Spring traditionally kicks off the construction season here in Wisconsin, and this year our own pc/nametag® building is in on the action. To keep pace with our growing business, we’re expanding our office space and warehouse by 3900 square feet each. The additions will allow us to have more people on hand to help you plan your meeting and to keep more products in stock so we can ship them to you fast.

As a growing business we’re also looking for people to fill some key positions at pc/nametag®. We currently have openings in Sales Management, B2B Sales, Product Development and Purchasing. To learn about these new opportunities and to apply for a position, visit our employment page.

In a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal, one of the front-page stories bore the headline “What’s In a Name Badge? Tag Snobs Glad You Asked.” Naturally, we were thrilled that our favorite meeting essential was in the spotlight, and then got even more excited to see that pc/nametag® owner & CEO Nick Topitzes was quoted in the story.

Commenting on the trends he’s noted since founding our company in 1985, Nick said that recently customers have been requesting larger badges that allow them to print logos and ads on the front and an agenda on the back. “People like that feeling of a big badge,” he was quoted as saying. “They feel like a rock star.”

Another popular practice noted in the Wall Street Journal is attaching a number of ribbons to a name tag. One professional speaker and author admitted to stacking so many ribbons that “I’m usually leaning towards one side as I’m walking down the hallway.”

Meeting planners should take special note of one point made in the article: “Some say that the quality of a badge often predicts, with incredible precision, the quality of an event.”

We were also glad to read that some people who attend meetings frequently like to collect them. One former event planner said he has a collection of almost 200 dating back to 1977.

Do you have a collection of name tags from past events? If so, please send us photos of it for possible posting on our blog.

We all have them. Those secret, ingenious things that can get you through any meeting mishap. Your fellow meeting planners are eager to learn from your experience.

Share 3 or more tricks-of-the-trade (photos encouraged!) by May 31st, and you’ll be eligible to win a pair of our new OneWay® Plus Name Tag Cases. It’s never been easier to pack, ship and display your name tags.

There are lots of ways to join in the fun. Enter here, post your tips on the pc/nametag page on Facebook, or share them on Twitter and tag @pcnametag.

Contest Rules & Regulations

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

How to Enter the Contest

a. Pc/nametag “Meeting Must-Haves” (“Contest”) will begin on or around Noon CT on Friday, May 17, 2013 and will end on or around Midnight CT on Friday May 31, 2013 (“Contest Period”).

b. To participate in the Contest, you may enter via the following methods:

Submit an entry via the form here: Meeting Must Haves Form.

Post your 3 must-haves to the pc/nametag page on Facebook: http://facebook.com/pcnametag

Post one or more tweets containing your must-haves and mention the @pcnametag username in your tweet

Eligibility Restrictions
The contest is open to all legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia who are 21 years of age or older and the age of majority in their place of residence and have a valid e-mail address. Void in where prohibited or restricted by law. Employees of pc/nametag, and the members of their immediate families (spouse and parents, children and siblings and their spouses) and individuals living in the same households of such employees are ineligible to enter or win. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

One very appropriate way to celebrate National Name Tag Day on March 7^th is to wear a name tag. We’re fine with that: in fact, we’d be happy to supply as many as you want! But since that day is so significant for our company and our fellow meeting planners, we’ve come up with an additional, fun way to observe the Big Day.

We’re having a contest that gives you a chance to be witty and maybe put your mark on name tags proudly displayed around the world! Send us your idea for the next, must-have stack-a-ribbon® title.

Among the over 650 titles we already have are lots of smile raisers, like “I STOLE YOUR THUNDER,” “DETAIL DISORIENTED” and “MY RIBBON IS BETTER THAN YOURS.” Maybe you’re thinking you could do better: go for it! We’d love to add your winning entry to our list. 

To enter our contest, send us a clever, attention-getting word or phrase (under 30 characters, with spaces) 
that complies with pc/nametag’s personalization standards.

The author of the best entry, as chosen by a panel of pc/nametag® staff, will win the Grand Prize of a 100-pack of stack-a-ribbon® awards featuring their winning title!

Entries must be submitted by March 15th. We will announce the winners and post contest entries on our Facebook page by March 30th.

We look forward to reading your entries and hope you have a Happy Name Tag Day!

In the current tough job market, it’s good to be in a profession that still offers opportunities. So here’s news that should make meeting planners happy that they planned their careers so well.

A recent article on the website salary.com listed “Meeting/Event Planner” as the fourth fastest-growing job in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In fact, the BLS is predicting more than 31,000 new event planner positions will be created by 2020: a healthy increase of 43.7%.

