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Monday, September 17, 2018

Why and how to make your own conference or meeting badge

Problem
MISSING NAME
I've turned up at meetings where the hosts are all given badges but not the guests. Equally useless is a badge with the word guest on it.
I've had my name wrongly spelled.
My name has been missed off the guest list and badge list or both.

MISSING PR
My name is given but nothing interesting and relevant about me.

The one-sided badge keeps reversing to show a blank back.

I don't wear the badge because I don't want the thick pin to tear a hole in my new silk or cotton blouse.
The badge attached to crochet or lace hangs diagonally so it can't be read and looks untidy.

The typing is far too small for anybody to read.
The bad handwriting ruins the smart effect I am trying to create in my photo of myself at the event.

Answers
If you ave ever saved a lanyard from an event deliberately or accidentally, don't throw it away. That's a waste of resources and you could make good use of your lanyard.

I got out some badges and looked at them. My name was hand-written in black felt tip pen, most untidy. I decided to print my name on white paper.

I selected the largest of the size of type which would still fit the badge width.

My name with a capital initial letter and the rest in lower case, was more elegant and easy to read close-up. However, from a distance the name all in capital letters was larger.

Afterwards I went back to the lanyards. The brightly-coloured ribbons with names of events in black on contrasting day-glo green and yellow were amusing and a discussion point. I did get some negative reactions to ribbons which did not relate to the current event type. "Why are you wearing a lanyard from a writing conference to a wine event? Why are you wearing a tourist board name at a writers' conference?' However, I solved that problem with a plain black ribon which went with every event and outfit and looked neatest.😊

I realised that I had left off my academic qualifications, BA Hons, as well as my Toastmasters titles in initials: ALB, ACG (Advanced Leader Bronze, Advanced Communicator Gold). Adding those made the badge more cluttered, but was useful. I decided to carry both a simpler badge and one with the letters added, and use what seemed useful on the night.

I then questioned what I wanted to talk about to people who stopped to speak to me. That should appear on the badge. What did I care about more, not upsetting the event organizers, attempting to fit in with the atmosphere and theme of the event, or promoting some other aspect of myself.

There are several ways of going about this.
1 Sneak in with no badge, adding your own badge later if none is given to you at reception.
2 Wear whatever badge you like, don't draw attention to it, but change it if challenged.
2 Ask permission (with the alternative badge in your pocket).
3 Or work on the principle that nobody wants to give permission, but maybe they don't want to make a fuss nor upset you so they won't object.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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