7 ms·

Conference Organizers Suck at Name Tags

31 points by bjonathan 16y ago

smackfu 16y ago
What are those magnetic name tags he is talking about?
- nirmal 16y ago
  http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00gMKtuIrnhDoe/Magnetic-Name-Badges.jpg http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00gMKtuIrnhDoe/Magnetic-N... Stick badge on one side, hold to lapel with magnet.
- stewiecat 16y ago
  My wife has them for work: similar to a pinned nametag but with a magnetic backing that goes under your shirt/lapel that the name tag sticks to. This way you can put it where ever you want without punching pinholes in your clothes. The magnets are quite strong too as my wife fastens her name tag to her visor brim without falling off.
nirmal 16y ago
Just finished with a conference where the name badge had holes on both ends of the top edge of the badge. The lanyard part went through both. This doesn't completely stop the "flipping around" problem but does mitigate it.
mbreese 16y ago
Aren't most hang tags sponsored? I know at most of the conferences I go to there is some company logo on them. This seems to be a good way to offset the costs of the name tags, so I don't see hanging tags going away any time soon.
Encosia 16y ago
All of the conferences I've been to have had adjustable lanyards that attach to two corners of the badge, like this one: http://encosia.com/attachment/1067/ http://encosia.com/attachment/1067/. Solves both the belly-length and flipping problem. I doubt I would wear a two-piece magnetic contraption unless it was required for access to the event. That and I would be more likely to lose half of a two-piece badge than all of a hanging badge.
- BenSS 16y ago
  The wasted space (cram all the sponsors on the front) and the tiny printed names are two that I heartily agree with. With you on the magnetic ones though, because one wrong bump and the inside bit flies away or uncomfortably lodged within your shirt ...
haribilalic 16y ago
We don’t need all that extra VIP junk where you say if we’re a speaker, moderator or sponsor on our name tags. I always thought this was for security to monitor access to VIP and other areas.
- smiler 16y ago
  Partly that but also to make the people with those on to feel important :)
smackfu 16y ago
I think the small names is a reaction to long names, where you pick a font size that will accommodate the longest name you have. A standard mail merge doesn't make it easy to change the font size for the name on every badge so it fills the whole width. But then Bob Smith only takes up a third of the width of the badge. I'm not sure what the easy solution is. Write your own badge printing software? Fancy scripted mail merges?
- Alex3917 16y ago
  There are standard name tag software packages already scale the font size for you automatically, e.g. the application that Avery makes for use with their badges. I'm pretty sure we did the Swagapalooza name tags with that software, and they came out looking reasonably good: http://www.quitecurious.com/swagapalooza/ http://www.quitecurious.com/swagapalooza/
RBr 16y ago
My solutions to this problem: Stick one of your business cards in the opposite side of your name. When it gets spun around (and it will), folks will at least be able to see your card to associate the colors and logo with you. Better than nothing. Buy a few of those super strong magnets. Like these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/ http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/ Put one in your shirt pocket and put a thin one in the name badge pocket behind your name. In the past, I used a tie clip. I didn't geek it up and put the clip right over the badge. Rather, I poked the tie clip through the back and then clipped it normally to my shirt. It went un-noticed. I just found the magnets to be a little easier.
ramanujam 16y ago
A friend of mine wrote this Python script which we have used for a few conferences and the output was really nice. http://code.google.com/p/event-badge-generator http://code.google.com/p/event-badge-generator It addressed many of the issues mentioned in the post(names on both sides, displaying the name prominently, font customization and adjustments based on name length etc).
umjames 16y ago
This person should have attended SecondConf in Chicago. They got the name tags just right. So much so, that everyone at the conference mentioned it. Big name and Twitter handle that you could read across the room.
- geoffpado 16y ago
  I was thinking that as I read through this post. I have the nametag from that conference hanging right near me, and I kept checking and seeing that it matched every point. It's not magnetic, but it is length-adjustable to avoid the belly problem.
  - aidscholar 16y ago
    Any linkable images of the nametags? Just curious to see how they look.
    - umjames 16y ago
      Here are photos from the conference: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1558264@N23/pool/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/1558264@N23/pool/
theklub 16y ago
A little off topic but can anyone tell me why when I go to a website and then hit back facebook.com shows up in the back history? My company blocked facebook so I can't go back at all and have to manully select the last page I was at. bothsidesofthetable.com does this for me. I"m using IE8.
remi 16y ago
John Nunemaker recently wrote something about this: http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/conference-badge-design/ http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/conference-...
rue 16y ago
Without JS the site puts up an obnoxious gray semi-transparent layer on top of the text, making it really hard to read. It is, apparently, required for the best "experience" even though it appears the articles are all there beyond the readability barrier. Please fix.
bergie 16y ago
GUADEC has always been great with name tags: not only are they two-sided, but actually the conference schedule is folded inside so you find it always easily. Oh, and IRC nicks / Twitter usernames, names of FOSS projects you work on instead of meaningless company names.
zbyszek 16y ago
I was wondering what was so bad about the badges you pin on (point 6), before I remembered that most conferences I have been to were academic rather than business oriented. Physicists' are apparently confident that their clothes will not be ruined by pin holes.

