing the same space.
Right. And they seem to handle that well.
You've got fine-grained capacity management.
You can set an overall event limit or limits on individual ticket types.
OK. But the really neat feature is what they call capacity assignments.
Imagine you have a conference, right?
And maybe there are three workshops happening,
but the total room capacity for all workshop attendees combined is, say, 200.
Right. You don't want to sell 100 tickets for each workshop
if the total space only holds 200.
Exactly. This system lets you link those different workshop
tickets to a shared capacity pool.
It tracks the total sold across all link types, preventing overselling.
That's actually really smart for multi-track events or complex setups.
OK. Beyond just getting people in, what about other revenue streams?
Can you sell, like, merch or add-ons?
Yep. There's a built-in product sales feature.
So you can easily add t-shirts, books, parking passes,
whatever extras you want to offer alongside the tickets.
And taxes, fees. That gets complicated.
They seem to cover that, too.
You can apply custom taxes and fees either per product or on the entire order.
That's pretty essential for proper accounting,
especially for larger organizations dealing with different tax rules.
Oh, certainly.
OK. Shifting focus a bit to the attendee side.
What's the experience like for them?
And what control do you have over their data?
I remember needing very specific info once,
like meal choices or accessibility needs.
Well, first big point is data ownership,
especially with the self-hosted option. It's your data.
Right.
And to collect it, you can design custom checkout forms,
ask exactly the questions you need,
dietary needs, t-shirt sizes, how did you hear about us, anything.
Nice.
And after they've bought the ticket, managing attendees.
Seems robust.
You get attendee management tools to easily search for people,
edit their details if needed, cancel orders, issue refunds.
Pretty standard, but essential stuff.
What about communicating with them?
Say, last minute change, maybe a speaker cancellation,
and you only want to email the people who signed up for that specific session.
Yeah, they have a bulk messaging tool for that.
You can filter your attendee list by ticket type
or maybe by custom question answers
and send targeted emails or messages just to that specific group.
That kind of targeted communication is gold,
especially when things change quickly near the event date.
Absolutely.
And one more thing on the attendee front for international reach.
It supports multiple languages out of the box.
English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, several others.
OK, that's a solid base.
Let's move into segment three, customization and actually using the tech.
One of the biggest gripes with older platforms is always the branding.
Looks dated, doesn't match your site.
The sources say, hi, events offers complete design control.
How does that work in practice?
They seem to focus on making powerful tools intuitive.
There's a homepage designer, for instance.
It's a visual editor, live preview lets you tweak colors, layouts,
add your branding elements, all without needing to write code.
So you can make the event page itself look good.
But what if I already have a great website for my organization or event?
I don't want to send people off to some high dot events, my event page necessarily.
Totally understandable.
And that's where their embeddable ticket widget comes in.
Oh, OK.
It's designed to let you drop the entire ticket selection and checkout process
right onto your existing website.
They say it works easily with common platforms like React, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace.
How easy?
Like copy paste a code snippet.
Pretty much.
Just a few lines of code.
And the widget appears seamlessly within your site's design.
Keeps the whole journey feeling professional
and maintains your brand identity from start to finish.
That's huge for user experience.
OK, fast forward to the event day itself.
Doors open.
How smooth is the check-in process?
They seem to prioritize simplicity in using readily available tech.
Entry management is done via QR codes on the tickets.
And check-in uses a web-based tool.
It's mobile-friendly, so your staff can use phones or tablets.
No need for special hardware or installing specific native apps.
That's convenient.
Less hassle for the check-in crew.
What about managing that crew?
If I have volunteers checking people in,
maybe someone else handling issues at a help desk.
They've got multi-user access with role-based controls.
Meaning you can create different accounts for your staff members
and assign specific permissions.
So check-in staff might only have access to scan tickets
for a specific entry point,
while a manager might have rights to look up orders or issue refunds.
Ensures people only see and do what they need to.
Good for security and organization.
Okay, let's circle back quickly to that self-hosting option.
We know the cloud version is easy,
but for the organizer who wants that ultimate control,
maybe integrate it deeply,
the platform uses tech like PHP and TypeScript.
Is setting it up yourself a nightmare?
You know, it seems surprisingly manageable,
mainly because they've leaned heavily on Docker.
Ah, Docker.
For listeners who might not know,
think of it like putting the entire application
and all its requirements, the database, the web server settings,
everything into a self-contained box, makes setup much simpler.
That's a perfect analogy.
So the main technical prerequisite is just having Docker and Docker Compose
installed on your server or machine.
And then?
The quick start guide basically boils down to clone their code repository from
GitHub,
navigate into the directory,
run a command to generate a couple of unique security keys.
Okay.
And then run one single command, Docker Compose up E or D.
And that should, in theory, build and start everything needed.
So while there's some technical understanding needed,
it's not like you're manually installing
and configuring dozens of separate software components.
Exactly.
Docker streamlines it significantly.
Yeah.
This self-hosting path is definitely for those
who want that absolute control,
maybe want to customize the code itself,
own their data infrastructure completely,
and have zero reliance on the high events company
for the software hosting.
It's about enabling true ownership.
Right.
Okay, let's wrap this up.
Outro time.
So putting it all together,
what does high events really mean for you,
the event organizer, listening right now?
Well, it seems to deliver on some critical points.
First, potentially serious cost savings
with that claimed 70% cheaper fee structure
compared to the big guys.
Definitely a major draw.
Second, much more control over design, branding,
and how you integrate ticketing
into your existing online presence.
Through things like the embeddable widget.
Exactly.
And third, real flexibility.
You can choose the convenience of their cloud service to start,
or you can go for total ownership and control
with the self-hosted open source version.
It looks built to scale,
handling everything from, say, a local 10K race
to a major nightclub opening.
A wide range.
And at least, and maybe a final thought,
when a platform like this commits to being open source and self-hostable,
it does something fundamental.
It decentralizes the technology.
It takes power away from just a few large platform providers.
So the provocative question for you, the listener, is...
What new opportunities does that level of software ownership
actually create for you?
Could you build truly unique, specialized experiences for your audience?
Maybe integrate hyper-local payment methods?
Develop custom features specific to your niche,
all without ever worrying about being logged into a single platform's roadmap or
pricing.
That shift in control is potentially very powerful.
Something definitely worth thinking about.
If you're feeling constrained by your current ticketing setup,
the source documentation for high events seems like a very worthwhile read.
And one more time, a huge thank you to our supporter for this deep dive.
SafeServer takes care of the hosting of this software
and supports you in your digital transformation.
More info is under www.SafeServer.de.
Thanks for diving deep with us today.
Until next time, keep creating those amazing event experiences.