According to the website’s article, only Home Care Aide, Biomedical Engineer and Physical Therapy Assistant are growing at a faster rate than Meeting/Event Planner. Note: these top three are all jobs related to health care, a field getting a boost from the aging population and their increasing demand for health services.

Meeting/Event Planner also appeared on another salary.com list, “8 Jobs You’ll Love That Pay $50,000 A Year.” The website suggested that you will enjoy being a planner “If you’re a creative, organized individual who is business-minded but who also wants to hone their inner Martha Stewart.” Whether or not you agree with that assessment, no seasoned meeting planner would argue with this caution about the job: “Just remember that as the event organizer, every little problem that arises is yours.” And that’s why meeting planners are indispensible!

What have you read or heard about the job prospects in the field of meeting planning? We’d like to know if other sources are as optimistic as salary.com. Please share your information with us so we can include some of it in a future blog post.

Not everyone can make a good presentation at a meeting. Maybe the post-event evaluations of your own presenters have already convinced you of that. For further proof, consider “An Open Letter to Event Planners,” an article recently published on the website ihaveanidea.org.

Written by Michael Weiss, a self-described “presenter and professional speaker,” the article opens with a critique of the presenters he heard at a conference at which “many of the attendees were from the biggest consumer brands in the world.” His expectations of the speakers were high, but they fell far short of them. Reading slides verbatim, making statements sound like questions and using too many small-type bullet points per slide were among presenter missteps that prompted Weiss to turn his attention away from the speaker and to “Angry Birds Star Wars.”

Insisting it’s not hard “to qualify a good presenter,” Weiss proceeds to tell planners how:

• “Go see them speak!” – Ideally in person but at least in a video. You’ll see not only how they present but, more importantly, how the audience responds to them.
• If you can’t see them at least meet them – Determine if your would-be presenter is animated, passionate, able to tell a story, comfortable looking you in the eye and well dressed.
• At the very least, get “reviews” – “Find out where they last spoke and call your fellow event planners for a review.” Also, ask for their feedback forms.

Weiss concludes his letter with the good point that “because of TED and other super-smart conferences” that everyone can see online, “the audience’s expectations are higher than ever.”

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How do you select the presenters at your meetings? What tips do you have for finding dynamic, engaging speakers? Send us your ideas so we can post some—and help make attendees forget they even have cell phones during presentations!

Those of us in the business have long known that meeting and event planners are “behind the life of a party.” And now after reading that job description in a recent story in JSOnline, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s website, scores of people in all walks of life also know the key role planners play.

The article was a Q and A with Shaely Morgenroth, a program manager at Meetings & Incentives, a meeting management company in Caledonia, Wisconsin.

Morgenroth clearly has the gumption required of a good planner. When asked, “Have there been any strange requests you haven’t been able to meet?” she replied, “No, ” explaining that whatever is requested of her, she’ll “try to make it happen.” For example, when an attendee arrived at one of her events from Bogota, Columbia, to find that her luggage never left that city, Morgenroth helped her shop for clothes and track down her bags.

She also possesses the successful planner’s knack for surprising and entertaining attendees. While working at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, she arranged a company meeting at which the COO arrived on a motorcycle, dressed in full Harley gear, while fireworks went off overhead.

Articles like this one from JSOnline make readers aware of meeting planning as a career option and suggest how they can break into the field. For instance, Morgenroth suggested taking classes to find out what planning’s all about, landing an internship in the field and, for starters, “planning a party for one of your friends and seeing if it’s something you like.”

Have you read any good articles about meeting planning lately that would help readers learn more about our profession? Have you been featured in such a story or written one yourself? If so, please send us the links to the articles so we can share some of them in a future blog post.

We at pc/nametag® are proud to have been selected by In Business Magazine as one of “Greater Madison’s Best Companies To Work For.”

We’re especially pleased because the criteria used by the Madison, WI-based magazine was employee benefits, which have always been one of our top priorities.

“When evaluating employee recruitment and retention, there is no greater reflection of a company’s values than its employee benefits,” the article announcing the top companies stated. “So, for our inaugural list, we placed all of the emphasis on employee benefits. In other words, this recognition is not about fancy facilities or buddy-buddy management.”

Among the benefits that In Business evaluated were 401(k) plans and profit sharing, child care (flex time), paid time off provisions, life and disability insurance, transportation reimbursement and employee training and education.

One reason we provide good benefits, of course, is to attract the best people to work at pc/nametag®—people who will make it easier for our customers to plan their meetings. In other words, we always want to be a “best company” to order from, too!

