Event Wristbands and Environmental Responsibility

Big events can have real, noticeable impacts on their immediate environment. From tramped down foliage, to left over litter and tons of waste left behind once the fun it over, it’s often easy to see the real consequences that occur when a large group of folks shares a small space together.

These days, it’s hip to be green! Not only does it benefit the planet to make your events more sustainable, it may benefit your attendance. By taking small steps, like using recyclable DuPont Tyvek to print Tyvek wristbands that help you manage guests or larger ones, like booking an eco-conscious venue for your next event, you can build a strong cache with your environmentally aware attendees.

When you’re ready to make an impact by making less of an impact, you can take some easy steps to green your venue and event.

Offset Ticket and Wristband Printing

Tickets and event wristbands are necessary for crowd management. They allow you to keep your event secure and make it easy to account for your attendees. Consider offsetting the perceived environmental costs of ticket printing by donating a small portion of your sales to an environmentally conscious cause. You can continue to use these essential event management tools, and your guests will feel great knowing that the event wristbands they wear are contributing to a movement they believe in.

Support Green Transportation

Encourage attendees to go carless. Give clear instructions on using public transportation. Help arrange carpools and shuttles. Consider a bike valet service. Guests can drop off their bikes with attendants at the entrance to the venue in exchange for a ticket or paper wristband that allows them to claim their non-carbon emitting chariots at the end of the show.

Green Crowd Management

Have folks register for the event online and pick up ticket and event wristbands at the gate. Tyvek wristbands are great for crowd control, allowing you to easily identify groups of guests from the outset. They’re simple to print on, so you can share your message or logo in bright bold colors. Best of all Tyvek wristbands are recyclable. Guests can wear these wristbands through the show and send them off for recycling and reuse once it’s over.

Contain your Containers

Concession waste from paper plates, to plastic ware and cups is visually displeasing in the short-term and leads to long term sustainability issues. For your green event, use compostable or biodegradable plates and cutlery.

Better yet, encourage guests to bring their own!  Give out special event wristbands to folks that enter the venue with reusable mugs and cups. Flashing the wristband can entitle them to discounts at concessions or enter them in a green giveaway raffle.

Go Greener!

Small changes to your event planning strategy allow you go greener and raise your event’s esteem in the eyes of your attendees. From effective use of paper tickets and plastic wristbands to fun promotions, you can easily put on a more sustainable event.

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Event Wristbands for the Memories

Anyone who has been to a concert has encountered souvenir stands where clothing, posters, buttons, stickers, and more are sold to eager fans. These stands and kiosks are ubiquitous at every event venue. We all know concert and festival goers aren’t just there for the show. They want to take the experience with them. From T-shirts emblazoned with the logos of their favorite bands, to the event wristbands slipped on their arms as they passed through the gates of the venue, guests prize paraphernalia that proves they’ve been there.

Tyvek and vinyl wristbands allow you to manage your guests and reward them at the same time. Used in conjunction with event tickets or on their own, these handy crowd management tools allow you to keep track of guests’ coming and going, monitor appropriate alcohol consumption, keep an eye on concessions, and manage the flow of attendees into and out of special events and back stage. Perfect for multi-day events, wristbands can free guests from having to hold onto paper tickets, which might be damaged or lost after their initial use.

Wristbands serve another important function for your guests. Durable, secure and easy to customize, event wristbands make a fun fashion statement. Adorned with your custom design, they look great at the venue and can double as bracelets once the show is over.  Today’s concert wristband is tomorrow’s trendy accessory!

Of course, you’ll want to help guests preserve the integrity of their event wristbands, so they can continue to wear them in the days following your event. Here are a few tips to help maximize this collateral:

• Tyvek wristbands are strong! The material, manufactured by DuPont™, is resilient like plastic, yet comfortable like fabric.
• Wristbands should be loose enough to be comfortably worn, but not so loose they can slip off and be lost or transferred.
• Feel free to move! These event wristbands are waterproof, so guests can work up a sweat on the dance floor or in the mosh pit. And they’re perfect for outdoor events, rain or shine.
• Guests want to make a bold fashion statement, and you want your event to be remembered for a long time. Choose a highly visible logo that wearers will be proud to sport.
• Got environmentally minded guests? No problem! They can make their own statement by recycling Tyvek wristbands at the end of the show.

