Printing individual nametags (for a conference)

[GeekDrew]

I'm the registrar (among other things) for PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium, and I get to print nametags for the people that walk in at the last minute, or for those people that failed to give me the correct names of the people that will be attending, etc. That sucks because the badges I've been using come 6 per sheet - and I very rarely have 6 badges that need printing at the same time... thus wasting a ton of badges, as once I run them through the color laser printer once, they won't feed through again (to print more tags on the same page).

This year, I printed a bunch of blanks (basically, had our logo stamped on it, etc. - everything except the person's name. I made a pile of them, and put a marker on top of them. It's not my fault that they were too lazy/stupid to provide the names of their guests before they arrived, and there's no way I can predict who will attend, if they are a walk-in that has not pre-registered.

Not every single person, but most of the people that I asked to use a template and to hand-write their name on the badge, complained. Loudly. I eventually printed off 'official' nametags for everyone that did not have one, and complained enough to get on my nerves. That means that I wasted a LOT of nametags, since it was almost always a small number of badges (2-3) I needed to print at once.

Does anyone know of any solution to this problem, *other* than just telling the people where to put their thoughts? I looked up Dymo label printers, hoping they would work for nametags, but I could only find sizes up to 2.5" wide, IIRC. The tags that I need to be able to print are 3x4, and in color. Are there printers/media that are designed to handle this specific problem? Any good solution (or suggestions) whatsoever?

 

[tw1164]

could you put the dymo label stickers on blank nametags?

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: tw1164
could you put the dymo label stickers on blank nametags?

Perhaps, but then I have a feeling they wouldn't look quite as good... obviously because of the fact that we would be putting a label on a nametag, but also because either the nametags would not be uniform (if I did not do everyone's that way), or some of them will invariably be off-center, taking away from its quality.

 

[hypn0tik]

Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

Unfortunately, all of those answers are unacceptable to my organization.

 

[Rastus]

Cardstock
Excel
Scissors or paper cutter
Profit

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

Unfortunately, all of those answers are unacceptable to my organization.

Why not? Tell your supervisor that printing out individual nametags is a huge waste of resources and you don't see the justification in it. These guests can stop being lazy and write their own name. If not they don't get to wear a nametag.

 

[shopbruin]

can you possibly have the badges printed in advance, at say a print shop, and print everyone's name later on in black ink (laser printer) when you have the badges?

have them small enough so that you can feed through a small laser printer you can take with you. it might cost more, so bring that up, that it's either do it your way or incur a lot more costs if people want to bitch about uniformity, and that if you're not pre-registered, you are not entitled to the same pretty pre-printed badge as everyone else, but at least you have a badge and not a sticker that says "hi my name is..."

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

Unfortunately, all of those answers are unacceptable to my organization.

Why not? Tell your supervisor that printing out individual nametags is a huge waste of resources and you don't see the justification in it. These guests can stop being lazy and write their own name. If not they don't get to wear a nametag.

The next person higher than me is the president of the company, and from past conversations, it is the general consensus that we would rather buy massive amounts of nametag inserts and waste some, rather than have a bunch of people complaining.

Oh, and all attendees/guests must wear a nametag at all times... we'll escort them out of the building otherwise (unless they are attending a function open to the general public).

 

[simms]

Get your organization to foot the bill, if they want it that way and your guests don't fill in a web form, you've done your part.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: freesia39
can you possibly have the badges printed in advance, at say a print shop, and print everyone's name later on in black ink (laser printer) when you have the badges?

have them small enough so that you can feed through a small laser printer you can take with you. it might cost more, so bring that up, that it's either do it your way or incur a lot more costs if people want to bitch about uniformity, and that if you're not pre-registered, you are not entitled to the same pretty pre-printed badge as everyone else, but at least you have a badge and not a sticker that says "hi my name is..."

We own a color laser printer that I use for this... I just print them in a single pass, though I could use double pass... but that wouldn't really bring any benefit at all. I'd still be feeding a full sheet of nametags through the printer, to print just one badge...

 

[EyeMWing]

Uh, get some software that doesn't suck that allows you to choose which tag to start printing on, and just feed the same sheet 6 times? (or would the printer choke on that? Not sure what kind of tags you're using. If they're tear-down ones, that would definitely not work - stick-on, this would definitely work)

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: simms
Get your organization to foot the bill, if they want it that way and your guests don't fill in a web form, you've done your part.

The company will pay the bill for whatever I tell them I need, and they'll cover the wasted nametags if I don't find another solution... it just seems *wrong* to me, to be wasting so many tag inserts. And it's a pain in the neck to load the name tag media, print the tag, the carefully tear on the perforation.... takes a while. That said, I doubt that the time required would be decreased at all, no matter what solution I might find.

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

Unfortunately, all of those answers are unacceptable to my organization.

Why not? Tell your supervisor that printing out individual nametags is a huge waste of resources and you don't see the justification in it. These guests can stop being lazy and write their own name. If not they don't get to wear a nametag.

The next person higher than me is the president of the company, and from past conversations, it is the general consensus that we would rather buy massive amounts of nametag inserts and waste some, rather than have a bunch of people complaining.

Oh, and all attendees/guests must wear a nametag at all times... we'll escort them out of the building otherwise (unless they are attending a function open to the general public).

Wow. That's terrible. What a huge waste of money.

