Monday Mashups: 5 Fun and Functional Name Badges for Your Next Event

Plastic name tags are a thing of the past. Event planners are making it their mission to turn this integral piece into a real treat for attendees. Say goodbye to the boring old badge and hello to these 5 fun and functional ways to display one's name. Each will have your attendees engaging in no time. Check it out!

1. Complement the Decor

If every attendee is going to be wearing a badge, it's a good chance to enhance an event's decor. For the 2016 edition of Engage!, held in Palm Beach, Florida, Vanessa Kreckel of Two Paper Dolls designed these colorful leather name tags, which tied into the event’s tropical theme. A perfect way to add to the event's decor and really engage attendees!

2. Button Up

For smaller events, name tags don’t have to break the budget—or stick to a standard format. Artist marketplace Minted suggests a D.I.Y. option for event hosts using a simple button maker. The colorful round buttons are a simple, unobtrusive way to share guest names plus a small fun fact about them—which encourages conversation.

3. Thrive with Technology

Badges are also an opportunity to give attendees necessary information—without making them carry around a heavy event program. At C2 Montréal last month, attendees wore klik name badges from Montreal-based technology company PixMob. In addition to displaying guest credentials in a large, easy-to-read format, the badges connected them to the klik technology—an audience engagement solution that can be used for ticketing and registration, data and analytics, event communication, and much more. The LED wearable can light up in 16-million different colors in response to remote control commands. In addition to badges, the klik technology can be used in wristbands and in buttons on lanyards; event organizers can rent or buy the wearables.

4. Break the Ice

One of the primary functions of a name badge is to increase conversations and networking. For the ninth iteration of the Engage! luxury-wedding business summit, held in Las Vegas in 2012, name badges served as an icebreaker: The number of crystal charms on the tag identified how many times the badge-wearer had attended an Engage! conference. Veteran attendees had nine balls, while first-timers had one.

5. #GOALS

For the inaugural Teen Vogue Summit, held in Los Angeles in December, badges also aimed to spark conversation: Each one included the attendees’ social handle and a cause they were most passionate about. Guests could also customize the badges—which were adorned with the hashtag #Goals—with fun, on-theme buttons throughout the day.

From on-theme pieces that add to the event decor, to unique opportunities to break the ice, to efficient technology tools, these examples are anything but boring! Upgrade your name badge game and devour the details of the unique first impression your attendees are looking for.