Your next event is sure to be the source of great memories for all of your attendees. Help get them started making those memories the moment they step through the turnstiles. A colorful, custom wristband might become the most cherished souvenir of the moment and serve as a cool body ornament later on.

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Event Wristbands: What They Do for Me

Tyvek® wristbands used to mean pretty much one thing, as far as I was concerned. You know those paper-plastic bracelets they stick on your wrist, which don’t come off unless you cut them off. It wasn’t so long ago that I thought they were meant exclusively to keep kids away from the bar at large events. At big festivals, we’d often flash our I.D.s to get one, which was usually printed with the logo of some large beer company. Event Wristbands meant beer.

That was before I became involved in events from the other side: the planning aspect. No doubt, from a liability standpoint, over-21 wristbands are still a great asset. They keep me and my bartenders safe from teenagers (you’d be surprised at the number of teens sporting a few gray hairs, or even a bald spot) but they do a lot more. What do I use them for?

• VIP Passes—if there are private rooms or side events, I can keep them exclusive by creating unique wristbands available only to those who pay for the VIP Pass
• Backstage Security—when I’ve booked a popular band, it’s important to keep that backstage area secure, so distinctive wristbands are issued to musicians and those authorized to be back stage
• Staff and Volunteers—my guests and I can easily identify official representatives of the event if I choose a vivid color for their wristbands; a lost child knows who to ask for help, and I can identify my people at a glance
• Event Passes—sometimes I don’t issue tickets in advance, so what’s the point of offering them at the gate? A wristband serves as proof of payment, so we can determine with ease if someone has jumped a fence

This last use surprises some people, who consider these recyclable wristbands something of a luxury. First of all, when I buy them in bulk, I usually get a nice discount from the manufacturer. They’re not expensive at all. In fact, they’re really cheap: substantially cheaper than printing event tickets: we’re talking in the realm of 8 or 9 cents a piece, for a wristband custom printed with the name of my event and my sponsor’s logo. They’re also harder to counterfeit, since they’re made from DuPont’s™ unique Tyvek® material. And I still imprint them with the name and logo of my event, or of my sponsor, for greater visibility.

My favorite thing about party wristbands? I know I’ve hosted a really successful event when I see someone proudly sporting my event wristband a few days after the festival’s ended!

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You are an event organizer with a vision! From the centerpieces to the party favors, you’re holding thousands of ideas in your imagination, and when you need everything to look just so, you’ve got it planned down to the smallest details, like the exact look of your event tickets.

Even with hundreds of ticket templates to choose from, you’ve got your heart set on that special image or unique layout. Printing your own tickets online can help you make your dream a reality. You’re not limited by the whims of a printer or by someone else’s designs: just create the perfect event ticket with a do-it-yourself online ticket maker: a DYO tool.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• All the event details
• Your background image
• Logos or thumbnails
• A vision
• A DYO tool like the one at TicketPrinting.com

Have all the elements in order? You’re ready to go. The website can provide all the information you need to create and print the event tickets you want, with digital help available whenever you find yourself stuck.

DYO Event Ticket Printing allows you to choose the perfect colors and the perfect layout. Further, it lets you add special details that can make your life easier, like multiple perforations or numbering in several places on the ticket. Whatever’s in your mind, that’s what you’ll see printed on your ticket.

When you lay out your ticket, determine which details you’ll need to include. This will help you figure out how many lines of text you’ll need to add. Common bits of information would be:

• The event name
• The hosting organization’s name
• The sponsor’s name
• The location of the event
• The time of the event
• The cost of the event ticket

Additional details that may be of use:

• Activities, speakers, or music
• The name of the group that will benefit from any fundraising
• Seat number (if there is to be reserved seating)
• Dress code
• Dinner menu
• Open or cash bar
• URL of a website where more details are available
• Contact person’s phone number

Basically, if it’s information that might be useful or of interest to your guests, and you can fit it on the event ticket while maintaining your vision for the ticket’s overall look, consider adding it. Be sure to duplicate important information, such as reserved seating and ticket number, on the stub as well as the body of the ticket.

