A Transformative Event

“Soulsearchin’films is a film and theater production company that acts as a platform for youth and young adults within our inner city communities who have a passion for theater arts to hone their skills, build their resumes as performers, and embrace the opportunity to showcase their talent as actors, singers, and dancers,” Dawn Blair told me, this past January, of her Oakland, California based production company.

Events can entertain. They can also transform communities. Ghetto Magnolia, performed early in 2012 was a “gospel stage play production,” Dawn said. “The purpose of the production was to provoke change within the lives of our inner city youth and young adults, through the message of its story line. It was not a fundraiser.”

The story follows Magnolia Brown, an aspiring gospel singer faced with “harsh realities of the ghetto and the redemptive power of God.”

“There was nothing that did not go as planned. The production was a total success,” Dawn said. “The best part of our event was actually seeing the audience enjoying the production as the story unfolded on stage. The turnout was tremendous, and the production was a hit!”

Getting the Good Word Out

In order to get the word out to attendees, Dawn and her team relied heavily on print collateral and word of mouth. They designed posters and flyers using TicketPrinting.com. The stage play was produced on a limited budget. The professionally printed collateral gave it an extra “Bling Factor.”

Relationship sales were also very important to the success of this event. Many tickets were sold in advance. Each cast member was tasked with pursuing advanced ticket sales. With thirty cast members, the ticket sales were sure to be a success. This allowed the cast members to interact with potential attendees as well as promote themselves as performers.

Every Event is Different

The team behind Ghetto Magnolia was pleased with its success. The event was highly attended. The cast, crew, and audience had a great time. For this event, print collateral played a central role, defining the tenor of the event and portraying a professional production.

Some events benefit from a spectrum of marketing efforts. Some will advertise through online social networks and event websites. Others will take to the airwaves, advertising over radio and television or doing the interview circuit. Others will rely solely on word of mouth.

Every event is different, and each event’s success is defined by its organizers and attendees.

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Use Event Badges to Increase Security without Hassle

Security these days can be complicated and expensive. Looking for a way to identify people that won’t take up all of your time? Look no further, one solution is here. And not only is it easy to handle, it won’t break your budget, either.

Personalized Name Tags

Whether you have a group of VIPs to keep an eye on, an entire convention to attend to, or a school to run, security is one of the biggest issues on the books. One way to identify people easily is to print personalized name tags (or event badges) for each person to wear. Each person can wear their name tag while attending an event, arriving at work or going to school, showing others who they are and that they belong on site.

Individual Codes

As an added security measure, you have the option of printing a unique number or barcode on each event badge. Especially in cases where there are a very large number of people around on a daily basis or many attendees at an event, this added layer of security can be useful and informative.

Unique Logos

Print unique logos on your event badges to add even more specialized security to an event, worksite or school. Include almost any design that you can send in a standard file format. Use specific logos to help identify different groups of people, or differentiate between companies at a convention by printing the company logo for each attendee to wear.

Important Details

There may be more information than simply a name or logo that you want to include on a name tag. Any information that can help to identify people quickly and easily can be printed on the event badge. If it can be included in a CSV file, you can include it on an event badge. For example, to print event badges for added school security, add an identifier of either “staff” or “student” to help recognize separate each group.

Event badges are an easy and fast way to add an extra layer of security to any event, site or school. They can be worn clipped right on the front of a uniform, or they can be hung around the neck with a lanyard that can be printed to include a logo as well. Print information on both sides of the event badge to utilize the full space available, or make them double sided so that important information will always be prominently displayed.

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Event Badges Increase Security at Sports Tournaments

When you’re responsible for a group of kids that aren’t your own, it’s important to keep track of everyone. Parents can be very protective over their children, especially when the children are young. Even in today’s world with cell phones and all the extra security that goes along with them, it is still possible to gain a straggler who doesn’t belong to the group, or worse, lose track of a child that does belong.

Keep an Updated Roster

At a sports tournament, there can be a lot of kids running around from all over the state (or even the country if the tournament is national). Many different teams may gather to battle for first place, depending on what kind of tournament is in play. The first step necessary to keep track of your team is to keep an updated roster (or list of names) of everyone who needs to be accounted for.

Identify Each Person

During the tournament, it’s not possible to constantly call out the name of every kid on your team in order to make sure they are still there. Besides, that would be exhausting and, quite honestly, silly. What you can do instead is to print event badges that have each name printed clear as day, right on the badge. That way you can identify each kid almost instantly, just by glancing at their badge. On that note, some schools have already started to use event badges for added security at home base.

