5 Tips: Get the most from your Conference Badges

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Cecil

Custom shapes, space for sponsor logos – our conference badges can be revenue drivers for your event!

Our conference badges are catching fire in the conference industry.

More than just a name, high quality badges transform event attendees into walking billboards and promote the event sponsors.

Our award-winning designs coupled with innovative marketing solutions (brand-specific shapes, QR codes, RFID technology) make for the perfect bridge between your event credential and a marketing campaign centerpiece.

5 TIPS to drive ROI using your badge:

1) SELL YOUR BADGE
Your badge is a sponsorship asset.

Some of our clients sell the back of their conference badges for upwards of $10k! Remember that your attendees are a rich, targeted market in front of which your sponsors want to gain exposure. Our classy, quality badges are kept long after the event and can become long-term impression generators for your sponsors.

2) SHAPE YOUR BADGE
A shaped badge allows you to accentuate your brand or your sponsor’s brand – to make it extremely authentic. A unique badge is more likely to be cherished, and is thus worth more to a sponsor.

Many of our clients accentuate their badge with add-ons like foil, UV ink, or cold lamination.

3) TRACK YOUR BADGE
Incorporate technology to allow on-site activation of your badge. Bar codes, redemption codes, and RFID all allow for your attendee badges to become the keys to unlocking highly-entertaining experiences at your conference (which means a greater return rate). Exchange contact info, tie into a photo retrieval system, and gamify your event – all while using the badge around the necks of your attendees.

4) CONNECT YOUR BADGE
NFC tags and QR codes allow your badges to be portals to exclusive mobile experiences. Give your attendees a post-event experience that will entice them to return.

5) COLLECT YOUR BADGE
Have your attendees bring their badges to your next event for exclusive access or special discounts. Encouraging attendees to keep the badge for next time will give benefit both to the attendees and the sponsors whose badges are being kept, expectantly!

Call us today to find out more about best uses of badges to drive revenue.

Ron Seaver, head of the National Sports Forum, said it most succinctly, “When it comes to putting on conferences, one of the most important things to us is making that great “first impression”. And for us, that first impression begins and ends with Access Pass & Design…simply put, they “get” it.”

Thanks Ron, and thanks to all our conference clients who use our badges to make that great first and last impression for their event!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

The 2013 Reno Pinewood Derby – Retribution

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Kyle

Today, Access Pass & Design will be competing once again in the Corporate Pinewood Derby at Reno Toyota put on by Dolan Automotive Group and the Boyscouts of America.

Last year our car hit the chop block, and while beating our trash talking garbage truck foes, the Glenn Group, we still were forced to endure the bitter taste of defeat, and it stung. After our loss, we went in seclusion, and immediately went into training, training that deserves an 80’s montage theme.

We stayed up for nights reflecting what went wrong, recalculating our math, aerodynamics, and double-checking our weight displacement equations. Our sleepless nights eventually paid off.

We found out what went wrong and spent the last year creating the future of Pinewood Derby cars. Today, we will be unveiling our sleek and sexy contribution to this time-honored tradition that is known at Pinewood Derby, which can be dated back to 1953. It is a true gentleman’s sport that incorporates science, advanced physics, master carpentry, and genuine frivolity. As it just so happens, our employees are masters at all of the above.

After demonstrating our knowledge of complex physics, wood crafting, and little plastic wheels, hopefully Reno Toyota will let us make some event passes for next year… ?

Want to challenge us to a race? Are you competing? Any good stories about your Pinewood Derby experiences? COMMENT BELOW!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

Featured Client: Bill Cracknell – Tour Director, HEART

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Cecil

1) As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Circus Boss. For real. My favorite movie when I was a kid was The Greatest Show On Earth. Charlton Heston played Brad Braden, the circus boss. He could do anything from rigging tents to settling the gate to treating sick animals. Be careful what you wish for.

2) How did you get started in the Industry?
Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. I was a bass player coming out of school in the 70′s and pursued that for a decade or so. Had some marginal success but eventually gave it up. Had gotten to know a lot of national acts over the years and got a call one day about filling in as a guitar tech with Molly Hatchet. 1990 I guess. Sounded like fun so I did it on a lark. Did well, fill in became permanent. Had my first TM gig about a year later. I’m still trying to get home from that Hatchet tour…

3) What is your craziest work-related memory?
Wow. I can’t go there. I’m afraid but let me peruse the list for something outside the statute of limitations and within the boundaries of good taste and decent society. Just kidding! I wouldn’t know decent society if it jumped and bit me in the heinie. My sister dated a guy in high school named Doug Heiney and his dad’s name was Harry. And speaking of good taste, I had a girlfriend once named Ginger Snapp. I don’t remember the question.

4) What advice do you have for people getting into your line of work?
Don’t go to work as a guitar tech for Molly Hatchet. I don’t know how good of a gig that is anymore. Things have really changed since I started out. Universities offer courses in tour management now! WTF?!? Can a university teach you how to write backwards in sharpie on a passed out rigger’s forehead in the front lounge? I think not. But there are more paths than ever it seems, though there was never a single best method. Work, watch, listen, learn, network, network, and network. You still gotta take your lumps, MBA or not. But if it’s in your blood and you’re not a half-witted oaf, you’ve got a shot at a pretty good run.

