Call Them by Their Name — With the Correct Name Badge

An Essential Guide to Name Badges

A name 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. Therefore, having a badge with the attendee's name and other details at your event acts as a great icebreaker and a conversation starter in itself.

Here’s a brief look at how swapping out manual processes for a more automated approach can help you improve attendee’s and your own experience:

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 and company name along with the event organiser'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.

Here are some 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 memorising names and can focus on having a fruitful conversation instead.
Colour 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 organiser's staff or a VIP without any hassle. Pro Tip: While designing your event badges, keep in mind to choose minimal colours. A badge with a rainbow of colours may look confusing and can shift focus from the attendee's details.
Want to receive instant feedback about session attendance without waiting for attendees to fill out a survey? Thanks to event name badges 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 behaviour 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. Make sure 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. These digitalised, 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 attendee's details while the rest of the notebook can be used by the attendees during or post the event.
Utilise the back of the event badge by including the agenda or program, customising it for each attendee depending on what pass type they hold. 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.
Improving 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. Each of these serve as eco-friendly options that can catch your attendee's eye. You can even get creative with the lanyards by using ones made from recycled material.
A scrolling LED name tag with moving attendee details can be a fun alternative that will get your audience excited.

Benefits of onsite 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 queue 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 labour 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.

Onsite badge printing makes all these worries go away in a split-second. Check out a few other benefits of using event technology and onsite printing:

Gone are the days of registration desks filled with alphabetically organised event name badges. Cvent’s OnArrival solution 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 for a seamless experience for both the attendees and those manning the registration desk. Another added advantage of not having to reprint 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.

Onsite 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.