Your first event on ESCAPE
Every step from sign-up to the door, in the order the app asks for it.
Choose your route
Decide whether admission is free or paid before you open Create Event. You can't switch it later.
Free event
- Create your account
- Create a community (optional)
- Create the event
- Publish
Paid event
- Create your account
- Create a community (optional)
- Payment account shows Active
- Create the event
- Publish
The quick start
Seven steps. Each one links to its part of the guide below.
Create your account
Verify your phone and add your name. Decide free or paid before you open Create Event. You can host as yourself or through a community you help run.
Done when: your account is ready and you know who hosts.
Create a community
Optional. Community, then +, then Create Group, Create Business or Create Place. Add the name, handle, description, images and location.
Done when: it appears under Post as.
Set up payments (paid only)
Verify an email under Settings, then Payment method: choose your country and that email, tap Create Payment Account and finish Stripe's onboarding.
Done when: the account shows Active. Free events skip this.
Configure the event and tickets
Choose who hosts, the format and the details. Paid: the Active account and currency, then ticket names, prices, quantities and sale dates.
Done when: the format, account and currency are right. They can't change later.
Access, team and waitlist
Review privacy, Who Can Join and the attendee list settings. Tag collaborators and check their permissions. Turn on a waitlist per ticket type if you want one.
Done when: the audience and the team's permissions are right.
Review and publish
Choose who covers the fees and the refund policy before sales start. Check the details and tickets, then tap Post and look at the event as a guest would.
Done when: the event is live and you've shared its link.
Run the event and follow up
Open your organizer tools, give staff the check-in permission, and scan guests in from 3 hours before the start. Afterwards, review attendance and payouts.
Done when: your guests are checked in and your payouts reviewed.
Set up your account
Create your account, choose who hosts, and decide whether admission is free or paid.
Register and prepare your profile
Install ESCAPE from the App Store or Google Play. Tap Create an account, verify your phone with the SMS code, then add your name. A profile photo is optional at sign-up; add one before you host.
Choose free or paid now
For a paid event, set up your payment account before you open Create Event. Free events skip payment setup.
Host as yourself or through a community
A community is optional. To make one, open the Community tab, tap +, and choose Create Group, Create Business or Create Place. Add the name, a unique handle, a description, images and the location, then review its privacy, member permissions or venue details.
- Group Clubs, collectives and member communities.
- Business Companies, brands, agencies and sponsors.
- Place Venues, studios and cafés.
The same menu also has Educator and Professional. Choose the type that describes your organization.
Prepare to host
Check whether your venue is already on ESCAPE as a Place before you create one. You can host through a community you own or help run: pick it under Post as when you create the event.
Your next step
Paid event: set up payments first. Free event: go straight to the event.
Set up payments
Paid events only: do this before the event form. Free events can skip to the event.
Add and verify your email
Open your profile and tap the gear at the top right (Settings), then Email. Enter the email you want to use with Stripe, keep Personal for a personal address (University and Company are the other types), tap Send verification code, and enter the code from your inbox.
Create the payment account
Back in Settings, open Payment method. Choose your country (Canada(CA) for a Canadian account) and the email you verified, then tap Create Payment Account. Stripe's onboarding opens. You can have one payment account per country.
If your email isn't in the list, go back to Email and finish verifying it.
Complete Stripe's onboarding
Choose your business type: Individual/sole proprietorship if that fits, or the type that matches your company or non-profit. Then give the details and bank information Stripe asks for.
If Stripe asks for a website
Use your event or business website, or the full URL of a public social profile, such as Instagram, that shows what you do. It has to match your business and what you sell, and include or link to your contact details and your refund and cancellation terms.
Stripe's guides: business types in Canada and website and social profile requirements.
Continue when the account shows Active
Go back to Payment method. If the account says Incomplete, tap it to reopen Stripe and finish what's missing. Verification can take a while, so finish it before you create the event: the event form only lists Active accounts.
Choose and set up the event
Tap + and choose Create Event. For a paid event, your payment account should already show Active.
Pick the format
- Free RSVP Guests join the attendee list. There are no QR tickets to scan.
- Free with tickets Free QR entry: turn on Issue tickets, if your app shows it.
- Paid event Turn on Paid event, then choose your Active payment account and the currency.
Decide the format before you post
After the event is created you can't switch it between free and paid, or turn Issue tickets on or off. A paid event also keeps its payment account and currency.
Choose who hosts
Under Post as, choose yourself or a community you can host through; the choice appears once you have one. Sharing the event to a community's feed is a separate option, under Share to communities (optional).
Enter the essentials
Add a clear title and a cover image. Use Select Location for the venue. Set the start and end times: the app uses your phone's time zone, so check it first. Use Repeat for recurring dates.
Explain the experience
Pick a category and set the capacity. Describe who it's for, what's included, what to bring, where to meet and how to get in.
Paid events: set each ticket type's name, price, quantity and sale dates in the same form. Ticket options and fees are under Publish; choose the refund terms in Operate before you post.
Ready for access
The host, format, venue, times and description are right. Continue to Access before you tap Post.
Set access and collaboration
Choose who can join, what guests can see, and who helps you run the event.
Review privacy and admission
Choose a privacy setting: Private, Friends, Mutuals, Public or Public Only, plus Communities Only when you host through a community. Under Who Can Join, leave the requirements blank unless you mean to restrict who can join.
To approve guests, open the event's attendee area, then Join Requests. A request, or a card held at checkout, doesn't mean the guest is in or has paid: check that you accepted them and that they have their ticket.
Whether tickets are issued at once depends on the format and privacy: see Instant tickets under Publish.
Decide what guests can see
- Show attendee list to everyone
- On, everyone who can see the event sees the list. Off, only attendees, you and team members allowed to manage attendees see it.
