Conventions mean many things to conference goers: a chance to gather new information, a chance to network, and a chance to hear a favorite speaker. Conventioneers can check out the new products or services in their field and bounce ideas off colleagues. But even though themes and speakers vary from venue to venue, these meeting always have one very important thing in common: convention name tags. You’ve got to have one!
Admittedly, name tags seem innocent at best and distracting at the worst (why do they always seem to get caught on everything?), but wearing a name badge is one of the best ways for someone to promote themselves and their business, and to network with others.
While many people stick to using the same old name tag with just their name on it, why not be creative and let your name badge say it for you? We heard of one East Coast salesman who makes a habit of wearing humorous convention name tags every year. He swears they help his sales by putting customers at ease and opening the lines of communication in a friendly manner. Mickey Arledge, owner of Name-Tags.net says ‘trade shows are your opportunity to stand out and get noticed. Use your name tag to promote a new item – “50% off our new fangled Doohickey – Ask me how!” Don’t wait for people to ask what’s new, tell them with a name tag’. In the highly competitive world we live in, any little thing you can do can help make an impression and close a sale.
Another reason to wear a convention name tag is for networking purposes. With all that goes on at a conference, people meet so many other conventioneers they find it hard to keep names straight. You hate to ask someone for their name again and again and the other person would like to think they were important enough that you actually remembered their name in the first place. So, nametags offer a sneaky way to keep up with everyone – just cast a covert glance in someone’s direction (assuming you’ve gotten close enough that you don’t need Superman’s xray vision to help you) and sneak a peak at their name tag. Voila! You can greet Bob-The-Pencil-Salesman like an old buddy and open up a conversation.
Many people overlook the value of a name tag when wrestling with all the other things they are required to keep track of during a conference. They really should reconsider. That innocuous badge in the snappy lanyard can make a world of difference in getting a sale or building a network.
For more information about convention name tags, please visit www.name-tags.net and check out our products!
