Making Name Badges Cool

At many meetings, name badges may seem like a necessary annoyance – people are not always thrilled about sticking them on.  But with a little creativity, name badges can easily become a focal point of the meeting and a great way to promote lively and fun interaction among attendees.

Sue Tinnish of SEAL Inc., who is a popular facilitator, speaker, teambuilder, and trainer, offers these ideas for sprucing up name badges:

Add information to nametags and name tents, such as a favorite childhood game, three numbers that are significant to you, a significant accomplishment during the past year, something positive about you that is not apparent by looking at you, something you could use help with (such as accounting or job leads), and/or something you know quite a bit about.

Reverse the traditional nametag by writing “My Name is NOT. . .”

Add three things about yourself, two of which are true.

Write the nametag in the form of a headline, such as “Sue Tinnish Lands Big Account with XYZ Association.”

Make a fingerprint and decorate it.

Rename your job in layman’s language. For example, an informational system specialist wrote, “Help. Help. Help.”

Set up a “Decorate Your Badge” table with stickers, pins, and other decorations for attendees to personalize their name badges.

Use new technology for name badges such as ntag, SpotMe, or SmartBadge. These name badges can communicate with each other and identify specific people for you using Radio Frequency Identification based on information such as name, company, or even your hobby.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I have seen meetings totally energized by using some of these name badge innovations,” Tinnish says. “People get totally into it and before you know it they are learning things about their colleagues that they never would have known otherwise. It’s just great!”

For more great meeting ideas, visit www.conventionplanit.com and click on the “For Planners Only” section and go to the “Stellar Tips” link. There is no registration required and you can even enter your own Stellar Tip for a chance to win a valuable prize.

Sue Tinnish publishes a monthly newsletter, “Tips for Innovative Meetings and Events.” You are invited to subscribe or find past issues at www.suetinnish.com.