What is a no-show rate?

The no-show rate is registrations minus arrivals, over registrations. It is one of the few event numbers that is genuinely stable for a given event, which makes it the most useful planning figure an organizer keeps.

In practice at an event

It sets the catering guarantee, which is the number you pay for whether or not people eat. Guaranteeing at your registration figure means paying for the people who did not come.

It sets room sizing, because a room booked for registrations is a room that looks empty.

And it sets the honest denominator for every engagement percentage you report. A participation rate calculated against registrations rather than arrivals understates your event, sometimes badly.

Free events run much higher no-show rates than paid ones, and the gap widens the closer to free the ticket is. Internal events with no ticket at all are the extreme case.

What to look for

The number that matters is yours, tracked over your own events. Published averages are unreliable because they mix free and paid, virtual and in-person, and consumer and professional audiences.

When buying software, ask which number a vendor’s meter reads. A per-registration price charges you for every no-show, at the same rate as for somebody who attended and used the product all week.

How event67 handles it

event67 bills on activated attendees — people who claimed their invitation and opened the app — which structurally excludes no-shows. Somebody who registers and stays home is never billed. Invitations themselves are unlimited and never metered, so there is no cost reason to invite a smaller list than you have.