- Show attendee count
- Appears when the list is off. On shows the number to people who aren't attending; off hides it from them. A public list makes the count public too.
- Hide list from attendees until event starts
- Available with the list off. On hides the names even from confirmed attendees until the start; you and your team keep access.
Event Chat: Create group chat for this event is optional, and it isn't available for Private events.
Tag collaborators
Tap Tag a collaborator, choose a role, then a person or a community. A Business can be your sponsor; a Place can be the venue. Each tag waits for the collaborator to accept: check every tag's status and permissions in the dashboard's Team tab.
Roles: Co-hosted by, Partner, Sponsored by, At (the venue), Led by, Featuring and Staff. Promoters are invited separately, not from this picker.
Permissions a tag can carry: checking guests in, editing the event, tickets, attendees, analytics, promo codes, refunds, data exports, announcements, the waitlist and promoters. A venue tag starts with none of them.
Post as sets the host, Share to communities picks the feeds, and tags credit everyone else.
Review tickets and publish
Paid events: choose the Active account and currency, then give each ticket type a name, price, quantity and sale dates. At least one ticket type must be active.
Multiple tickets per order
Turn on Allow multiple tickets and set Max per order. Eligibility requirements under Who Can Join switch it off. A ticket type (VIP, say) is what you sell; multiple tickets sets how many one buyer can order.
Group discounts on paid ticket types
In a paid ticket type, open Group discounts and tap Add a tier. Set Group size (2 or more) and % off (1 to 50). Add up to 3 tiers; each needs a larger group and a larger discount than the one before.
Each group size must fit within Max per order, so raise that first for a bigger tier. The discounted price can't go below the currency's minimum. At checkout the buyer gets the better of the group discount and a promo code; the two don't stack.
In the example, a CA$30.00 General ticket with a 2+ tier at 10% off shows buyers CA$27.00 each, before fees.
How partial refunds treat group orders: see Refund terms.
Waitlist, per ticket type
Turn on Enable Waitlist in a ticket type. Guests see the waitlist once that type is sold out and still on sale. Joining the waitlist isn't a ticket, and capacity alone doesn't turn it on.
Other ticket settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Instant tickets | Buyers get their ticket the moment they pay. Public paid events only, and not on a ticket type with a waitlist. Shown where your app offers it. |
| Show tickets remaining | Shows buyers how many are left when the type is nearly sold out. Off hides it. |
| Allow ticket transfers | Buyers can hand off individual tickets. |
| Active Status | Makes this ticket type available to buy. |
Choose who covers the fees
| Option in the app | Who pays |
|---|---|
| Attendees pay all fees | The default. Guests pay the ticket price plus the service fee and card processing; you receive the full ticket price. |
| Attendees pay service fee | Guests pay the ticket price plus the service fee; card processing comes out of your payout. |
| I'll pay all fees | Guests pay the ticket price; the service fee and card processing come out of your payout. |
On a paid ticket: a 5% ESCAPE service fee plus card processing. See current pricing.
Post, then check
Tap Post, then open the event signed out, or on the web, to see what guests see. Add Registration Questions afterwards from the event's menu, under Edit Post, before you send invitations.
Share the event link. At the door, only a guest's own ticket QR checks them in; the scanner turns away any other code.
Refunds and running the event
Set the refund terms before you publish; use the rest on the day and after.
Refund terms, set before sales
In Create Event, open Refund Policy. Set the start time first, then check the deadline the app shows. The default is Until Event Starts.
Cutoffs count back from the event's start, not from the purchase, and "1 Month" means 30 days. A purchase keeps the policy that applied when it was bought. When you edit the event, the app only lets you make the policy more generous.
Before you approve a guest, their card is only held, and the hold is released if they cancel. After approval, check the policy they bought under and the refund preview. Service and processing fees aren't refunded.
Group orders: refunding part of an order can lower the group discount on the tickets left, and so the refund amount. Check the calculation the app shows, and never promise the original amount back.
| Option in the app | Guests can ask for a refund until |
|---|---|
| No Refunds | No refunds once you've approved them |
| Until Event Starts | The event starts |
| 24 Hours Before | 24 hours before the start |
| 3 Days Before | 3 days before the start |
| 1 Week Before | 7 days before the start |
| 2 Weeks Before | 14 days before the start |
| 1 Month Before | 30 days before the start |
Open your organizer tools
Paid events: your profile, then Organizer, then Events and the event; or Event Dashboard on the event itself. What you see depends on your permissions.
Free events: open the event's attendee area, with Attendees and Join Requests. The Organizer Hub lists paid events, and a free event may have no dashboard button.
| What you need | Dashboard tab |
|---|---|
| Registrations | Overview, Attendees |
| Forms and offers | Responses, Promo Codes |
| Stock and money | Waitlist, Payouts |
| People and updates | Team, Announcements |
Check guests in
Give staff the check-in permission in their collaborator settings or the Team tab. Scan with the QR scanner on your profile or in the Organizer Hub. Allow camera access, and bring charged devices and a connection.
- Opens 3 hours before the start
- Doors The start
- Closes The end time
With no end time, check-in closes 24 hours after the start. A free RSVP without tickets uses the attendee list.
Guests find their QR under their profile, then Settings, then My Tickets. Scan and confirm; check used tickets and every guest on a group order. Check manual payments separately.
After the event
Review attendance and Payouts. Available and pending balances aren't money in your bank yet: the bank transfer follows Stripe's payout schedule.
If you need to cancel
If you need to cancel an event that has paid attendees, contact us at general@esc-ape.ca. Paid events with sold tickets can't be deleted.
Need a hand?
Or find answers on Support and in the FAQ. Include the event link and a screenshot.