Jobs with great benefits & more!
If you or someone you know would like to join one of the “Best Companies To Work For,” check out our current opportunities and generous benefits.
We’d love to hear from you!

What is your resolution for 2012?

For meeting planners, looking ahead and making to-do lists come with the territory. So we wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve made some professional resolutions for 2012.

Sue Pelletier, Web editor of MeetingsNet and editor of Medical Meetings magazine, has posted her meetings resolutions posted on her blog face2face. Among her resolutions, Pelletier plans to make meetings smaller, teach speakers to facilitate learning, engage attendees’ senses and find ways to include online audiences. The comments on her post also contain some helpful suggestions, like engaging attendees before your event through social media.

What do you plan on doing in the coming year to make your meetings more effective and enjoyable? We’re very eager to hear about your resolutions so we can share them with your fellow planners here on The Registration Line.

Our OneWay® Small Meeting Name Tag Kit is a timesaver we always recommend

Meeting planners, who have to work fast most of the time, really shift into overdrive during this busiest season of the year. Now that time is of the essence, any way of saving it helps.

One timesaver we always suggest to planners is our OneWay® Small Meeting Name Tag Kit. It contains everything you need to make name tags for 50 attendees: 50 vinyl name tag holders, 60 paper name tag inserts and our OneWay® name tag case. So you cover registration, storage and display all in just one click,
saving time when you order supplies. (And you can do all starting at just 52¢ per attendee.)

If you want to add lanyards to your name tags, we offer two other kit options: the OneWay® Small Meeting Name Tag Kit Plus, which includes a premium lanyard with a breakaway feature (from $1.02 per attendee), and the OneWay® Sporty® 2 Small Meeting Name Tag Kit with our no-spin Sporty® 2 necklace (from $1.36 per attendee.

But we know you have to do a lot more than assemble name tags during this crunch time. So we™d like to know how you have learned to save time on meeting-planning tasks to get them all done. Please tell us and your fellow planners what tips you have for speeding up any or all of these to-dos: assembling name tags, organizing your registration table, registering attendees, categorizing attendees, unifying the graphics on all registration materials, printing materials on-site and getting supplies delivered to your event.

We look forward to receiving your responses and posting some of them here on our blog!

A meeting is one occasion when people want to be labeled

Labeling, better known as classifying or categorizing, is a good thing for attendees because it helps them quickly connect with each other and get right down to their common business interests. In other words, categorizing is key to the main purpose of a meeting and to making it a success.

For example, when an attendee wearing a name tag with a Buyer ribbon meets another one with a name tag indicating Exhibitor, the buyer can start a conversation by simply asking, What do you sell?

Because we know how important this kind of speedy networking is, pc/nametag® offers many good options for designating who’s who at an event. You’ll find name tag holders and inserts with title and color bars. Our exclusive stack-a-ribbon® awards with over 650 titles. And for grouping attendees by color: necklaces like the Sporty® Name Tag Necklace and the Budget 2 Name Tag Necklace, and for upscale events, pouches like the Quick Pick Name Tag Pouch and the Mighty2 Pouch.

Also on our website is our exclusive video about classifying attendees featuring our sales representative and former meeting planner Jeanne, who says that how to categorize is the question that customers ask her most frequently.

We hardly claim to know everything about categorizing. Since there are so many options for doing it and so much interest in the topic, we’d love to know how you classify attendees. What have you found that works, and what have you tried that doesn’t? Have you received any feedback from attendees on what they like best?

While attending countless meetings over the years, I couldn’t help noticing a big need for better registration products. And since necessity is the mother of invention, pc/nametag® has developed a host of exclusive products that make registration easier.

There are numerous procedures to go through at the registration table, so we’ve focused groups of products on simplifying the key ones. Just getting large quantities of registration items to a meeting is a challenge. So just for this purpose we’ve developed our own: OneWay® Name Tag Case, Redi-Reg Deluxe Badge Case (for name tags and pouches up to 6′ tall), the Big Show Rolling Badge Case (wheeled luggage that transports up to four OneWay® cases) and the Badge Org System Binder for magnetic badges.

The OneWay® Name Tag Case and the Redi-Reg Deluxe Badge Case serve the additional function of displaying name badges on your registration table, and clearly alphabetize them when you add our laminated Alpha Tags. Other attractive display items include our Rotating Stand for lanyards and pouches, Slip-in Sign Holder and natural Wooden Name Tag Organizers.

When you have to make to name tags right on the spot, our new Datamax® On-Site Printer produces 4 x 3 name tags that look anything but last minute. Then you can save time by placing them in our pre-assembled Pret-a-Sporty® Name Tag Necklace/Holder Combo, classify attendees with our stack-a-ribbon® awards and make sure our lanyards fit attendees of all heights with our new Lanyard Length Adjuster.

