The art of the name badge

Lots of people know SE2 because of the events we run - usually for other people (though not always - check out our birthday party last year & our seminar from 2013). Running events is good because it puts us at the heart of things and helps us to meet lots of people - very handy for when you're putting together a team for different sorts of projects.

Our involvement with events varies immensely. Sometimes we're in full facilitation mode - spending time with our client to properly understand what they want to get out of the meeting, how they want their stakeholders to interact, the extent to which the consultation is genuine (and what's been decided already) and often managing expectations about what can be achieved in the time available. We help craft the questions that will be asked, design processes that will make sure everyone will have their say, and on the day manage the dialogue so the outcomes are as constructive as possible.

For other events though, our role is more on the logistical side (although often we do a bit of both).  We source venues, book catering, organise exhibitors, oversee AV and print delegate packs. However, the one thing that is almost always needed is name badges.

We have a great team at SE2 and I often don't get involved with name badges. But for the GovernUp conference we helped with last week I did. Names came in dribs and drabs, in no particular order and with last minute changes: this is in no way a dig at GovernUp - it's the nature of events and is totally normal, but it serves to illustrate the point. We take all the information, sort it out (we love spreadsheets), mail merge it into the template, print and trim the inserts and then put it all together. To save time on the day of the event we also make little bundles in alphabetical order. And it all takes time. But that's ok - because we take pride in our work - even this - and we know that attention to detail before the meeting makes everything SO much easier on the day.

In thanking us for GovernUp, one of the MPs involved said that name badges are one of the things people notice only when they go wrong. And I couldn't agree more. The art of running events - and the art of the name badge - is being organised in the run up. At a good meeting, the organisers should actually have very little to do (apart from respond to emergencies of which we've had our fair share - but the delegates don't need to know about that!)

We don't 'just do name badges' - but next time you pick yours up at a meeting give some thought to the effort that's gone in to it. And ALWAYS hand it back in at the end!