Big Picture — What is this section about?
The Host & Venues section covers both sides of the door. A Host is anyone who creates an event (a founder coffee, a wine night, a networking session). A Venue is the physical space (a bar, café, studio) that lists itself on the platform. Both connect: a host picks a venue, the venue tracks real-time check-ins, and they share payouts.
Screen 52 — The Critical Fork: "Will you bring people, or should we fill it?"
This is the most important decision in the host flow. Before creating an event, the host answers one question that changes safety defaults, discovery rules, and how the platform markets the event.
📣 "I'll bring my crowd" (Bringer)
You already have a following or a list of people. The platform adds discovery on top.
- Lower verification requirements
- Platform acts as amplifier
- Your followers get notified first
- You control the guest list
✦ "Help me fill it" (Seeker)
You bring nobody — the platform fills the room using nearby interest and predicted attendance.
- Stricter default safety rules
- Predicted attendance shown to venue
- Platform does the discovery work
- Venue trusts platform's prediction
Host / Creator Flow
Screens 51–58 — From choosing to host, all the way to scanning guests at the door on event night.
The user picks their role. This is the entry gate — choosing "Host experiences" or "List my venue" skips the regular radar home and goes directly into hosting mode.
- 🟡
Meet people & join plans — Regular user. Goes to radar home.
- 🟡
Host experiences — Goes to host creation flow immediately.
- 🟢
List my venue — Goes to venue owner dashboard.
- 💡
Key note: Roles can be switched anytime — not a permanent lock-in.
The single most important question in the flow. Sets safety defaults, visibility rules, and how the platform markets the event. (See fork explainer above.)
- 📣
I'll bring my crowd — Has a following, lower verification bar.
- ✦
Help me fill it — No following, platform fills the room.
- 🛡
Safety note: "Intent sets the safety defaults — friends mixer vs networking start with different rules."
The host fills in event details. The "Predicted Attendance" card is a trust primitive — it tells the venue how many people are likely to show up, even if the host brings no following.
- ✏️
Title — Event name (e.g. "Sunday Founders Coffee")
- 🏷
Category chips — Friends, Networking, Mixer, Coffee, Dining, Party
- 📍
Venue — Pick a partner venue (with offer badge if venue has active offers)
- 🕐
Time + Cap — When the event starts and max attendee count
- 📊
Predicted Attendance ~9 — AI estimate based on nearby interest. Venue sees this as a trust signal.
- ☕
Attach venue offer — "Free coffee · on" — auto-redeems at door scan
Instead of one ticket price, hosts can create tiers that release in waves. Auto-release fires the next wave when the current one hits 90% sold — creating urgency without manual work.
- 🟡
Early bird — 20 @ $12 SOLD OUT (100%)
- 🟡
General — 40 @ $15 On sale · 26 left (35% remaining)
- 🟡
Door — 10 @ $20 Opens day-of (0% sold)
- ⚡
Auto-release toggle When current tier hits 90% → next tier unlocks automatically
The host's command center. Shows their stats, the current active event, and pending join requests. "Curated list" means the host reviews each request — not first-come-first-served.
- ⭐
Stats Rating 4.9 · $420 earned · 38 guests met
- 🎉
Active event "Natural Wine & Strangers" — Tonight 8PM · 6/10 attending
- ✋
Requests (curated list) Host manually approves/skips each request. Shows trust level of each person.
- 🏅
Leo C. ID badge, 15-night streak, regular → Skip / Approve
- ❓
Rafael S. New · no history → Skip / Approve
Host sends a push notification to confirmed attendees, followers, or both. Useful for real-time updates ("running 15 min late", "grab a seat at the bar").
- 📌
To: "Natural Wine & Strangers" · 6 attendees
- 🎯
Audience Chips: Attendees / Followers / Both
- 💬
Message "Running 15 min late — grab a seat at the bar, first round's on me 🍸"
- 👁
Live preview Shows how notification appears on guest's phone before sending
Send a custom push notification to all JoinMeIn users within a radius (max 3 miles). This is how a host fills last-minute spots — like a geo-targeted "come tonight" blast.
- 📝
Title + Message Custom text for the notification
- 📏
Radius: 2 miles Max 3 miles — targets nearby users only
- 🔇
Rate-limited Can't spam — capped per host, users can mute a host, respects quiet hours
- 🖼
Image/video Optional upload to make the notification visual
On event night, the host uses their phone as a QR scanner. Guests show their QR code, it validates the ticket AND redeems any attached venue offer automatically — no manual codes needed.
- 📷
QR Scanner Circular camera viewfinder — host points at guest's screen
- ✅
Leo C. checked in "GA ticket valid · 2-for-1 perk redeemed" — green checkmark
- 🔢
Live counter: 6/10 Updates in real-time as guests arrive
- ⌨️
Manual fallback "Enter code manually" if QR scan fails
Venue Owner Flow
Screens 59–62 — The venue owner's world: creating offers, managing the live dashboard, their public profile, and reservation slots.
The venue creates an incentive offer that hosts can attach to their events. When a guest scans in at the door, the offer redeems automatically — no staff math, no codes.