Check and Re-Check

Printing event badges for each child on your team to wear will help decrease the risk of losing track of any member of the team. You will also be able to quickly notice if someone who doesn’t belong joins the crew. They will, of course, be missing their unique badge. Event badges can be printed to include almost any unique design or logo. That means that even if another team of kids is wearing event badges to identify themselves, your team’s event badges will be printed specifically for only your school, division or town.

Print individual event badges to help keep track of your team amid the masses at a sports tournament. These name tags are versatile and made out of weather-resistant materials, which make them convenient to reuse for added security at the next tournament, too. The team even has options on how to wear them, either by using a bulldog clip or a lanyard. All in all, event badges are an easy way to boost security for the whole team.

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Event Badges Keep Job Fairs Organized

In today’s economy, the unemployment rate is very high. Job seekers may attend one, two, or many job fairs in hopes of meeting potential employers and making key connections that can help them attain employment. Companies who are hiring are also interested in attending job fairs to help narrow their search among the unemployed masses.

One of the key issues at hand for any job fair, is how to keep it organized. Employers and job seekers alike won’t want to waste time wandering around trying to figure out who’s who and what’s what. In fact, disorganization of this kind may discourage both employers and job seekers from going to the next job fair, no matter who hosts it.

How to Keep a Job Fair Organized

Job fairs can be pretty chaotic. In order to maximize the potential to meet as many people as possible in a fixed period of time, one must have a game plan. A great way to assist both the employer and job seeker in their time-constrained search is to label each attendee in some way.

There are many different ways to label job fair attendees so that they can recognize each other (whether employer or potential employee). One of the easiest ways to do this is to print event badges that can be worn by each person at the event.

The Key to Success

Print event badges for job fair attendees, and add some control to the chaos that normally surrounds these kinds of events. This will be a favor to both the employers and the job seekers as they will be able to identify each other much more easily than if they weren’t labeled.

Job fair attendees will be impressed with the degree of organization that accompanies to use of the event badges. Imagine each person being able to tell who the other is simple by glancing at their badge. Event badges are not only convenient to use, they’re also easy to make.

It’s Just That Easy

Event badges come in two types. Economy Event Badges are full color and can be worn in a clear vinyl holder with a lanyard, or in a clear plastic holder with a bulldog clip. VIP Event Badges are made of waterproof and tear-proof plastic, and can be worn just like the Economy Badges.

Print the name and company (if applicable) of each job fair attendee on an event badge and help eliminate the chaos among the masses. Any job fair will run more smoothly with event badges to help both job seekers and employers identify each other quickly and easily.

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Use Event Badges to Increase Security and Communication on the Set

In order to film a TV show or a movie, you need a crew of people to do a long list of various jobs. From the production staff to the office crew, there may be a lot of people who are on set to get the work done. It can be difficult to recognize all the faces running around and remember everyone’s names, especially with consideration to the constant flux of newcomers that may stream in from day to day.

Whether you’re a manager, supervisor, or an assistant on the crew, you’ll want to have a way to identify others easily. And others should be able to tell who you are, too. There are a number of methods to use for clear and fast identification, but there’s one in particular that’s easy, convenient, and cost efficient to boot.

Why Identify the Crew?

No matter how good someone may be at remembering names and faces, it’s easy to let one slip once in a while. The last thing anyone wants to do is to forget an important person’s name, and thus risk running into an embarrassing situation (or perhaps even losing their job). A great way to prevent this is to print event badges for each person on the crew to wear when they’re on the set.

How to Identify the Crew

Printing event badges for each crew member to wear allows everyone to identify each other at a glance. Not only are there options for what to print on the actual badge, but there are also two distinct types of event badges to choose from. The choice will likely depend on the needs and status of the person who will be wearing it.

Make the Right Decision

Identify the crew with event badges that can be printed with each member’s name, a unique design, or any other information that can be provided in a CSV file. There are even options for how the event badge can be worn. Economy Event Badges can be worn in a clear plastic holder with a bulldog clip, or in a clear vinyl holder with a lanyard and clip.

If the lanyard option is chosen, the company logo can be printed right on it as well. This gives the whole badge the appeal of a useful, professional item that everyone can benefit from.

Every crew member will feel more secure when they are able to recognize each other by looking at their badges.

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Event Badges at Music Festivals Provide Performers with Instant Identification

When an artist performs at a large music festival, it’s not always guaranteed that everyone will recognize them. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that some people attending the festival will not have even heard of that artist before.

