Adding capacity to an existing event already started

[PattiD]

We have an Events 500 subscription that we pay for monthly. (In addition to Workplace Pro) 
Our event started two days ago and has two more days to go. At the moment, we have NOT had 500 unique visitors to our sessions, but we are at 502 in the lobby (a whole different issue that I have a problem with). So, two people have gotten "The Event is at Capacity" emails and were not let in.
I want to add capacity, maybe 100 seats but despite several calls to sales and support no one can tell me that purchasing pay per attendee will ADD to my existing already started event or not. 
Has anyone else run into the issue and how did you solve it? 

[DeniseLahat]

feel free to contact me and I will try and see how I can help.  If I understand correctly you have an unlimited 500 license but for this event you have gone over, and you want to as PPA for attendees over 500.

[DeniseLahat]

also maybe @Ray_Harwood can help.  He is an expert in licensing.

[Ray_Harwood]

Thanks, @DeniseLahat.  Hi, @PattiD, happy to help.

Please clarify: If you have a monthly Events subscription for 500 – is that the old Legacy license available a couple of years ago? Or do you have the current Unlimited (annual) 500 license but just paying monthly?

Unfortunately for you, you cannot extend the Zoom Events Unlimited license nor the Legacy with a Pay Per Attendee license.  The two license types “don’t mix.”

The only resolution that I’m aware of is to ask sales if there’s a way to extend your Unlimited license while this event is in progress. I expect the answer would be “Yes it can be done,” but expensive; and I’m not sure how long the process is, and whether it will take effect on events-in-progress. I also have not heard if they can/will extend for small increments for a limited time – like “up to 600 just for this event.” It would likely be increasing to the next level for the remainder of your contract year. Going from 500 to 1000 would have a huge budget impact. 

Your situation is one of the major negative aspects of the Unlimited license: the inability to "flex up" in event capacity. When I work with clients on purchasing Zoom Events or Sessions, I ask detailed questions about their foreseeable usage model. Any client who produces events for others, or who has widely-varying attendance expectations for their own events – this almost always ends up with a recommendation of just going with a PPA license and “pay as you go, expand when you want.”  In some rare cases, I’ll recommend both an Unlimited license for the smaller events that you might have more frequently, and PPA for those that might put certainly will exceed the capacity of the Unlimited license.

Please reach out to me at the Z-SPAN web site if you want additional recommendations based on your expected usage. 

[Ray_Harwood]

One more small note: most Zoom Events and Sessions licenses are “metered” based on attendees entering the Lobby. Just entering the Lobby triggers a “click” of the meter, even if they go in and think, “Umm, no, not interested.”  People who return to the lobby are not counted twice; it’s like getting a wrist-band at a physical event, and being allowed back in later. 

See this Zoom Support article for more details:

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0062802