- 📋
Templates Free welcome drink · 20% off · 2-for-1 · Free entry
- 👁
Guest preview "★ Free welcome drink" shown exactly as guests will see it
- 📍
Applies to "All experiences at The Aviary" — or scoped to specific events
- 📅
Available "Mon–Thu nights · quiet nights" — venue decides which nights to incentivize
- 📈
Platform note "Experiences with an offer fill 3× faster." — nudge to add one
The venue owner's real-time command center. Shows who's checked in tonight, upcoming events at the venue, and any hosts requesting to use the space.
- 🟢
4 checked in (of 6 expected) Live · updates in real time
- 💰
$612 Pending payout · settles in 36 hours
- 📆
3 events this week At this venue
- 🎉
Upcoming event "Natural Wine & Strangers" · Tonight 8PM · Maya · 6 going
- 🤝
Host request: Jordan ★4.8 rating · wants Thursday → venue reviews and approves
The venue's public-facing page — like an Instagram profile but for a physical space. Guests can follow the venue, see upcoming events hosted here, and view standing offers.
- 📍
"The Aviary" Wine bar · Lower East Side · ★ venue badge
- ❤️
Follow button Guests follow the venue to get notified of upcoming events
- 📊
Social proof stats 1,284 check-ins · 4 standing offers · 99% offers honored
- 🎉
Upcoming events here "Natural Wine & Strangers · tonight · ★ 2 free cocktails"
- 🥂
Standing offers "★ Free welcome drink · Mon–Thu" + "★ 2-for-1 · matchdays"
- 📋
Book a table CTA that leads to reservation flow (Screen 62)
Venue owner controls which time slots are bookable online, sets party size limits, and configures deposit policies. Larger parties route to the host stand instead of online.
- ⏰
Time slots — Tonight 14 tables open · slots: 7:00 / 7:30 / 8:15 / 9:00 + add slot
- 💳
Deposit policy "Require card on file · No-show fee $10/seat · 2-hour window"
- 👥
Largest party online: 8 Parties bigger than 8 route to host stand (not self-serve)
- 💡
Transparency rule Deposits always shown to guest before booking — no hidden fees
Key Concepts in This Section
These are the unique design decisions that make this flow work differently from a standard ticketing app.
📊
Predicted Attendance
Instead of requiring a host to have followers, the platform predicts how many people will join based on nearby interest. The venue sees this number and trusts the event will fill — even if the host brings no crowd of their own.
🎟
Release Waves
Tickets are sold in tiers (Early Bird → General → Door). When one tier hits 90% sold, the next tier unlocks automatically. Creates natural urgency without the host manually managing it.
🥂
Auto-Redeemed Offers
Venue offers (free drinks, discounts) are redeemed automatically when the guest's QR code is scanned at the door. No codes to remember, no staff confusion — the scan does everything at once.
🛡
Intent-Based Safety
The "Bringer vs Seeker" fork sets the safety level automatically. A "help me fill it" event (stranger-filled) starts with stricter verification requirements than a friends-only mixer the host is manually curating.
📡
Geo Broadcast
Hosts can blast a notification to everyone within 3 miles — but it's rate-limited. Users can mute a host. Quiet hours are respected. The goal is last-minute fill, not spam.
⭐
Venue as Destination
Venues have public profiles with follower counts, check-in history, and trust scores (e.g. "99% offers honored"). Guests follow venues the way they follow people — creating a supply-side social layer.
💰
24–48h Payouts
Revenue settles 24–48 hours after the event night, not weeks later. Both host and venue see pending amounts in their dashboards. Designed as "plain commerce" not complex ticketing revenue-share.
🤝
Curated Guest List
Hosts manually approve or skip each join request — it's not first-come-first-served. The request card shows the person's trust level (ID verified, streak, history) to help hosts decide.
Day-of Timeline — How it all connects
Here's the order of operations from the morning of the event to when money hits the bank. This is what "both sides of the door, in day-of order" means.
Host · Morning
Host reviews pending join requests (Screen 55)
Approves Leo C. (verified, regular), skips someone with no history. Guest list is now locked.
Host · Afternoon
Sends broadcast to confirmed attendees (Screen 56)
"Tonight at 8PM — The Aviary, LES. First round on me 🍸" — push notification to 6 people.
Host · 2 Hours Before
Sends geo-broadcast to nearby users (Screen 57)
"Spots still open — wine & strangers tonight at 8" — goes to everyone within 2 miles. Last-minute fill.
Venue · 1 Hour Before
Venue checks live dashboard — 4 confirmed (Screen 60)
Sees "Natural Wine & Strangers · 6 expected · offer active". Staff knows what's coming.
Host · At the Door
Host scans each guest QR code (Screen 58)
"Leo C. checked in — GA ticket valid · 2-for-1 perk redeemed ✓" — one scan does everything.
Venue · During Event
Venue dashboard updates in real-time (Screen 60)
Counter moves from 0 → 6 as guests scan in. Payout amount ($612) accumulates live.
Venue · Next Morning
Payout settles 24–48h after event night
$612 moves from "pending" to "settled". No waiting weeks. Plain commerce.
Host · Next Morning
Host dashboard shows $420 earned · ★4.9 rating updated (Screen 55)
Post-event reviews come in. "38 guests met" counter goes up. Host reputation grows.
Host & Venues Flow Explainer · JoinMeIn · Screens 51–62 · Source: design/joinmein-redesign.html