Blog · March 16, 2026 · updated September 4, 2026
Gen AI to Z, by the numbers
795 registered, 341 in the room, 188 feedback forms, a 4.9 rating. What a one-day career summit at UP Diliman taught us about running events in the Philippines, and why those numbers are the reason Takits exists.
On 17 March 2026, Vibe Coders PH and the UP EMC² Fraternity ran a full-day career summit called Gen AI to Z at the David M. Consunji Theater in UP Diliman. Ten-plus speakers across three tracks, 54 schools represented, 22 community and school partners, 11 sponsors.
Here is what the registration desk actually saw.
The funnel
| Count | |
|---|---|
| Registered | 795 |
| Confirmed their email | 691 |
| Checked in at the door | 341 |
| Left feedback | 188 |
| Would recommend | 183 of 183 who answered |
| Overall rating | 4.9 out of 5 |
The show rate is 42.9% — 341 of the 795 who registered. If you only count the 691 who confirmed their email, it is 49.3%. Both numbers are true. We report the first one, because the room was booked, the food was ordered and the certificates were printed against the 795, not the 691.
What the 42.9% cost
A free event in Metro Manila loses roughly half its registrations between the form and the door. Everyone who has run one knows this. What is less discussed is what it does to a small organising team:
- Catering was ordered for a number nobody trusted. Order for 795 and you throw food away; order for 400 and you run out at lunch if it rains the other way.
- The door was three volunteers with a shared Google Sheet, finding names by scrolling. A QR would have taken two seconds per person. Scrolling took closer to thirty, and the queue at 8:40 AM showed it.
- Certificates went out days later, from a system built for the purpose, verified by code. That system is the direct ancestor of the one Takits uses today — it was the one part of the day that felt like a product rather than a favour.
- Feedback was collected on a separate form, reconciled by hand against the attendance list, and is where the 4.9 comes from. It was worth every minute, and it should not have taken minutes.
What we kept
Three things from that day are load-bearing in Takits:
- The show rate is the number. Not registrations. A dashboard that shows registrations and hides the show rate is flattering an organiser instead of helping them.
- The door decides whether the day works. Scan, name search and walk-in have to be one screen, on a phone, and keep working when the venue wifi dies.
- The certificate is the receipt. Verifiable, revocable, and available through the configured delivery path after attendance. It is what an attendee shows an employer or a PRC accreditor, and it is what makes them come back.
The number we argued about
For months the case study said 49.3% and the arithmetic said 42.9%, and both were right on different denominators. It took a dashboard showing both numbers side by side — with a note admitting they disagreed — before we settled it. That is the last time a Takits organiser should have to do that by hand: the platform counts registrations and check-ins itself, and the rate it shows is the one that decides the catering.
Figures from the event reference and the post-event report. Registration and check-in were run on a Google Sheet; certificates and feedback on the systems Takits inherits.
case-studyshow-ratecertificatesup-diliman