If you are planning an event and you don't have name tags, shame on you.

And shame on you even more if you are hoping to turn the event into a business opportunity.

Because the name tag, like the business card, is an opportunity for you to differentiate your firm, tell your visitors that you care about them, and help connect like-minded people.

That's three birds...with one label.

And, if I haven't shamed you enough into doing a little bit of legwork upfront, I'll share this anecdote from my sister's wedding.

She sent me a list of names in an Excel file from which to mail merge and print labels.

Of course, I couldn't let it stand "as is" and suggested that she add one phrase to make the name tag a talking point and icebreaker.

With 200 people coming to the rehearsal dinner, this was no small feat, but they committed themselves to doing it and as a result, hit upon the Eureka moment of successful marketing.

Thanks for the inspiration. 
We have decided that you can go from generic to awesome with about 20% more work.
We're trying to do it every place we can.

So, if they can do it for their wedding, can't you do it to convince someone to buy from you?