Now, put it all together. Upload your visual background, use the DYO tool to add the boxes where you will upload your logo, and the lines where you will enter your text. Position the perforation and the ticket numbers. When you’ve got it all together, preview your proof.

The proof preview is a really important part of printing event tickets. If you don’t proofread, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself! Plus, the proof will alert you if your text isn’t fitting correctly into the available space.

On the plus side, digital proofs really speed the process along. Once you approve your proof and submit billing and shipping details, your event tickets will start printing almost immediately! Within twenty-four hours, they should be created in all their full-color glory and shipped off via UPS straight to your home or office.

Simple enough, right?

Well, if this all seems overwhelming, fear not! There’s another option. You can still get the exact tickets your heart desires without mucking about with all these layout options. For just a little more money, you can order custom tickets. Yes, this is still an online service, and the rates are still quite reasonable. The only difference is that you can tell a design professional what you want and let them worry about how to make it happen.

Either way, your perfect event deserves a perfect event ticket. Whether you do it yourself or hire a dedicated artist to do it for you, online event ticket printing has never been easier!

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Whether I’m printing event tickets or shopping for shoes, I usually know exactly what I want, which means that I’m searching for a merchant who’s prepared to sell me my vision, rather than push their own ideas at me. In the past, I believed that, when it came to print products, and event tickets in particular, the only way to get exactly what I’d pictured in my mind was to find a local printer and work with them one on one to bring my dreams to life, in full color and full bleed.

In the present, I’ve learned that the best ticket printing is done online. Online ticket printing is:

• Convenient: set it up any time, day or night, from the comfort of your own desk
• Fast: easy-to-use ticket templates, online checkout, and multiple delivery options speed the process along
• Affordable: a streamlined process means a pared down pricetag

Besides that, I can still get exactly what I want, whether I’m just searching for general admission event tickets, or need an entire event kit, complete with all my event collateral, like posters, raffle tickets, and VIP passes. Most people don’t realize all the options available when they print their own tickets online:

• Free ticket templates—hundreds to choose from mean you’re more likely to find the perfect design for your event
• Personalization—customize each template with all your event details; some templates even let you upload one or more custom images
• Custom Tickets—using a DYO tool or spending a little extra for a professional designer, you can create unique tickets to suit your needs

Of course, I still get all the necessary features like individual, security numbering and perforated, detachable ticket stubs. I can even choose extras like booklet stapling, reserved seating, or thermal security paper, for just a small additional fee.

Undoubtedly, my favorite feature is the custom image upload. I can take any image file from my computer and add to a ticket template. If my organization wants to brand the event with their own logo, it’s a cinch. Or, if we’d rather provide our sponsors with some extra publicity, we can ask them for a high-quality, high-resolution copy of that image. Or, I might choose to add another photograph, such as a head shot of a popular speaker whose presence will help boost ticket sales. Whatever image I choose to add, image upload is a great way to turn a free ticket template into a unique event ticket.

After image upload, my next favorite feature is the matching event kits I can purchase along with my event tickets, in particular, the matching raffle tickets. An allied prize draw is simply the best way to turn an event into a successful fundraiser. Printing raffle tickets and having them shipped well in advance let me start making money even before I start selling event tickets.

Finally, I know some people worry about the loss of human contact. They don’t trust computers and they worry that they won’t be able to talk to a human being if there’s a problem. Not with my ticket printing company! In addition to extensive FAQs, answering practically any question I’ve ever had, they also offer toll-free customer support, so I know that I can talk to a qualified service representative if I need to.

That’s why I’ve decided that, whenever I need to print up some event tickets for my organization, I’ll save time, money, and frustration by choosing an online event ticket printer!