Sorry I can't help you further. Good luck.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Uh, get some software that doesn't suck that allows you to choose which tag to start printing on, and just feed the same sheet 6 times? (or would the printer choke on that? Not sure what kind of tags you're using. If they're tear-down ones, that would definitely not work - stick-on, this would definitely work)

The software isn't an issue, it's the fact that the page dimensions change if you use one nametag, thus causing the printer to immediately jam.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Uh, get some software that doesn't suck that allows you to choose which tag to start printing on, and just feed the same sheet 6 times? (or would the printer choke on that? Not sure what kind of tags you're using. If they're tear-down ones, that would definitely not work - stick-on, this would definitely work)

The software isn't an issue, it's the fact that the page dimensions change if you use one nametag, thus causing the printer to immediately jam.

Ah, they're the perforated kind. Could you just get the stick-on ones instead, and instead of loading the tags into the clip-on thing, stick them to it?

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
Tell the people who complainto do one of the following:

1) Print their own nametags.
2) Write their names on a blank nametag.
3) Go fvck themselves.

Unfortunately, all of those answers are unacceptable to my organization.

Why not? Tell your supervisor that printing out individual nametags is a huge waste of resources and you don't see the justification in it. These guests can stop being lazy and write their own name. If not they don't get to wear a nametag.

The next person higher than me is the president of the company, and from past conversations, it is the general consensus that we would rather buy massive amounts of nametag inserts and waste some, rather than have a bunch of people complaining.

Oh, and all attendees/guests must wear a nametag at all times... we'll escort them out of the building otherwise (unless they are attending a function open to the general public).

Wow. That's terrible. What a huge waste of money.

Sorry I can't help you further. Good luck.

Well, it's not *that* big of a waste of money, it's more like a thorn in my side.

The cost of the nametag inserts is trivial.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Uh, get some software that doesn't suck that allows you to choose which tag to start printing on, and just feed the same sheet 6 times? (or would the printer choke on that? Not sure what kind of tags you're using. If they're tear-down ones, that would definitely not work - stick-on, this would definitely work)

The software isn't an issue, it's the fact that the page dimensions change if you use one nametag, thus causing the printer to immediately jam.

Ah, they're the perforated kind. Could you just get the stick-on ones instead, and instead of loading the tags into the clip-on thing, stick them to it?

While that's a perfectly great idea in print, it's a horrible idea in reality... I would rather waste 99% of the tags than do that - for the simple reason that it would be a nightmare to put so many stickers on the tag holders... perfectly aligned... I shudder just thinking about it. I definitely do not have time to do all of it myself, and my workers do not have an eye for quality at all... they just want to get the job done. That's why I'm trying to keep quality high and the process as foolproof as possible, before they're able to even touch it.

 

[imported_Pablo]

Use a Dymo printer, and use the biggest ones they have. They are plenty big, and very easy to do one at a time.

 

[kranky]

I've been to a number of conferences and I've seen the problem you bring up. I don't think there's a good answer.

The huge conferences just have people wait until a whole sheet prints out (but since they are busy, it's only a couple of minutes). The smaller ones try the different solutions already mentioned - handwritten tags, a small label printer that creates one-at-a-time labels stuck to a larger tag, etc.

One thing I have NEVER seen, though, is people doing them in color like you are.

Although it's extra work, if you are that determined not to waste the labels you could ask them to handwrite a tag for themselves for the moment, then come back later for an "official" tag. That way you could print them up on full sheets whenever you have six to be done.

 

[gsaldivar]

Consider using clear plastic nametag holders, with printable inserts. Only, create your own inserts. :beer: Here's what I mean:

All laser printers can print on any "width" of paper up to 8.5". Simply cut a ream of paper down to the correct width of your nametag holder (3.4" for example), any print shop can do this for you in 10 seconds with a cutting machine. Then feed the paper through the laser printer with the attendee's name & badge design printed onto the paper in a single pass. For this example, your badge template should be 3.4" wide by 11" tall, the laser printer will usually autocenter as if it were printing onto an envelope. In the event that your printer won't do this, just use a 8.5"x11" template containing a 3.4"x11" image. Simply fold each "badge" accordion-style, and insert into the empty badge holder. :thumbsup:

If you really want to get fancy, you can have the badge layout pre-printed at your local print shop, then have the fold lines either scored or perforated for super-easy folding at your event. Have them do all the printing, perforating/scoring on some nice 8.5x11" card stock paper, then trim the finished pages to 3.4"x11". :thumbsup:

Example: http://intermvp.com/anand/badge.jpg

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
Consider using clear plastic nametag holders, with printable inserts. Only, create your own inserts. :beer: Here's what I mean:

All laser printers can print on any "width" of paper up to 8.5". Simply cut a ream of paper down to the correct width of your nametag holder (3.4" for example), any print shop can do this for you in 10 seconds with a cutting machine. Then feed the paper through the laser printer with the attendee's name & badge design printed onto the paper in a single pass. For this example, your badge template should be 3.4" wide by 11" tall, the laser printer will usually autocenter as if it were printing onto an envelope. In the event that your printer won't do this, just use a 8.5"x11" template containing a 3.4"x11" image. Simply fold each "badge" accordion-style, and insert into the empty badge holder. :thumbsup:

If you really want to get fancy, you can have the badge layout pre-printed at your local print shop, then have the fold lines either scored or perforated for super-easy folding at your event. Have them do all the printing, perforating/scoring on some nice 8.5x11" card stock paper, then trim the finished pages to 3.4"x11". :thumbsup:

Example: http://intermvp.com/anand/badge.jpg

That's a great idea I'm already using clear plastic nametag holders.

I was also thinking about going with something like this (just found it):

http://www.pcnametag.com/pcnametaglive/...1636&secid=7&linkon=category&linkid=62