Chichester Scaling Events with Confidence

About

The University of Chichester Students’ Union (UCSU) has long punched above its weight when it comes to campus events, with its annual Summer Ball becoming something of a South Coast legend. It’s a standout moment in the student calendar and one that demands slick organisation, smooth processes, and a digital experience students can trust. 

At the heart of this operation is Richard Askey, Head of Student Experience & Marketing, who oversees the Students’ Union’s digital and engagement strategy. Richard and his team are responsible for bringing events to life each year, ensuring students enjoy an unforgettable experience while the behind-the-scenes work runs smoothly. 

Despite being a relatively small institution, Chichester had built a reputation for delivering one of the most successful on-campus turnouts to balls in the UK. 

“We believe it’s one of the largest on-campus Summer Balls on the South Coast, if not the country,” says Richard. 

The scale, profile, and expectations around the event means there’s no room for error and no appetite for clunky or outdated processes. 

To deliver flagship events at this scale, UCSU knew it needed to update from manual, paper-heavy processes to a fully digital, data-led approach that could grow with demand. 

The Problem

Delivering an event of this size required an exhausting amount of manual work. 

While tickets were sold online, distribution was entirely physical: “We’d have to print them, envelope them, and get students to collect them. It was a nightmare,” Richard explains. Not only was this hugely time-consuming for the team, but it also introduced security concerns and made entry on the night inefficient and hard to monitor. 

Promoting events came with its own challenges. Most activities relied on printed monthly event calendars. While this helped with visibility on campus, it lacked the reach and flexibility of a digital calendar, and it was tricky to keep things up to date. Without this digital space, students couldn’t browse everything happening each week or discover future events. 

Data about attendees was also limited, which meant analysis of attendance numbers, segment information, and the ability to review for future events was more difficult. 

Third-party ticketing platforms were an option to help overcome these hurdles but came with risks around brand control and trust.

You don’t want to go to your union’s site and then be taken off somewhere else. There’s only so much a white label can do,- Richard Askey, Head of Student Experience & Marketing, UCSU

To give their students the best possible event experience, UCSU adopted a digital-first approach to event management. 

The event of the year was being delivered using less than optimal workflows, better suited to much smaller events. With third-party systems falling short in solving the problem, they turned to MSL. 

The Solution

Chichester Students’ Union went all in, utilising MSL’s integrated Events & Ticketing and Door Entry modules for a complete events management solution. Ticket purchases are now fully digital. Students log into the Chichester Students’ Union site, purchase their tickets through the same platform they use to buy hoodies or join societies, and those tickets are automatically linked to their student account. “We tell students their ticket is uploaded to their student card, and it just works,” Richard says. There’s no need for printing or queues at reception. Now staff scan entries and have full access to live data, which helps manage capacity and speed up entry. 

UCSU also worked with MSL to develop tailored reporting tools that track attendance for both paid and free events. This includes identifying no-shows and students who regularly buy tickets but don’t turn up, which has opened the door to a more welfare-focused approach. 

It’s helped us spot students who might need additional support and signpost them to welfare services. It's been really powerful,- Richard Askey, Head of Student Experience & Marketing, UCSU

Event promotion has also levelled up. The What’s On calendar, powered by MSL, sits on the Chichester Students’ Union website and acts as a digital noticeboard for everything happening across campus. It’s easy for students to explore, simple for staff and societies to update, and trusted by everyone who uses it. 

It’s helped us become a go-to source of information, not just for SU events but for wider university activities too.- Richard Askey, Head of Student Experience & Marketing, UCSU

Security and incident response have also improved significantly. Because the Door Entry system is linked directly to student profiles, the team has a clear picture of who attended and when. 

From an operational point of view, the flexibility of the system means staff can check data and manage access on the fly, rather than being stuck behind a reception desk. 

The Result

The impact has been transformational for Chichester’s entire approach to events, with the Summer Ball providing a great example of the success it has had. 

This shift becomes even clearer when you compare how things used to work with how they operate today: 

Before: Physical tickets, long queues, and no live data.

Now: Digital tickets linked to student IDs with real-time entry tracking that speeds up entry and improves oversight.

Before: Limited visibility of attendance patterns and trends. 

Now: Robust reporting that supports planning, capacity decisions, and welfare-focused follow-up. 

Before: Staff tied up with manual, repetitive admin. 

Now: Time freed for planning, creative ideas, and a stronger focus on delivering an outstanding student experience. 

We know exactly who’s come into the venue. It’s helped us improve incident reporting and investigations and troubleshoot situations much more quickly.- Richard Askey, Head of Student Experience & Marketing, UCSU

At the University of Chichester Students’ Union, the Summer Ball isn’t just another event, it’s the event. Every year, more than a third of the entire student body come together for a huge on-campus celebration to round off the academic year. 

Richard is unequivocal about the value. “I genuinely don’t think we’d be able to deliver the Summer Ball if we didn’t have the platform.” With over 2,300 attendees, smooth delivery depends on scalable, reliable systems and that’s exactly what MSL provides. 

Chichester Students’ Union can now make data-driven decisions, like safely overselling based on attendance trends: “Let's say we’ve got a 10% no-show rate, we know we can oversell by 8% and still be within capacity. That’s huge when you’re talking about 2,300 people.” Not only does this boost revenue, it ensures no empty spots at an event where every ticket counts. 

Students benefit from a consistent, familiar experience. Whether they’re booking a ticket, joining a club, or buying merchandise, it all happens on the same platform, under the SU’s brand. Richard believes this consistency is a big part of why their event attendance remains strong, even as other unions report a decline in nightlife engagement. 

Behind the scenes, staff workloads have eased dramatically. Time once spent stuffing envelopes is now used for strategic planning and creative ideas. Access to clean, relevant data supports better decisions, faster responses, and a more proactive approach to student support.