Of course, it’s the same with the event and security staff that are hired to work at the festival. They may or may not recognize a number of the artists that were hired to perform. This creates a lot of room for error in the handling of logistics and management.

Who Did You Say You Were?

Realistically, there’s nothing worse than potentially alienating a performing artist who has drawn a large crowd because one of the hired staff members is unable to appropriately identify them. This can be remedied in a number of ways, however, some being far superior to others.

Here’s Your Sign

One of the easiest and fastest ways on the market right now to identify performing artists and other VIPs at a music festival is to use event badges. There are two different types that can be utilized, depending on what is needed for identification on the badge. The best thing about them is that they will show the event and security staff at the music festival exactly who the performing artist is, which will then dictate how they are to be treated.

VIP Only

A major issue at almost every music festival is VIP access. Most music festivals have it, and everyone who is anyone wants to get in. The performing artists at the festival may or may not want to hobnob with the masses during their down time. And if they do, it’s usually guaranteed that they will want to do it at their own rate, instead of being bombarded by people who liked their set or want an autograph.

Make It Easy on Everyone

Make it easy on yourself and your event and security staff by using event badges. Print VIP event badges that are waterproof and very durable, and ensure instant identification despite bad weather and exceptional wear (who are we kidding; performing artists can be pretty hard on things!). They’re also easy to put on or take off and are designed to be worn with a lanyard or a bulldog clip for versatile use. You can even put the event name or a logo right on the lanyard, making the badge useful and decorative.

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 Event Badges Help You Navigate Your Next Convention

Attending a large convention is kind of like shrinking yourself down to bug-size and walking into an anthill. Not only are there thousands of others everywhere around you, they all have their own agenda and are going about their business as usual, each one with a specific task at hand. And the worst part: they all look alike.

It’s easy to get lost in the mix at a large convention. Maybe the vendor you are looking to do business with is on the other side of the convention center, leaving you to navigate through a few thousand people in an attempt to sift them out. Or what if you signed up at the last moment, and the convention managers put you in the corner, away from the swarms of potential customers piling around the main stands?

The best way to get your company name out there (and your name too!) at a convention is to use ID badges. They are a unique, durable and inexpensive way to identify your company amidst a crowd of others.

The Perks of Event Badges

• Economy Event Badges or VIP Event Badges available
• Made of thick paper or durable plastic
• Full color printing
• Include company logo or design your own badge
• Individually named
• Includes unique number or barcode
• Choice of clear vinyl holder with lanyard and clip or clear plastic holder with clip

The option to design your own event badge is especially convenient and interesting because you can design a badge that goes with the theme of the specific convention you are attending. You have the option to include not only your company logo, but also a one-of-a-kind design of your making that will help you and your company stand out among others. Also, if you choose the lanyard option for your ID badges, you can have the company logo printed on them too!

Of course, it would ultimately work best if everyone at the convention used event badges, but don’t let your company name get lost in the dust without the right identification. Check with the convention manager at your upcoming convention, and ask them what kind of unique event badges they use. You might end up giving the managers a great recommendation they can use to identify attendees quickly and easily, and you may even save them some money in the end.

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Get the Recognition You Deserve with ID Badges at Events

Nothing is worse than not being recognized at your own event.

Say what you will about someone forgetting your name or what company you work for, but when you hold an event, like a gathering of a group of members from a club for example, that last thing you want is the attendees forgetting that you are the one that put the whole thing together!

You Deserve That Credit

You earned it with all that hard work you put into the planning and organization. You’ve spent countless hours reserving the perfect spot, making the invitations, and coming up with fresh ideas about how to earn money for the cause you all support.

What Can Be Done About It?

• Include a 4 x 6 photo of yourself on the front of your invitations
• Print your name in bold, italics using size 72 font on your invitations
• Require your attendees to RSVP by tattooing your name on their hands, and sending you a picture of the tattoo as proof
• Use event/ID Badges to identify (most importantly) yourself and others at your event

Identify Yourself

Event/ID badges are a great way to identify you to others quickly and easily. You can have your name and title printed any way you want, right on the front, showing others that you indeed are the one who put on the event. That way, you can get all the credit due such a big responsibility and job well done.

Identify Others

Not only can you use ID badges at your event to identify yourself, you can use them just in case (oops!) you forget someone else’s name too! If that influential member who you’ve had lunch with once a year for the past few years walks up to you and his name just slipped your mind, you can simply glance at his badge, saving yourself from an embarrassing situation. If an important guest or someone of high status who wouldn’t normally attend an event like yours were to come, you would want everyone to know who they were and that they were a guest.

