TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Scott Ladewig — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 05:14:00 GMT

I agree with David. The main point of having a badge is to let people know who you are. Name and company info is really all I need to see. I definitely want to see the company name on any badge.

Forget including an avatar or a URL. TechEd is about real people meeting and interacting in a physical location. Avatars are find to identify someone for online interaction, but how useful would it really be for most people at the conference? And who would remember a URL after reading it on a badge?

Leave the profile info for an online directory people can opt into and don't go overboard with the badge.

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Hunter — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:24:52 GMT

Let's add RFID to them as well.. just like a few years back. That was a hoot.. everyone complaining that it was big brother. Awesome. If we could track people then we would KNOW what vendors had good swag AND which were the best sessions. :)

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

James Green — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:38:19 GMT

I think less is more when it comes to the badge. Last years badges were just the right size imho.

I like the ideas for what can go on them however!

"Hi, My name's James, I'm a vergo. I like VB.Net, SQL Server and long walks on the beach at sunset..." :-)

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Andrew Coates [MSFT] — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:56:23 GMT

All: Great point about the size of the name.

David: I agree about the slogan, although "Sharing the Love" was supposed to be Frank's passion, not the conference slogan.

All: David's point about being read from ~1m away is interesting. Does it need to be read, or just recognisable?

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

David Gardiner — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:10:24 GMT

Let's consider what is the primary purpose of this - if it's a name/id badge, then the name of the person should be the largest font on the badge.

After all, the idea is that other people can glance quickly at your badge and then know what your name is!

The "Sharing the Love" slogan should be in a tiny font, or ideally not on there at all. We're all attending the conference - we'll know what the slogan is, so don't take up space on the name badges with it that just distracts from us trying to read the name.

Anything else on there should only be there if it can be read from ~1m away. If it's too small then I don't see any point in it being there. No one will be able to read it.

I don't mind Rob's suggestions on adding certs, or "SQL MVP" kind of things - those are helpful (again as long as they can be read!)

-dave

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Dugie — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 02:35:36 GMT

That flickr photo is obciously a fake - there's no loud mambo shirt! :)

Yes, make the name Uber Big

Ditto++ for Rob's comment on stickers as well

Nick Hodge and Andrew Coates have waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time on their hands

frankarr - an aussie microsoft blogger — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 05:19:59 GMT

Andrew Coates is collecting ideas for the badge at Tech.Ed , and created a mockup Nick Hodge then wondered

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

TristanK — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:20:52 GMT

Ditto Rob's comment.

I love the idea of the stickers in the bottom area, and as long as there's a nice, big blank bit anyway, if all else fails we can use Pen Technology (it worked in years past...) :)

The attendee name, if possible, should be super-huge. I mean, really, stonking big. Twice the size of the example above (+- justification) would be great.

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Bronwen Zande — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:45:40 GMT

I like it :)

re: TechEd Thinking Part 3a - More Badge Fun

Nick Hodge — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:12:36 GMT

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/397246071_191b99ef72_o.jpg