Remembering everyone’s name at an event full of strangers is impossible, even if you spend hours studying the attendee list. Name badges may seem like a silly formality to some event-goers, but in reality, there’s no better way to get your attendees introduced and connected during an event. Whether your audience is familiar with one another or pretty much everyone’s a stranger, attendee name badges are a sure-fire way to help your attendees put names to faces and keep track of who they’ve met at the event. Name badges can help with just more than letting attendees know each other’s names. They have a variety of great uses! Just make sure that they are ready to be handed out as soon as attendees arrive.
Making sure the name badges are visible is key
Name badges are a necessity for your attendees to have, but they will be useless if they aren’t visible for others to see. This is why it is extremely important for attendees to have a no-twist lanyard or a badge fastener to display their name badge. As an event organizer, you can either supply your attendees with a lanyard or badge fastener (we recommend one that does not put holes in clothes) or let your attendees know to bring one. The latter option runs the likely risk of your attendees forgetting to bring something to secure their name badge, so it’s probably safest to provide a lanyard or fastener along with their badge.
Many organizers decide to color-code their name badges based on attendee categories to help your staff and attendees keep track of who is who. You could also color code the lanyards if you decide to supply your own. This way, you could cut costs on color printing, and collect the lanyards at the end of the event to reuse later.
Networking made easier
Facilitating networking opportunities is a top priority for organizers of all kinds of events, and name badges can serve as a perfect conversation starter or simply speed up the introduction process. A name badge can contain much more than just the attendee’s name and category (speaker, exhibitor, sponsor, etc.). In addition to having color codes, such as blue for attendees and yellow for speakers, name badges can also include information like school, company, location, job title, and more. The amount of attendee information on the badge is completely up to you as an organizer. Just make sure that the name stays large and easily readable.
Including the event name and logo on your name badges is key. Having your event name out there as much as possible will naturally give your event marketing efforts a boost. Including the logo will make your name badges more visually appealing and professional, as well as help maintain a central theme for the event.
Include a QR Code
Another great way to leverage your event name badges is by including a QR code for each attendee, which can be advantageous in a few different ways. What do we mean by this? Some name badge services offer the capability to generate a QR code for each attendee’s badge.
If your attendee has their own personal QR code on their name badge, you’ll be able to scan their information at different points throughout the event. For example, your event exhibitors or sponsors can scan them to collect lead information, and they can be scanned to check attendees in for the day or specific sessions. Utilizing QR codes will streamline the process of collecting information and allow you to track and analyze attendee behavior with more accuracy. Adding the codes directly to attendees’ name badges will just make it that much more convenient.
Whova can help!
Whova has a name-badge generator that allows you to choose from 17 different name-badge templates, plus advanced and uncomplicated options to customize the design. Whova’s name-badge generator will pull badge information right from your attendee list, and allows you to create and print only the badges you need. With these features, Whova will save you a bunch of time and stress.
Please check out our other blog: Name Badge Templates and Customizations to see more details about creating name badges with Whova. You can also request more information on this here
7 Sensational Event Name Badge Examples
Using Whova’s event name badge templates and editor, event organizers can create the perfect name badge for their event!
Note: Logos are not from actual events and are just used as an example.
The organizer who created this name badge template using Whova, chose to display a detailed amount of attendee information, including name, affiliation, location, and general or VIP ticket type. They also chose to display the attendee category (attendee, speaker, etc.) boldly to keep track of who is who at the event. The branding is consistent and the name and QR code are easy to view and access.
This name badge is pretty sleek! The event logo and attendee name are most prominent in the design to make sure it’s the first thing people will see. The category is smaller, but as we mentioned above, it’s a good idea to have a different colors lanyard or badge for each category. For example, this organizer could have designated that black = attendee, blue = speaker, and yellow = exhibitor, but it’s important that the name badge’s functional design should stay consistent for all categories.
This event name badge took the approach of creating a design around a fun theme. It keeps the universal orange color and pumpkin symbol to signify October and Halloween, which keeps the badge attune to the event name. However, the thematic design doesn’t distract from the clearly accessible attendee name and QR code.
This name badge exemplifies a very professional design approach. The attractive accent colors in the wave design are a tasteful choice to compliment the attendee information, event logo, and QR Code. The key here is a simple design with very clearly displayed information, making it a great conference badge.
This event name badge is simple yet effective. The event’s branding stays unvaried with an eye-catching bold blue theme, and all of the attendee information is displayed effectively.
This vertical badge design would be great for any event! All of the info is distinctly displayed and the theme matches the event’s branding quite well.
Like the previous event name badge example, this event name badge is simple, effective, and perfect for any event. The accent color that the category text sits on subtly draws the eye’s attention and could be changed for each different attendee category.
Conclusion
Name badges are an essential part of any event for networking and logistics. Don’t just use the “My name is” stickers, and take this as an easy option to make your event more professional by creating custom name badges! With Whova, this can be done in just a few minutes with customizable designs and an easy-to-print layout.