It starts as a simple request: “I lost my badge. Can I have a new one?”
Depending on your policy, you might have a simple solution or a complex one. One method could be frustrating for guests, while another could be troublesome for you. Ensuring a smooth process for your employees and a trouble-free process for your guests is paramount to creating an enjoyable event experience.
However, if you’re not careful, that lost badge could allow an uninvited guest to slip into your event unnoticed.
Fixing that security issue before it starts while maintaining an excellent event experience can seem impossible. However, we’ll take you through the process to show you how to ensure your event is both secure and satisfying.
Replacing a Badge: Your Options
Some event managers prefer a no-replacement policy. They reason that most event attendees are adults who should be able to keep track of their own badges.
However, if you’ve ever lost anything in your life, you know that no plan is foolproof. And if you have ever accidentally damaged anything, you know that planning backups for emergencies is always the best practice.
Sticking to the no-replacement policy is not only unfair to many guests who have genuinely lost or ruined their badge, but it’s also a big turn-off for attendees. Many of them may read your policy and decide that the cost of your event isn’t worth attending. The potential for losing or damaging their badges simply makes your event feel too risky.
Alternatively, you can require a fee for badge replacement. While this helps you recoup some of the cost of badge printing, it can leave a sour taste in your guests’ mouths. Before considering this route, ask yourself: is this questionable customer service practice worth losing positive reviews and repeat attendees? Nearly every time, the answer is no.
How to Provide an Enjoyable Experience
To give your guests the best experience, you should replace their badges at no extra cost. If you’re worried about the cost, remember that you can save a significant amount of money and resources by using on-demand event badge printing software instead of pre-printing your badges.
In addition to offering free replacement badges, making sure your badge printer can replace an attendee’s badge in seconds is paramount to providing excellent customer service.
Potential Security Threats
While you always want to give your guests the best experience possible, you also have to ensure that you don’t compromise your event’s security. When you issue a replacement badge, the original lost badge could be found by someone else and used to access your event.
As if that situation isn’t scary enough, you could also lose a lot of money this way. It’s a safe bet that someone using a lost or stolen badge didn’t pay for a ticket. Everything the stowaway accesses—sessions, beverages, food, swag, and more—comes straight out of your pocket.
How to Secure Your Event
As soon as you print a replacement badge, you should invalidate the original badge. This is essential to not only save you money and keep your event secure but also to prevent fraud.
Invalidating the original badge means completely locking it down. Someone who has access to the original badge should not be able to:
- Gain access to your event or any sessions within your event
- Register for any sessions
- Connect or network with other guests
- Share their badge’s lead information with vendors
Additionally, when a guest asks for a replacement badge, your management software should display whether that guest has already registered or received one. This can help mitigate any fraudulent attempts to gain access to your event.
Ensuring all these factors run smoothly takes powerful event registration management software. Your system should note every registrant, every attendee, and every guest with a replacement badge. It should also immediately lock down the original badge to keep your event secure.
Keeping Your Event Secure and Enjoyable
“Security” and “fun” go together like oil and water—meaning they generally don’t go together well at all. No one likes dealing with security measures, but it’s a simple fact of life nowadays that keeping your event secure is essential.
However, maintaining security at your event doesn’t mean you have to compromise on its enjoyable aspects. In fact, as an event manager, finding ways to make your event both enjoyable and secure should be a top priority.
Preparing for potential issues is a crucial part of providing both safety and enjoyment. When a guest loses or damages their badge, enforcing a no-replacement policy is a poor way to ensure security. On the other hand, allowing replacements without taking the proper precautions is a recipe for an unsecured event.
One way to ensure top-notch customer service at your next event is to use robust event management software that can handle any guest mishap, including lost badges. With the right system, you can ensure that your guests have an amazing experience while keeping your event locked down from any unwanted security breaches.