When the team at MarketingHits began planning the grand opening for Huxley, a new residential community, they wanted to deliver more than a standard show home event. Their client’s past launches relied on paper passport games to drive visitors between homes. This year, they envisioned something more interactive, modern, and measurable.

By using Proxi Passport, they digitized the open house experience and created an event that was easy to navigate, simple to manage, and rich with actionable data. The digital passport challenge encouraged attendees to visit multiple model homes while providing builders with valuable insights into visitor engagement.

“Our client previously used a paper passport game at their open house events. As part of developing the new Huxley community custom website and registration, we suggested digitizing the passport to improve attendee engagement and provide home builders with data on the attendees who visited their show homes.”

Event Goals and Vision

Huxley’s grand opening was designed to showcase multiple builders and model homes in a way that felt cohesive and community-focused. The MarketingHits team’s goal was to help attendees explore the neighborhood naturally, while collecting leads and feedback for builders.

Previously, attendees filled out paper passports, marking off which homes they had visited. The system worked, but it required manual tracking, staff at each station, and offered little visibility into which homes generated the most engagement.

“As part of the event registration check in, attendees were signed up for the open-house passport challenge. To get familiar with QR code scanning, their first passport location was at registration. At the registration area, passport challenge prizes were on display that attendees were eligible to win. When attendees visited the open houses, they could scan the QR code to earn points toward prizes. This encouraged them to visit more show homes designed by multiple builders.”

The digital passport concept fit perfectly. It combined Proxi’s map-based interface with a check-in game, where visitors could scan QR codes at each open house to earn points toward prizes.

Why Proxi Passport

MarketingHits had already used Proxi’s interactive map feature for past events, so they were familiar with its ease of setup and audience appeal. The addition of the Passport challenge made it an obvious choice for the Huxley launch.

“Our company had used the Proxi map feature for previous events, and we liked how interactive it was for attendees. The ability to customize the passport game, including the website domain, is beneficial because it allows us to integrate our clients' branding. Proxi Passport made it easy to create QR codes for signage placed inside open houses for attendees to find. We liked the idea of being able to track what open houses attendees visited through these unmanned QR codes. Attendees could easily see where the open houses were located and additional information about the property. Adding custom questions to the passport registration was also beneficial, as it enabled us to gather more information about potential buyers to provide to our client.”

In addition to branded design, Proxi’s self-serve platform made it easy to:

• Create QR codes for signage at each open house
  
• Track visits automatically without staff or clipboards
  
• Collect data on attendees’ home preferences and referral sources
  
• Provide property details and locations in one accessible digital interface
  
  

This mix of branding flexibility and automation allowed the MarketingHits team to focus on the event experience rather than logistics.

Implementation

The event began at a central registration area, where attendees were introduced to the digital passport challenge. Staff helped them complete their first QR code scan, giving visitors a quick tutorial on how to participate. Prizes were displayed at registration to spark excitement and motivation.

Attendees could then use their phones to view a Proxi map showing all open houses in the Huxley community. Each model home had a QR code posted at the entrance. Visitors simply scanned it to check in and earn points toward prizes.

No app downloads or special equipment were required. Everything worked through the attendee’s phone browser, keeping participation friction-free.

Engagement in Action

The check-in data tells a clear story about engagement and movement across the community:

• 691 total check-ins recorded across all properties
  
• 13 open house locations represented on the Proxi Passport
  
• 134 unique participants
  
• The top 5 percent of visitors checked in at all 13 locations
  
• Average participation rate of 5+ homes per attendee
  
  

Most participants began their journey at registration, then continued to the Broadview Homes and Trico Homes properties, which saw the highest number of scans.

Attendees frequently remarked on how simple the system was to use and how enjoyable it was to see their progress update in real time.

“Attendees liked that they could use their own phone to participate in the passport challenge. We received comments from both our client and the event attendees about how easy the passport was to use and how they could easily see which open houses they had visited. We did not receive any complaints from attendees on the upgrade from paper to a digital passport challenge.”

This seamless participation also led to valuable data for homebuilders. Each scan generated a timestamp and unique check-in record, giving the event team insight into dwell time, visitor flow, and peak activity periods.

Attendee Experience

From the participant’s perspective, the digital passport added an element of fun and purpose to their visit. Instead of walking through one or two model homes, attendees became explorers, moving from one location to the next with a sense of progress and reward.

The QR signage created consistent visual cues across all homes, reinforcing the event’s branding. At the end of their journey, participants could review which homes they had visited and which ones remained.

The top interest category collected through the registration form was Single Family – Front Garage homes, showing clear buyer intent data that could be shared with builders. The second most common source for learning about the event was Word-of-Mouth Referrals, highlighting strong community buzz.

Impact and Outcomes

The shift from paper to digital produced measurable results in both engagement and efficiency.

The data reflects a high level of engagement for a single-weekend event. Attendees visited multiple locations, builders gained access to structured lead data, and the client was able to quantify interest by property type.

Benefits for Event Organizers

Beyond improving attendee experience, the digital passport simplified event management for MarketingHits. Staff no longer needed to track paper entries or manually record visits. The automated reporting also saved hours of post-event work.

Top benefits observed included:

• Simplified on-site logistics
  
• Real-time engagement visibility
  
• Consistent branded design across materials
  
• Data export for client reports
  
• Cost and time savings on printing and data entry
  

The Proxi Passport platform became an essential part of their event toolkit, blending the flexibility of a custom experience with the reliability of a proven engagement system.

Expanding the Use of Proxi Passport

MarketingHits now sees Proxi Passport as a scalable solution for other event types across their portfolio.

“As an event technology provider, we see Proxi Passport as having potential for many of our clients, as we support multiple event types (e.g., community, corporate, conferences, and festivals). We find many of our clients looking for new ways to increase attendee engagement at their events, and can see Proxi Passport being beneficial for individual attendees or team participation.”

He added that the tool can be customized to suit team challenges, corporate training events, local festivals, and city-wide scavenger hunts. The ability to track participation digitally and visualize locations on a live map opens up endless opportunities for engagement.