Thanks Bill for your candor and hilarity!
~Team Access

Follow us on Facebook and / or Twitter to learn more about the Access Pass & Design family: our team, our partners, and our fabulous clients!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

Featured Client: Joe Wunderlick – Marketing Manager, Anthony Travel

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Kyle

Joe Wunderlick – Anthony Travel
Anthony Travel is currently gearing up for the NCAA® Final Four® with approximately 10 of their university clients in the top 25 rankings. As the marketing manager, Joe coordinates with the marketing and event team to provide the best customer experience for their fan tours. With teams not advancing until a week before travel dates, Anthony Travel offers a full tour package to eliminate the hassle of planning travel.

Anthony Travel’s main two events are bowl games and final four. They also work with ESPN Wide World of Sports, U.S. Soccer, New York Road Runners, Ironman and over 45 universities including Duke University, University of North Carolina, University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to name a few.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A teacher and coach. My mom is a teacher and I loved the idea of having summers off. Sports have always been a part of my life and my father was almost always my coach. I admired him and his compassion to make sports more about having fun than competition, which sometimes isn’t the case.

How did you get started in the industry?
I graduated college and was looking for an exciting job in web and graphic design. Came across a sports travel agency…is there a better combination? Been working at Anthony Travel ever since and learned all about sports and travel marketing.

What is your craziest work-related memory?
Sending 10,000 fans to Ireland for the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game this past year. It is always a challenge working on tight deadlines around bowl games and final four but when you add in going oversees, the complexity only continues to grow! At the end, we were able to provide the trip-of-a-lifetime to thousands of fans…all wearing some amazing credentials and luggage tags!

How important is a high quality credential for leveraging brand assets at an event?
It is huge. Our guests wear their credentials 24/7 while on our tours, which on average are four days long. Collegiate fans are known for their loyalty, so being able to proudly support their teams’ colors is a must. Plus, we are able to customize with names and class year so they can easily connect with others.

What advice do you have for people getting into your line of work?
The sports and travel industry is great to be a part of. With diehard fans and experienced travelers, be prepared to be as motivated and excited as they are.

Thanks Joe for the interview and for your business!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

5 Takeaways from Canadian Music Week (aka “How to survive Toronto in March”)

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Cecil

1. First and foremost – Canada has some great musicians!

Canadian Music Week (CMW) is much like SXSW. There are hundreds of bands and close to fifty different venues, and the music takes place over the course of four days. It’s hard to take it all in, especially if you’re there to work, so research who you want to see beforehand. Toronto is a big city and the venues aren’t necessarily close to each other. Also – it’s cold.

On the flip side. Kayla dragged me to see some “skater punk pop” (up until then I thought that was some kind of soda). Turned out I really liked it. So going with the flow is good too.

2. Attend the Digital Media Summit – you’re already in Toronto after all!

The Digital Media Summit takes place in the two days leading up to Canadian Music Week. Tons of great insights into the future of digital media in music.

Nicola Smith (@Nicola_smith22) of Engauge gave a great presentation on the future of connecting the physical to the digital. Exciting – physical to digital is very much in the spirit of what we’re doing connecting our passes to digital experiences.

There’s some cool new tech out there that allows for really creative uses of location, social sharing, and physical / digital media (like digital paper for example). So, come a few days early, attend the Digital Media Summit, and stay ahead of the game!

3. It’s amazing how many artists go around without business cards.

Management – keep your artists stocked up on marketing materials. They may not realize that they are, by default, the CMOs of their careers. But everyone else does.

Musicians need to be savvy business people or they will continually miss opportunities.

4. Conversely – some artists got really creative with their marketing.

Jordan McIntosh (upcoming country music singer) BOUGHT A BOOTH. In a room full of vendors, a booth full of young, handsome, country musicians playing acoustic sets really catches the eyes and ears.

Kind of the opposite of guerilla marketing – and it worked.

Billy (Wilhelmina) the Kid (songwriter) had the craziest guitar case we’d seen. Hard to forget – and thus so was she.

Additionally, lots of artists are using our VIP backstage passes as merch items! Change VIP to “FAN PASS” and sell it. Or hell – leave VIP on there. Even if you’re not at the stage where you need security credentials, your fans don’t care – they’ll want a backstage pass anyway.

5. Exciting developments in the use of Location Based Services (LBS).

Like artists writing albums that are only available while the listener is physically within a certain location. Imagine walking through New York’s Central Park, listening to your favorite band’s music. The song changes as you move from the ice skating rink to the zoo. Crazy cool! Talk about a visceral way to connect fans to the minds of the artists!

That’s it!

But wait, as an encore (we heard you chanting it – don’t lie) here are some of the cool bands we stumbled upon at Canadian Music Week.

Ben Cardilli
BOY (Cecil really liked this one – go figure)
The Boom Booms (Kayla really liked them)
Madison Krebs
Savanah
The Treasures
Rachel Sermanni
Jordan McIntosh
Billy the Kid

Then there was this other band – The Pretty Unknown – all the way from Reno, NV. We couldn’t seem to get away from them

~ Cecil

p.s. many thanks to Heart for the tickets – fantastic show ladies!!!!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.