Organising a private view: guests counted, a smooth welcome

For a private view, Carton Blanc sends personal invitations with the exhibition poster, records registrations, manages a waiting list and checks arrivals off on a phone.

A private view mixes audiences who do not meet elsewhere: collectors, press, artists, neighbours of the gallery. The numbers are often limited by the space available and by the need to protect the works. The organiser has to know who is coming, with whom, and be able to welcome each person by name.

Carton Blanc is built for that: a polished invitation, a registration page that carries the poster, check-in at the door. An example private view page can be viewed on the site, with a fictional exhibition.

How Carton Blanc handles this event

Invitations

The invitation reuses the exhibition poster and the practical details. You import your lists (collectors, press, friends of the gallery) from Excel, and each mailing is read before it goes out.

Registration

Guests register on the private view page and receive an immediate confirmation. You keep their company, their country and any question.

Waiting list

The capacity is set when you create the event. Once it is reached, later guests go on a waiting list and are told so, which leaves you free to call someone if a place becomes free.

Reminders

The D-14 reminder goes to guests who have not replied. The day before, the reminder gives the address, the times and a calendar link.

Check-in

On the evening, one person at the entrance checks arrivals off on a phone. The next day you have the list of those present for the commercial follow-up.

The recommended mailing calendar

A private view is announced six weeks ahead for press and collectors, who plan early, and reminded two weeks before for close contacts. The drafts in the default calendar follow that logic.

1. D-42 · Six weeks before

   The date announcement, with the poster and the artist's name.

2. D-28 · Four weeks before

   The invitation: presentation of the exhibition, opening times, venue and registration link.

3. D-14 · Two weeks before

   The reminder to guests who have not registered.

4. D-1 · The day before

   The reminder to registered guests: address, opening time, calendar link.

5. D+2 · Two days after

   The post-opening message, with an invitation to come back and see the exhibition.

Organiser's tips

1. Keep the press list apart from the collectors list. The two groups do not expect the same text. Two targeted mailings beat one general message.
2. Open a wide time slot, not a single hour. A private view from six to nine spreads arrivals. The entrance line stays short and the works can be seen.
3. Write the invitation around the work, not the gallery. A title, an artist's name and an image hold the recipient's interest faster than a description of the gallery.
4. Use the post-opening message. It states how long the exhibition runs. It is the only invitation addressed to people who did not come but kept your message.

The flyer for this event

The private view poster is the most restrained style in the catalogue: a large date, a title, the artist's name and the venue. It is created free of charge in your account.

See the flyers for this occasion

What Carton Blanc does not do

Carton Blanc is not a ticketing tool: it takes no ticket payments and sells nothing to guests. No email is sent without the organiser's approval. There is no advertising, no resale of data and no free plan.