It’s almost impossible to avoid those bottlenecks at registration during the opening hours of your event. In fact, anytime there’s a must-attend event or session at your show, dealing with long lines is one of those things that just comes along with the territory. Is there anything you can do to make the situation more pleasant for frustrated attendees?

EXPO checked in with Bill Vetter, Senior Vice President of Sales and General Manager for Lawrence Metal, a company that specializes in queuing solutions, typically for retail clients. And while retailers may be more concerned with issues like advancing conversion and revenue in queues, the issue of maintaining efficiency is the same no matter where the line is. Here are a few quick tips to keep things moving.

One line only. “When you’re dealing with large events and expositions, what you really want to do is improve the flow of traffic,” Vetter says. A single line queue that disperses at the registration area (or other end point) will be the easiest way to drive efficiency.While the longer line may be daunting to some, one line will keep everyone on track and moving in the same direction. An electronic call-forward system can keep attendees near the front from jumping the gun and overcrowding staff when they get to the front of the line.

Make it interesting. You might not be able to hire a professional magician to entertain line-goers during the duration, but positioning things like event-centric collateral and candy along designated stopping points in the line will keep attendees occupied as the line moves forward. Including important show information along the way will serve the dual task of educating attendees on need-to-know aspects from the show.

Measure your efforts. Yes, just like everything else, even queue efficiency is measurable. Measure your efforts by timing how fast lines are moving to see if you’re reducing wait times during the typical busy hours of the day.