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How do you sell event tickets? Most theaters have their own box office, with set hours when patrons can come and purchase seats to upcoming performances. But what if you’re not a theater? What if you only hold one or two events a year? Sometimes, companies will let your organization sell its own tickets out of their box office, even if you’re not affiliated with the theater or selling tickets for a show. Or, you might have a team of dedicated sales professionals, or dedicated sales volunteers, or an office manager who can deal with the numbers. But there are other options.

Increasingly, we live in a twenty-four hour society, and increasingly, our patrons find that they’d rather deal with a computer on their own terms than have to go out and wait in line, or even on the telephone, to speak to a real human being. If I can spend two minutes on the Internet and save twenty minutes of my life, I’ll chose ecommerce every time.

There are a few options for those who want to help their guests and supporters purchase tickets on their own schedules, at their own convenience, online.

• Hire a web designer to build the perfect checkout for your website, allowing customers to purchase tickets to your event right from your homepage. You’ll get exactly what you want, and make it easy for your guests to check out, but this is an expensive option, and may take some time to develop.
• Build a virtual store using a site such as Shopify.com, Flyingcart.com, or Highwire.com. These sites allow you to add events, collect payment, and track sales. However, you will have to spend some time setting them up, and maintaining them can be costly. There may be monthly fees, or a cost for adding new items for purchase.
• Use an online ticket sales site, such as Ticket River, where you can create a page for your event in a minute or two and start selling event tickets immediately. You’ll be able to accept all major credit cards, plus PayPal payments, and it won’t cost you anything!

The online ticket sales site is really your best value. You don’t have to host anything, or pay for anything. You’ll never lose money if sales are down. At Ticket River, the only cost is a 3% service charge added to each transaction, pretty much the lowest surcharge in the industry. Compare that to a markup that could exceed 58% from a company like TicketMaster! Most customers don’t mind paying a tiny fee for the convenience of doing business on their own terms (e.g. at 3 a.m. in pajamas and bunny slippers).

Creating a page for your event helps you sell more tickets, since it’s easy to paste the URL wherever you think people might be interested to know about your event. Customize your event page with a photograph and all the details about your event and your organization and put that page to work for you.

Once you start selling event tickets, a good online ticket sales site, such as Ticket River, will collect names and addresses for your mailing list and even help you track sales by generating charts and graphs! You’ll be able to sell e-tickets, which can be printed out at home, or you can send paper tickets out through the mail, or hold tickets at will call. Whatever makes sense to you: selling tickets through an online ticket sales website is a flexible way to create the sales you want.

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Event Tickets can do more that just admit one.

Sure, it’s easy to rip the stub off a perforated general admission ticket and drop one half into a bin, while your guests jam the other half into the pocket of their jeans, where it is destined to take an all-expenses paid trip through the washing machine. Or, you could start to look at the tickets to your upcoming event in an entirely different way.

Your event’s tickets can take on a life of their own when you breath new purpose into them. Printing tickets can open doors for your organization. Those tickets are pretty versatile!

Print your event tickets with an eye for creativity, and they will serve you well.

• Advertisement

With an eye-catching design and your organization’s logo printed right on the body of the ticket, your tickets can serve you well from the moment they leave the box office or the sales teams’ hands. Handsome, well-designed general admission tickets have a tendency to hang around on corkboards or refrigerators, where they help generate interest in your event and your mission.

• Souvenir

Event Tickets don’t have to be ticket-sized. Think differently. If you find an image you love, one that really represents you, why not make it a little bigger? A larger format VIP Pass, Invitation, or a Poster or a Flyer, can work as a ticket, and such a ticket can live on after the event as a frameable souvenir. You can even create inexpensive frames to pass out to your guests.

• Raffle Ticket

High quality Event Tickets should be printed with sequential numbering on the body and the stub, and what more do you need to hold a prize draw? A Raffle Ticket that comes with the price of admission is a value-added reward for your guests, and helps to boost ticket sales. Just remind your guests to hold on to their ticket stubs. You can drop the body of the ticket into a hat, from which you’ll draw the winning number.