Wear it with Style

One of the things I really liked about the event badges was that they were so easy to wear. We had the option of clipping them to our shirts or pants, or we could use a lanyard to wear them around our necks.  I used a lanyard for mine, which I had ordered in the colors of our club with the membership logo printed right on them.  It looked great, and when I wore my badge, everyone knew I was responsible for putting on the event!

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Skip the Line and Save Time with Event Badges at Music Festivals

I’ve been going to music festivals for years, and it happens to me almost every time I attend a fest—you know—the obligatory time-wasting, song-missing, and buzz-killing phenomenon known as, simply, waiting in line.

We’ve all had to do it, and no one really likes it, so why do we stand for it? Well, I for one am a music lover, and I know a good amount of my fellow Chicagoans who wouldn’t call summer a season without the music festivals we have here. Still, even though we don’t want to miss the music and the fun, we hate waiting in line!

Last month I went to a music festival that had come up with an absolutely brilliant idea: event badges. They had the unique logo of the festival right on the front, decked out with bright colors and cool designs. They even had all the festival’s sponsors printed on the back so we knew who to thank for helping put on all the great music.

One of the best parts was the lanyard (necklace) that came with the badge! Why, you ask? Several reasons:

• Fashionable—great color and design imprinted right on it
• Reusable—I attach it to my nametag at work
• Nostalgic—when I wear it, I remember the great music!

Another great thing about the event badges was how durable they were. I mean, we ran around like crazy for 3 days straight going from stage to stage to beer tent to stage, and it even rained for several hours one of the days we were there. But the event badges stayed perfectly fine throughout the entire ordeal, no tears or smudging at all. They were so convenient that I couldn’t believe that was the first festival I’d attended that used them. As far as I’m concerned, every festival should use them!

Ultimately, of course, the very best thing about these event badges was that it made getting into the festival a cinch. We showed up expecting a long line with tens, maybe even hundreds of people waiting to get in. What we found was an organized, simple, and hassle-free system with the use of the badges. As soon as everyone received their badge, we were free to roam in and out of the festival without having to dig for our tickets or worry about losing them. All we had to do was throw the badges around our necks and have the time of our lives!

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Selling Event Badge Lanyards for Educational Fundraising

I was a cheerleader all four years of high school, and now I coach high school cheerleading. My girls are real school boosters, always looking for ways to earn money for various programs—not just their own, but for other athletics, extracurriculars, and academics—and generate school spirit. So I can’t take credit for the lanyard idea. It was the girls’ from start to finish.

Why Lanyards?

Lanyards, I thought, were those ugly woven plastic keychains we had to make in overnight camp more years ago than I care to admit. Back then, we had one security guard in our school, and he knew all of us by name. But the school where I work now has over two thousand students, and each and every one of them is required to wear an ID tag on a lanyard (not plastic, but fabric) around their neck. The lanyards were pretty plain, and some kids liked to customize their with funky buttons. Some cliques had secret codes involving knots in the lanyard, and others tossed the lanyard entirely and brought their own colorful ribbons, shoelaces, or necklaces to hang the badges on.

My cheerleaders found out that the lanyards sold with event badges and printed name tags did not have to be boring, generic, or plain. They came in colors, and could be printed with custom messages. At first they thought about just buying their own cheerleading lanyards in school colors, but then they thought bigger.

The Competition

Why not challenge some of the biggest clubs in the school to a fundraising competition? Each group could design their own lanyard and try to sell as many as possible to raise money for the spring dance. Of course, the cheerleaders thought they would win the contest hands down, but they enlisted the football players, girls volleyball, the National Merit Scholars, AV club, and a few other groups. Each group was responsible for their own design and raising the initial funds to order the lanyards, and then worked all month to sell as many as possible.

The contest is still going on, so it’s hard to know who will ultimately win. What I have figured out is that the student body is buying lanyards, and they’re not taking sides. Some kids are collecting them and color-coordinating their outfits, or braiding them together, or decorating their backpacks with them.

Great Idea, Great Execution

Wearing ID tags at school is an unfortunate reality of the modern world, but my kids have made the best of it. They’ve got to wear their name badges, they might as well make them fashionable. And while they’re working on making the school more stylish, they might as well be earning some money to support the programs they love. It’s a win-win situation.

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