Choosing bands
Conference and exhibition passes: badges or wristbands?
Published 2 min read Paper Bands by Adalwin
Use a badge where people need to read each other’s names, and a wristband where staff need to check access fast: hall entry, meal counters, the evening party and exhibition day passes. Many events use both, the badge for networking and a coloured band for the days, meals and sessions each delegate has paid for.
Side by side
| Badge on a lanyard | Paper wristband | |
|---|---|---|
| Shows the name | Yes, across a table | Only in small print |
| Checked at a glance | Badges flip, hang low or get tucked into a jacket | On the wrist, held up at the counter |
| Handed to someone else | In a second | Not without breaking the self-adhesive tamper-evident tab |
| Days and meals paid for | Printed on the badge, hard to read in a queue | A colour for each day or meal |
| Scanned for sessions or leads | QR code on the badge | QR code on the band |
Where a band works better than a badge
- Meal counters. Lunch, dinner and the delegate bar: a meal colour clears a queue faster than reading badges.
- Exhibition day passes. A band for each day stops a one-day visitor coming back the next day free.
- Exhibitors and contractors let in before opening hours, through a service gate.
- The evening party, often at another venue, where badges come off first.
- Family days and offsites, where nobody wears a lanyard.
Using both
Print names on the badge and entitlements on the band. At registration, a delegate with a two-day pass and the gala dinner gets the badge, a band in the pass colour, and a dinner band, or a dinner check against a list at the door.
Meal bands add up quickly: 1,200 delegates over two days with entry and two meals a day is 7,200 bands before spares. The quantity guide has the arithmetic.
For badges, lanyards and the rest of the delegate kit, see corporate event kits from Adalwin Commerce. For the bands, see wristbands for conferences and corporate events.
Questions
Can a wristband carry a delegate’s name?
It can be written on with ballpoint or permanent marker, but it will not be read across a room. Leave names to the badge.
Can wristbands be scanned for session entry?
Yes, with a QR code printed on each band: sequential numbering and QR codes on printed orders from 5,000. See QR code wristbands.
What is the minimum wristband order for a conference?
Printed bands start at 5,000 bands. Plain stock colours, which suit meal and day colours, come in cartons of 1,000.