For attendees, employees, and exhibitors, an event badge almost acts as a crutch in today’s world, where the thought of being put in a room full of strangers is reason enough to give anyone anxiety. So, having a badge with a name, organization, and other details provides an icebreaker and a conversation starter in itself.
What are the benefits of event name badges?
Event name badges primarily consist of the attendee’s name but may also include their job title, company name, and the event organizer’s logo. Though they function as a crucial networking tool, event name badges are often seen as just that, and their immense potential at corporate events has remained untapped. Following are some other benefits of event badges:
- Event badges serve as an attendee’s preliminary introduction to a room full of strangers and take the edge off when it comes to networking with other professionals.
- They can save you from awkward situations. Unless you’re someone with an eidetic memory, it is unlikely that you will remember the names of all the people you meet and interact with at a conference in the first go. Having an event name badge on a lanyard or pinned to the jacket of your newest acquaintance means you don’t have to worry about memorizing names and can focus on having a fruitful conversation instead.
- Color coding event badges for different categories of attendees can help distinguish people with different pass types. It also helps an attendee spot a member of the event organizer’s staff or a VIP without any hassle. Pro Tip: While designing the event badges, choose minimal colors. A badge with a rainbow of colors may look confusing and can shift focus from the attendees’ details.
- Want to receive instant feedback about session attendance without waiting for attendees to fill out a survey? Thanks to the event name badge and today’s advanced event technology, that is easily possible. This can be done by adding barcodes to event badges which can be used to check attendees in for sessions. Understand participant behavior by tracking sessions that were most popular amongst the attendees.
Ideas for event badges
The world is your oyster when it comes to designing event badges, from material to shape and color. Let the creative juices flow! However, keep in mind that the purpose of an event name badge is to highlight the details of the person sporting the badge. Ensure you use fonts that highlight the most important information and don’t clutter the badge to the point that it fails to serve its primary purpose.
It’s up to you to decide whether you want your event badges to end up in the trash or go home with your attendees. Here are a few ideas that might go over well with your attendees:
- Electronic name badges, more popularly known as paperless tech badges, are the new cool. This digitalized e-Ink (a popular type of electronic paper display technology) badges will definitely be a conversation starter and can make networking at the event easier.
- Use a small notebook as the badge where the first page can serve as the event badge consisting of the attendees’ details while the rest of the notebook can be used by the attendees during or post the event.
- Utilize the back of the event badge by including the agenda or program, customizing it for each attendee depending on their pass type. Additionally, the flip side of the badge can have a map of the event location. This will solve the problem of procuring separate schedules, maps, or pamphlets for the attendees and will save you from printing a whole tree’s worth of paper.
- Improvising the material of the badges is another way to set your event name badges apart from the others. Instead of opting for the run-of-the-mill rectangle badges made of paper and placed in a vertical or horizontal plastic sleeve, you can use badges made out of plantable paper (or biodegradable eco-paper), recycled paper, or reclaimed wood. These are eco-friendly options that can catch your audience’s eye. Using recycled material, you can even get creative with the lanyards that go hand-in-hand with the event name badges.
- A scrolling LED name tag with moving attendee details can be a fun alternative to excite your audience.
Benefits of on-site badge printing
What is the first thing you do as an attendee when you reach an event? You locate the registration desk, check in, and collect your event badge, all the while hoping that there isn’t a large line at the desk and praying that none of your details have been misspelled.
On the flip side, anyone who has ever been trusted with the task of pre-printing badges knows just how much of a hassle it is and is all too aware of the manual labor that goes into it. The stress of making sure that you haven’t missed out on any attendee, tallying all the details of the attendees, and trying to diligently catch any errors while keeping the lines down at check-in can raise anyone’s stress levels.
On-site badge printing makes all these worries go away in a split second. Check out a few other benefits of using event technology and on-site printing:
- Gone are the days of registration desks filled with alphabetically organized event name badges. Cvent’s OnArrival provides attendees with a self-service kiosk that allows them to register, check in, edit their information and print badges all on their own. This provides a seamless experience for both the attendees and those manning the registration desk. Another advantage of not reprinting badges is that it saves paper.
- With OnArrival, you can use wireless scanners to scan barcodes and oversee who attends which session, thus providing you with valuable data that can help guide your future events.
- You can also track the check-in and check-out times of your attendees as well as verify an attendee’s presence by collecting their signature at the time of check-in and/or check-out.
This goes on to show that while event name badges may be a small component of your event, they are in no way just a networking tool and are far from insignificant.
On-site badge printing is a surefire way to elevate the experience of your event participants and will add value to their event attendance. When you spend time and energy carefully designing your event badges and finding tools that can improve attendee participation, you improve the attendee experience and the event as a whole.