In addition to all these exclusive registration products, we’ve also created our own Transportation and Organization videos to show the best ways of using them.

Keep your registration table organized with exclusive products

Click on this button to Start Customizing

If you’ve done any shopping online, you know how convenient it is to go to a website on your own schedule. Now pc/nametag® is further utilizing the power of the Internet to give you 24/7 access to a tool for customizing your imprint on over 500 items.

The real beauty of our Customizer is that it gives you so many options for your imprint and text yet is so easy to use. Just upload your logo and then play with the possibilities! You can quickly change the colors and other features of your imprinted item and immediately see each variation. Be as particular as want because it doesn’t take long at all to make your item look just right.

Even if you haven’t worked with an online tool like the Customizer before, don’t worry about making a mistake or spoiling your order. We examine every custom order very carefully and will contact you if we have any concerns about producing your item exactly as you’ve indicated.

Besides its creative features, the Customizer also has budgeting benefits. Whenever you add an option you see the cost of it in real time.

Once you’re completely satisfied with your custom design, it can serve as an online sample that you can show your boss for approval right away. But remember what hour of the day it is: unlike the Customizer, your boss may not want to be available 24/7. CLICK HERE to visit pcnametag.com today and Start Customizing!

Introducing Instant Inserts – Let us do the printing, personalizing and sorting.

We have a new service at pc/nametag® that offers meeting planners obvious benefits for a very affordable cost. Basically, it’s a time-saver that even saves you the time of doing a cost-benefit analysis.

Instant Inserts takes care of key tasks you have to do for every meeting: we print, personalize and alphabetize your name tag inserts. The printing immediately shows you what a great value this service is. Instead of four-color process imprinting, we use cost-saving, full-color digital imprinting to reproduce any custom design you send us.

As demonstrated in our video, you simply upload your logo and attendee list. We deliver trimmed, 4″ x 3″ paper name tag inserts with professional-looking logos and attendee names all for just 35¢ per insert with a set-up fee of only $40. And the minimum is just 24 inserts.

Check out all our New Products for 2011!

Instant Inserts is just one of many new products and services at pc/nametag® this season. From our Datamax on-site printer that produces high-quality, 4″ x 3″ inserts to a protective case designed especially for magnetic name badges to a very practical lanyard-length adjuster, you’ll find hundreds of new ways to make your job easier on our website and in our new catalog.

And in the new star feature on our website pages, we invite you to rate and review our products so we can make sure each one delivers an obvious value to you.

New E-Tech Padfolio fits e-readers and tablets with ease

As in so many other industries, innovative technology has had a significant effect on meetings and events. And we’re pleased to introduce “next generation” meeting supplies that will appeal to attendees at your next event.

Like the cell phone about 10 years ago, e-readers and tablets are becoming must-haves companions for increasingly more and more meeting attendees. Recently Corbin Ball, a meeting-technology consultant, wrote on his TechTalk blog that this trend will continue, as new mobile applications are developed for agenda management, registration, attendee poling and more.

At pc/nametag® we’ve introduced a new padfolio for carrying and protecting these valuable devices. Our E-Tech Padfolio features a section with adjustable Velcro® corners to fit e-readers of varying sizes. The E-Tech closes up securely with a full zipper, too.

New Power Play Necklace is a sleek alternative to elastic

We’ve also added some fresh new updates of longtime meeting basics. The sleek, rubbery Power Play Necklace is a contemporary, minimalist alternative. It looks chic, feels comfortable and even has the popular breakaway feature for quick release.

Like the Power Play Necklace, the new Executive Track Badge has a sophisticated low profile. It’s made with a patented double magnet that prevents twisting, so text on the badge is always aligned for easy reading.

Meetings are so multifaceted that we’re continually finding ways to improve them with innovations that could make your next event your best one yet.

Watch for this icon to find our green products

With all the paper and other supplies required for a  successful meeting, can planners be successful environmentalists too? At pc/nametag®, the answer is a resounding yes! We can help your event have a good impact on both attendees and the environment. And we’ll even tell you how going green can also benefit your bottom line.

The growing Eco Products section of our website contains items in the major categories of meeting supplies that are made of earth-friendly materials; recycled, biodegradable or organic. So, for instance, you can quickly put together an all-green combination of insert, holder and lanyard.

In our catalog, these Eco Products are indicated by the leaf symbol up above.

