Make Connections at Any Event with Name Tags

Name Tags break the ice right from the start. This is the best thing about tags. They make that first introduction for attendees. They don’t have to wonder about who that person is that they are standing next to. They can call that person by their name and start a conversation, “break the ice.” Quite simply, it makes starting any conversation a bit easier. There are ways to dress up a name tag or you can keep them very basic and plain, but the tag works well just on its own.

Play fair and be sure everyone wears their name tags. One of the big challenges an event can face is with attendees or employees who don’t want to wear their name tags. A solution can be to have the “higher ups” put on their name tags to make a good example. Then most will put their tags on without any fuss. But if only some wear their tags, it is much harder to break the ice with others at an event or conference. It works best if everyone wears them. Have greeters hand them out and verbally say, “Please put on your name tag to let others know who you are.” Few people will refuse.

Some companies and associations like to add an extra ice breaker to a name tag to inspire conversations. This can be a fun add-on, but remember it will be additional work for your staff. You'll also sometimes need participation from everyone attending the event to collect the information. The best add-on ice breaker is something you've collected from their registration form, like the state they are from, the school they graduated from, the year they graduated from school. Any of these can instantly start conversations with attendees and employees. And with most of these suggestions, they are likely on registration forms for academic and association conferences or employee applications.

Don't consider name tags a minor task. A great mistake made by event planners that happens often is to consider the name tags a small thing to be dealt with. In reality, your name tags need to be impeccable. The information added to name tags should be double checked for accuracy. You want to be sure that first and last names are spelled properly. If you are adding a company name and/or job title, you want to confirm that this information is current and correct. If you are adding an extra ice breaker, this information needs to be perfect too, so that it will inspire good conversations. No one wants conversations at a conference about how their name tags are wrong and the conference managers have made a mistake. And very few people will wear a name tag with a misspelled name or wrong job title or wrong company name.

Name tags help attendees make great connections at any event. Include name tags at your next conference or event!