Printing Badges on Demand

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At many events, more people register than actually appear on the day. One area that this causes issues for is badging. Traditionally, all badges are printed before the event and meticulously laid out in alphabetical order on large tables ready for registration. As delegates arrive their badge is located and handed over. The process is time-consuming and not very efficient. And of course you are left with a pile of waste badges for those delegates that are ‘no shows’.

One particular annual event suffered from this problem, as more than 900 delegates would register but only around 500 would actually appear on the day. Wasting time and money printing, and then disposing of, around 400 badges was no longer sustainable. What was required was a way to print full-colour badges on demand, as delegates arrived, without queues and without bottlenecks. For this particular event, different styles of badges were also necessary to visually identify the type of delegate.

The solution involved check in kiosks and high-quality printers capable of printing a two-sided full-colour badge in less than four seconds. As delegates arrived, they were directed to one of six kiosks where they simply selected their name and moved forwards to the check-in desk where their badge was instantly printed and presented to them.

The process was simple, slick and fast. Delegates were impressed with the speed and simplicity of the system, with many commenting on how much more environmentally-friendly it was.

The client could see how many people had arrived which allowed them to monitor the process from wherever they were.

I’m really pleased at how this worked. We had a debrief meeting and it was mentioned how well the registration process worked. I’m very happy.

We feel the future of badge printing is “on demand”, as delegates arrive. With the right technology and software, it makes the check-in process quicker, and also saves event organisers time and money. More information about live badging can be found here, please contact us to discuss how we can strap a rocket onto your tortoise…

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We love talking to people about events and technology, so please do get in touch if you would like to bounce an idea or two around. We would love to hear from you.