We also offer a wide range of products that are not made of specific eco-friendly material, yet are made so durable that can that they can be reused meeting after meeting. Like our Permanent and Reusable name badges, for instance. Buying items with that kind of longevity lets you avoid frequently replacing them and consuming more resources used to make them.

This brings us to another type of green: dollars. The reusable quality of all pc/nametag® products, whether officially “eco” or not, saves you the costs of repurchasing items that quickly wear out. That’s the kind of “going green” that helps keep your business in the black.

Badges stay in place with our OneWay® Name Tag Case

No matter what hotel your meeting takes place in, you can be sure that the management has paid a lot of attention to the lobby. Why? Because that’s where their guests will form their first impression of their facility.

Likewise, planners should do all they can to make their registration table look organized and welcoming, since that display will determine attendees first and lasting impression of your event.

In fact, at pc/nametag® we consider the registration table so important that we’ve developed several exclusive products to make it look its best. They’re designed to help you tastefully “set the table.”

Since name tags tend to spread out and practically take over a registration table, keep them contained and well organized with our OneWay® Name Tag Case. At home before the meeting, get your badges in order inside the case, which then protects them during shipping to the event and serves as an ideal display case.

Our Wooden Organizers hold every size holder with style

Another way to class up your table is with our Wooden Name Tag Organizers, made of fine domestic hard woods.

To make a good, efficient first impression, use our Alpha Tag Set or Mini Alpha Tags to alphabetize name tags and speed up registration.

Loose lanyards and pouches can clutter up a table too, but not when you neatly hang them on our Rotating Stand.

Finally, registrants will immediately be impressed with your concern for the environment when they see our Name Tag Recycling Box on your table.

Watch for this logo to start customizing today!

Playing video games isn’t the only way to have fun online. Even when you’re doing a key aspect of planning a meeting, ordering imprinted products, you’ll enjoy playing with the possibilities offered by our Customizer tool.

Play is the operative word here, as you’ll discover when you use the Customizer to see your imprint on any of the over 500 products that now offer this tool. Once you’ve uploaded your logo or other image, you can play with the color options for your imprint and product and instantly see how they look on your screen.

With some of our products, you can also experiment by placing your imprint in different locations and adding various lines of text.

Changing the way your items looks is almost as fast as changing your mind. Just make your new selections and click on “Update Preview.”  You won’t have to spend time wondering what the cost of adding features will be, because clicking on “Update Subtotal” shows you a running total of charges as you add options.

With a visual tool like the Customizer, a picture really is worth a thousand words. So go to any product page on our website with the Customizer symbol and see for yourself.

Have fun!

We\’ve expanded our selection of note pads and journal books!

People who attend meetings regularly rarely have to buy a notepad. That’s because even the most thorough note takers among attendees rarely fill up all the pages of the note pads, journals and padfolios they are given at meetings. So they end up with a good supply of writing paper at home.

Meeting planners will find lots of items attendees will hold on to in our expanded selection of notepads and padfolios. What other meeting giveaways are so well used both at the event and afterwards? Imprinting one of these items keeps your name top of mind among those who receive them and gives your logo plenty of exposure in all the places they go.

And now our line of products for note taking has something for meetings of every purpose and budget. Many of them come with a pen, which is another useful keepsake whose imprint gets high visibility. One of our new pad-and-pen sets, the Daily Jotter Set, is priced as low as just .89. Our other options range from a notepad with business-card window and a pen loop with a pen included; our best-selling Large Poly Folio that features an accordion-style organizer with five tabbed sections; and the Elite Padfolio made of textured polypropylene with woven trim.

Although these days most meeting attendees are well-equipped with digital devices, pen and paper still play a key role in the meeting hall and beyond and on the meeting planner’s list of necessities.

Registration Envelopes in Their Entirety

You could just call it a good alternative. Here’s why.

First off, we have nothing against tote bags. At pc/nametag® we sell quite a variety of them, and they all handle meeting handouts and more very well.

We also offer a wide selection of envelopes, including some large-sized ones designed with ample cargo space plus accordion-style organizers, roomy compartments and special pockets. Many of them are made of sturdy, colorful, translucent material that holds up to numerous events.

After you’ve walked some meeting-hall floors with our envelopes, you realize they can do the job you’ve relied on totes to do in the past.

The main difference between our two types of carriers is that our envelopes are more compact. And that can be a good thing when you’re trying to work your way through a crowd of attendees.

Like so many other products that meeting planners need, the selection of a totes and envelopes depends a lot on the type of event and personal preference. That’s why pc/nametag® offers such a huge selection of meeting-registration supplies. There’s something to suit everyone, and we think you’ll call that a good reason to shop with us.