Warmington

As much as I think it is good to give the public a chance to "mingle" amongst the nominees I still don't understand how it wasn't possible to reserve enough seats for the nominees in the stalls.
If I had planned this event I would simply have reserved a seat plus one for each nominee. Even if tickets go on sale before the shortlists are announced it is clear how many nominees there will be in each category so there must be a rough idea how many seats will be needed should every nominee (plus one guest) attend.
In order to make sure those seats can still be sold on in case nominees can't make the event there should simply be a RSVP deadline for the nominees. Just tell everyone in order to secure a seat in the stalls they have to RSVP by a certain date, otherwise they might face being seated elsewhere.

But don't let nominees turn up on the night just to find out they are sitting in the upper circle!