31 points by bjonathan 16y ago

smackfu 16y ago

What are those magnetic name tags he is talking about?

nirmal 16y ago
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00gMKtuIrnhDoe/Magnetic-Name-Badges.jpg http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00gMKtuIrnhDoe/Magnetic-N... Stick badge on one side, hold to lapel with magnet.
stewiecat 16y ago
My wife has them for work: similar to a pinned nametag but with a magnetic backing that goes under your shirt/lapel that the name tag sticks to. This way you can put it where ever you want without punching pinholes in your clothes. The magnets are quite strong too as my wife fastens her name tag to her visor brim without falling off.

nirmal 16y ago

Just finished with a conference where the name badge had holes on both ends of the top edge of the badge. The lanyard part went through both. This doesn't completely stop the "flipping around" problem but does mitigate it.

mbreese 16y ago

Aren't most hang tags sponsored? I know at most of the conferences I go to there is some company logo on them. This seems to be a good way to offset the costs of the name tags, so I don't see hanging tags going away any time soon.

Encosia 16y ago

All of the conferences I've been to have had adjustable lanyards that attach to two corners of the badge, like this one: http://encosia.com/attachment/1067/ http://encosia.com/attachment/1067/. Solves both the belly-length and flipping problem. I doubt I would wear a two-piece magnetic contraption unless it was required for access to the event. That and I would be more likely to lose half of a two-piece badge than all of a hanging badge.

BenSS 16y ago
The wasted space (cram all the sponsors on the front) and the tiny printed names are two that I heartily agree with. With you on the magnetic ones though, because one wrong bump and the inside bit flies away or uncomfortably lodged within your shirt ...

haribilalic 16y ago

We don’t need all that extra VIP junk where you say if we’re a speaker, moderator or sponsor on our name tags. I always thought this was for security to monitor access to VIP and other areas.

smiler 16y ago
Partly that but also to make the people with those on to feel important :)

smackfu 16y ago

I think the small names is a reaction to long names, where you pick a font size that will accommodate the longest name you have. A standard mail merge doesn't make it easy to change the font size for the name on every badge so it fills the whole width. But then Bob Smith only takes up a third of the width of the badge. I'm not sure what the easy solution is. Write your own badge printing software? Fancy scripted mail merges?

Alex3917 16y ago
There are standard name tag software packages already scale the font size for you automatically, e.g. the application that Avery makes for use with their badges. I'm pretty sure we did the Swagapalooza name tags with that software, and they came out looking reasonably good: http://www.quitecurious.com/swagapalooza/ http://www.quitecurious.com/swagapalooza/

RBr 16y ago

My solutions to this problem: Stick one of your business cards in the opposite side of your name. When it gets spun around (and it will), folks will at least be able to see your card to associate the colors and logo with you. Better than nothing. Buy a few of those super strong magnets. Like these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/ http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/770f/ Put one in your shirt pocket and put a thin one in the name badge pocket behind your name. In the past, I used a tie clip. I didn't geek it up and put the clip right over the badge. Rather, I poked the tie clip through the back and then clipped it normally to my shirt. It went un-noticed. I just found the magnets to be a little easier.

ramanujam 16y ago

A friend of mine wrote this Python script which we have used for a few conferences and the output was really nice. http://code.google.com/p/event-badge-generator http://code.google.com/p/event-badge-generator It addressed many of the issues mentioned in the post(names on both sides, displaying the name prominently, font customization and adjustments based on name length etc).

umjames 16y ago

This person should have attended SecondConf in Chicago. They got the name tags just right. So much so, that everyone at the conference mentioned it. Big name and Twitter handle that you could read across the room.

geoffpado 16y ago
I was thinking that as I read through this post. I have the nametag from that conference hanging right near me, and I kept checking and seeing that it matched every point. It's not magnetic, but it is length-adjustable to avoid the belly problem.
- aidscholar 16y ago
  Any linkable images of the nametags? Just curious to see how they look.
  - umjames 16y ago
    Here are photos from the conference: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1558264@N23/pool/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/1558264@N23/pool/

theklub 16y ago

A little off topic but can anyone tell me why when I go to a website and then hit back facebook.com shows up in the back history? My company blocked facebook so I can't go back at all and have to manully select the last page I was at. bothsidesofthetable.com does this for me. I"m using IE8.

remi 16y ago

John Nunemaker recently wrote something about this: http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/conference-badge-design/ http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/conference-...

rue 16y ago

Without JS the site puts up an obnoxious gray semi-transparent layer on top of the text, making it really hard to read. It is, apparently, required for the best "experience" even though it appears the articles are all there beyond the readability barrier. Please fix.

bergie 16y ago

GUADEC has always been great with name tags: not only are they two-sided, but actually the conference schedule is folded inside so you find it always easily. Oh, and IRC nicks / Twitter usernames, names of FOSS projects you work on instead of meaningless company names.

zbyszek 16y ago

I was wondering what was so bad about the badges you pin on (point 6), before I remembered that most conferences I have been to were academic rather than business oriented. Physicists' are apparently confident that their clothes will not be ruined by pin holes.