• Game Piece

Print a few different designs, and let each Event Ticket stand as a game piece for some activity at your event. You might use them to divide guests into groups, or to lead them to other parts of the event. The image might be a clue in a game, or a picture of an item in a scavenger hunt. Uploading your own image to a ticket with a space for that purpose really allows you to customize the event. Make it whatever you want.

• Security

Don’t worry about gatecrashers. Using Event Tickets, or even Event Badges, helps you keep the venue secure. You can restrict access to certain areas, or quickly double check if someone has paid for a ticket. Printing different tickets, or adding VIP Passes, lets you scale your security: certain tickets provide certain levels of mobility. No ticket, no access.

You’ve got to have tickets for most events, just to serve as proof of purchase. And if you’re already printing your own Event Tickets online, why not spend a little extra time putting those tickets to work for you?

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Need a little help getting those donor wallets open and jump starting event ticket sales? Maybe you haven’t provided a great enough incentive. Give your supporters the gift of glamor: make your next fundraiser a fabulous casino night. Recreate the allure of Monte Carlo and start selling event tickets for your casino night.

You’ll need:

• A crew of eager volunteers
• Games of chance (call a local party supply company for rentals)
• A passel of donated prizes
• A venue of sufficient size
• Flashy print publicity
• Some event ticket printing

If your organization supports it, a cash bar will truly make the night successful. You can boost bar sales with Drink Tickets. Remember: inebriated gamblers are your most profitable gamblers.

Start by determining whether there is interest in this night among your group. Once you have enough support, you can start rounding up the volunteers. Take some time to ascertain which skills each volunteer possesses, and then dole out the tasks. Events flow more efficiently if everyone has their own job. Decide whether your volunteers will work the game tables—many party supply companies will also supply the croupiers and dealers.

Meet regularly with your team to check on progress. This will help you see, in advance, if you’ve assigned the proper tasks to the right people. Make a schedule: who will book the venue, and when? How will you distribute event tickets? If there is to be live entertainment, that must also be arranged. Of course, it wouldn’t be a casino night without fabulous prizes.

Your best bet is to start early and look for impressive donations. However, even if nobody has the courtesy to offer you a speedboat or a big screen HDTV, don’t despair. Keep asking. Ask local business owners if they would be willing to make a donation in exchange for extra publicity (you can mention them as sponsors on your event tickets, in the event program, and in other forums, wherever you promote the event). If you get a lot of great donations, amp up your fundraising ability by adding a prize draw to the event. Then you can start selling raffle tickets well in advance, and add another fun component to the night as you announce the winners.

When you print up your event tickets, you can create matching event collateral at the same time: flyers and posters, invitation and raffle tickets. Printing event tickets and matching event kits really helps you get your publicity going. Announce your casino fundraising event:

• In your print or email newsletter
• To your mailing list, using printed invitation
• On your website and allied forums
• Via a press release, sent to all local news outlets

Then, start selling event tickets!

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When you’re printing event tickets for your upcoming car show, you’ve got to be ready rev up the right message. A group of Fiat enthusiasts who spend every weekend replacing spark plugs and polishing air filters has a different focus than a bunch of rat rods who just want to get their vehicles on the road. Whoever you are and whatever you drive, if you enjoy gathering together to admire your favorite vehicles, you’re probably pretty excited about organizing your group’s next car show. Now, it’s time to get your audience excited as well.

From small gatherings held in local parks attracting a limited number of ground pounders, to the fanciest, arena-style car show where dreams seem to roll off the assembly line and into your desires, you can make an event ticket to your automotive show the hottest ticket in town. I’ve seen small clubs forging their own way: a Buick club that held their show in conjunction with a local high school homecoming, a low rider show that took advantage of closed streets downtown during an annual cultural festival. The more exposure for your automotive club, the better.

