In May 2024, at FCA’s Annual Conference, Beta Theta Pi was recognized for the improvements made to their General Convention Event Badges. Learn more about why Beta decided to switch things up and the ROI of a new design.
Each year, all Beta Convention attendees receive an event nametag that includes their first and last name, the college/university they attend(ed), their graduation date, and the event track they’re a part of at the Convention. In prior years, these name tags were printed on plain white 4” x 3” inserts with an event logo included in the design. The inserts were then placed inside a plastic sleeve and affixed to a color-coded lanyard that corresponded with the individual’s event track.
In 2023, Beta elevated its approach with a premium, full color event badge sized at an elongated 3.75” x 5.5” with a gloss finish, each beautifully designed to complement this year’s unique event branding. This year’s event logo was designed in three different color palettes used for each day of the Convention; so too, three versions of the event badge were designed each adopting the color palettes for each of the three logo versions. The three versions of the event badge were used to help identify different audiences at the Convention. Because the new event badges helped identify an individual of a particular track, this year’s event lanyard was also overhauled for a more modern take: a thinner black cord, with an update to Beta’s more modern typeface vs. the traditional style – eliminating a need to color coordinate a lanyard and instead offering a more stylish and sleeker look that complemented all versions of the event badge.
In addition to the improvements to the design aesthetic, Beta’s new event badges also adopted two additional functional enhancements: 1) A QR code was added to the event badge for the attendee to scan and learn more information about the daily schedule, overall program guide, and gain access to the daily newsletter that is released each morning of the event (which was also previously distributed each morning in printed form). 2) Beta also improved the functionality by printing the event badge double sided after observing many years of issues where an attendee’s lanyard and nametag would flip over while moving throughout the event space and only show the blank side thus covering the individual’s name. This year, regardless of however an attendee’s name tag would move around, their name was always visible on the front or back.
Overall, these improvements elevated the feel of the Beta Convention and were well received by attendees, so this approach is one we will continue to use and expand on in the future. As one can imagine, when you have 850 attendees each wearing a prominent event badge with full event branding, the event badges – complimented by all the other branded signage and displays – helped immerse attendees into the branding at all times and everywhere they looked, which truly helped add a special feel to this year’s Convention.
