Estudio de caso: Ciudad de El Paso

See how the City of El Paso ran a record-breaking expo with Timely, selling 95% of its booths and handling 2,000+ registrations in one platform.
Logotipo de la ciudad de El Paso, Texas

Perfil del cliente

At the foot of the Franklin Mountains, where Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico meet, El Paso is home to about 683,000 residents and forms a binational hub with its sister city, Ciudad Juárez.

Each year, the City's Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Department hosts the Cooperative Purchasing Expo. The free event connects local businesses with government agencies and cooperative purchasing organizations, opening doors to public-sector contracts nationwide.

Hablamos con Abril Alvarado, Lead Financial Research Analyst, about how the City used Timely to sell booths faster and streamline registration, check-in, and badge printing for its 2026 Expo, all in one platform.

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About April Alvarado - El Paso Expo Powerhouse

As Analista principal de investigación financiera in the City of El Paso’s Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Department, April Alvarado helps bring the Cooperative Purchasing Expo to life. She coordinates exhibitor registration, booth sales, and event logistics, and keeps businesses, agencies, and City teams aligned from planning to event day.

El desafío

Each year, the City of El Paso's Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Department hosts the Cooperative Purchasing Expo. The two-day event opens with a day dedicated to exhibitors, followed by a day open to the public.

It brings together local businesses, government agencies, and cooperative purchasing organizations in one place, where vendors can explore contracting opportunities, build relationships, and learn how to do business with public entities.

For 2026, the team set an ambitious goal: grow exhibitor participation while delivering a fast, intuitive, and visually engaging registration experience for exhibitors and attendees alike.

To get there, the City needed a platform partner that could:

Deliver a professional, user-friendly event website
Manage exhibitor booth sales and communications
Support high-volume online and onsite registration
Enable fast check-in and branded badge printing
Track workshop attendance in real time

With hundreds of exhibitors, thousands of attendees, and two audiences across two days, juggling separate tools wasn't an option. The City needed one platform to handle it all, so its team could focus on connecting local businesses with real opportunities.

La Solución

Timely provided the City with one platform to run the entire Expo, from the event website, booth sales, and registration, to event check-in, badge printing, and workshop attendance tracking.

1

Custom Expo Website Built by Timely

Timely's Servicios profesionales team designed and launched the official Expo website in just a few days. It became the central hub for booth reservations, exhibitor registration, and attendee sign-ups.

2

Exhibitor Booth Reservations & Sales

Timely’s venue management software handled free and paid booth bookings, plus add-on sales for exhibitors, with real-time inventory so the City always knew what was available.

3

Multi-Channel Attendee Registration

Preinscripción online y terminales en el sitio were unified in one platform, giving attendees an easy way to register before or on the day of the event.
4

Instant On-Site Check-in & Badge Printing

Timely's hardware integrations enabled fast event check-in on-demand badge production at the entrance, eliminating queues even during peak entry periods.
5

Workshop Attendance Tracking via QR Code

Badge QR code scanning tracked attendance at every workshop session across both days, delivering accurate per-session data with minimal staff effort.
6

Expert Onboarding & Live Support

Timely’s team provided hands-on training and real-time support throughout the event, so the City’s team could operate confidently from day one.

Los resultados

A single platform gave the City a near sold-out exhibitor floor and a smooth entry experience for every attendee.
95%
Booths sell-through
2,000+
Inscripciones
54%
Registered on event days
76%
Check-in rate
Booth sales that moved fast

Booth sales opened more than five weeks out, and 95% of booths sold (250 of 262), filling the floor for both days.

Registration that met attendees where they were

71% registered online, and onsite POS captured walk-ins. Both channels fed one system with a real-time view.

Event days without the lines

More than half registered on event days, yet QR check-in and badge printing handled 1,643 check-ins with no bottlenecks.

"Our experience with the Timely platform was seamless; it was user-friendly, fast, and visually engaging, which truly captured our audience's attention. By streamlining the process and providing an intuitive interface, we exceeded our attendance goals and made this year's event a huge success."

Abril Alvarado
Lead Financial Research Analyst · City of El Paso, Texas

Victoria Treu
Product Marketing Manager
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