I'm a German native speaker and I struggle with translating a very German concept into English.
Whenever Germans plan a (business) event and send out an invitation, there is a good chance, that it will not only state the time when the actual event starts, but will also include a second time, which indicates when the doors will be opened for the attendees to come inside. This time in German is called "Einlass" or "Einlasszeit". Unfortunately the only translation that I could find was "admission", but I feel it sounds rather weird to write:
- Business Event at Trade Fair - Admission: 01:00 p.m. Beginning: 01:30 p.m. End: 03:00 p.m.
With a theater play I'd say something like "Doors open: 01:00 p.m." but this sounds rather odd for a business event.
Do you have any suggestions, or is this concept of telling people to come early maybe rather inappropriate for invitations sent in English? If so, would you rather state the exact time, when the event will begin, assuming, that everybody will try their best to be there a bit early; or is it better to write a fake beginning time, and have the actual event will start half an hour after that time?