If your show is to be small and informal, you may not want to sell tickets, and if your club is participating in a much larger event, with corporate sponsorship and a lot of organization, you may not need to sell tickets yourself. However, if you are selling tickets, make your show a success by selling the maximum number of tickets! How will you get the word out? Try advertising in some of these venues:

• Email newsletter
• Internet forum
• Car magazine
• Local entertainment paper
• Bulletin board at family-run parts shop or garage
• Word of mouth

Consider what kinds of tickets will sell. Perhaps you won’t charge for admission, but will require an event ticket to exhibit a car. Or, with a large show, you might offer varying levels of access: one event ticket gets visitors into the main exhibit, but VIP passes are required to enter certain rooms. I’ve also seen shows where entrance was free, and anyone could exhibit, but organizers sold tickets for the privilege of entering cars to be judged.

If you want to add a contest aspect to your show, how will you award prizes? You can do a “best of breed” competition, if it’s to be a large show. Or, you can open up the field. Consider these subjective categories:

• Most authentic restoration of a classic car
• Prettiest car
• Best craftsmanship
• Most originality in a custom car
• Best precision in workmanship

You can even add to your own profits by adding a prize draw to the event and selling raffle tickets. Just be sure to choose the perfect prizes for the raffle as well as for the contest.

• A year’s membership to your automotive club
• Subscription to a popular car magazine
• Cash
• Gift certificates to a parts catalog or store
• A set of new tires

Printing and selling event tickets is a great way to motivate your group to really plan out the details of the show. Once you have them in hand, the excitement level becomes palpable, and you know it’s really time to get the show on the road!

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When you shell out extra money to purchase event tickets to private receptions, you want get your money’s worth. Even if you’ve been given a free ticket, don’t waste it! Large conferences or conventions provide the opportunity to network with others in your industry, and you’re usually scrambling to meet with many people in a few days’ time. Whether you’re a successful executive on company expense account or a new entrepreneur trying to make your mark, you’ve probably learned that your best bet for rubbing shoulders with the right people is to attend a smaller function: the private reception afterward.

In many cases, you’re paying extra for special access, but the price of entry doesn’t guarantee success. Your actions and attitude when you enter the room determine how much you’re going to get out of the cost of admission.

How do you feel about the following statements?

• Networking means creating business friendships.
• Loyalty and passion lead to support in business.
• Emotional commitments generate more results than logical commitments.

Whether tickets to these events are, in fact, free, or only offered to a select few, or sold to the general public at prices excluding those who aren’t serious about their connections, private receptions tend to be more intimate events, offering greater access to VIPs. When you’re trying to build your networks, pitch ideas, or stay on top of events, the price of an event ticket for a private reception at a large conference is usually minimal compared to the payoff, if you know how to leave the right impression.

How are you going to make your mark?

You’re well-prepared with a stack of business cards in a neat carrying case, and you can speak eloquently about your project. But you don’t want to go in, throw those business cards around, and talk someone’s ear off about your big idea. Networking is about selling yourself. Don’t set yourself up for failure by starting with the attitude that it’s all business.

Consider two equally qualified candidates embarking on a job search. One prints out a hundred resumes and sends them to one hundred HR departments. The other approaches everyone he or she knows, discusses his or her skills, abilities, and objectives, and puts out the word: I’m looking for work. In most cases, the candidate who takes advantage of personal connections is going to get the greatest response. You simply get more interviews if you’ve been recommended by someone who knows you.

So, don’t buy a ticket to a private reception with the intention of dropping one hundred resumes into strangers’ laps. Drop the expectation that you will sell an idea or a product to the people you encounter. Instead, treat it like the party that it is, and use the opportunity to make real connections.

• Work the room.
• Introduce yourself to everyone; you never know who may be important to your work, or who can help you along.
• Don’t drink more than you can handle! Stay in control at all times.
• Establish yourself as an interesting and trustworthy contact.
• Help people find reasons to like and remember you.
• Remember: just because someone doesn’t have a job or an investment for you right now doesn’t mean they can’t be a valuable contact in the future.

If you give others a reason to invest in you personally, rather than your product, you don’t need to sell anything. When your colleagues know, trust, and like you, your product will sell itself. You don’t need to trumpet the merits of your ideas unless someone has a specific question. Just give people reasons to like you, and when they think of your area of expertise, they’ll think of you and recommend you to others, because they’re personally invested in you.

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