Planning a meeting or event can be very stressful. There are lots of little details that you have to follow and lots people with questions about every detail you've thought about and some you haven't. Providing identification for all your attendees is vital to the success of your event (learn more about event IDs in this blog post), but it can be a lot of work, too.

Creating ID badges for an event has several steps:
- Print name badges
- Assemble badges in badge holders
- Organize badges
- Attach lanyards

All these little steps can become a big obstacle to your planning if it doesn’t go smoothly!

We wanted to make it easier for our customers when they plan events, so we created the new EZ Meeting Kit. The kit simplifies your event planning by combining all the necessary ID badge items into one easy order.  My favorite item in this kit is the travel case which allows you to organize and sort all your badges ahead of time and transport them easily to your event location.


Sometimes, even the best made plans can fall apart, and the last few days (and hours!) before an event are extra crazy. If you need additional assistance with your event preparations, call the IDville team. Send us your attendee list and name badge design, and we’ll print, assemble, and organize the badges exactly how you need them. We’ll ship the completed badges directly to your event venue, too, so you don’t even have to worry about packing them.

EZ Meeting Kit for your next event to reduce prep time and stress so you can enjoy the event, too!

How do you simplify event planning? Tell us about it here!

When we introduced 95 new products earlier this month, we brought several new custom lanyard options to the IDville offering. I’m excited about these additions because it means we have more solutions to help our customers find the right identification option for their needs.

Custom lanyard are popular for meetings and events. For instance, my co-worker Cori, who writes on the Baudville Recognition at Work blog, is examining custom lanyard options for a family reunion this summer. Whether you’re planning a conference, workshop, or training event, custom lanyards are a great option. They provide all the functionality you need to display a name badge, and they also serve as a small souvenir of the event.

Our new custom lanyards provide several benefits for your event and identification needs:

 Smart Buy Full Color Custom Lanyards – Our Smart Buy lanyards provide the best value in custom lanyards. For as low as $0.79 each, our new Smart Buy Full Color lanyards offer complete customization. Add a logo, graphic, or image and have it printed on the lanyard in full color. With this new lanyard, you have endless design options.

 Big Event Custom Lanyards – If you’re planning a large event with hundreds or even thousands of attendees, the new Big Event lanyards are the solution for you. Choose from 16 colors, standard attachments, and breakaway options.  Plus, Big Event Lanyards ship in 10 days!

  Full Color Elastic Custom Lanyards – Completely customize your lanyard with a full color design on this stretchy and fun fabric. This lanyard only comes with a plastic O-ring attachment, so be sure to order badge holders with a clip.

 Sports Cord Custom Lanyards – For a more unique custom lanyard option, choose the new Sports Cord logo. Add your full color custom logo to the adjustable slide for a prominent brand display.

 Organic Cotton Custom Lanyards – These new lanyards are a comfortable and sustainable custom lanyard solution. Add a one color logo to make it your own. A perfect fit for environmentally-friendly events and organizations!

To find the right custom lanyard for your event or identification need, visit our Lanyard Wizard where you can browse all our custom lanyard options. Easily find the right lanyard based on price, design, or turn-around time!

Do you have questions about custom lanyards ? Post them here!

2012 is here, and we’re looking forward to a New Year filled with new products, new tradeshow appearances, new team members, and new customers!

Before we begin a new year of blogging, we wanted to recap the 11 most popular posts from 2011:

1. School ID Cards Improve Security
2. Designing Your ID Card
3. Top 10 Workplace Safety Tips for National Safety Month
4. ID Card Systems in Healthcare Protect Information and Improve Safety
5. ID Maker ID Card Systems Thinking Outside the Box
6. The Dreaded Employee ID Badge
7. Paper or Plastic ID Cards
8. Streamline School Processes with Student ID Cards and an ID Card System
9. Streamline Payroll Responsibilities with New Time and Attendance System
10. Top Ten Reasons for an ID Maker Identification System
11. Lanyards Keep ID Cards Visible for Back to School

What would you like to see us post in 2012? Share your suggestions for upcoming blog posts in the comment section of this post!



Here’s to a great New Year!

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Todd is an identification expert at IDville with over seven years ID Maker experience. Around IDville, Todd is known for his excessive coffee drinking, beautiful daughters, and impressive ping pong skills.

Back to school preparations are underway, and before you know it teachers, students, and staff will be headed off to school in the morning. Get your school ready by outfitting everyone with the proper ID badge accessories. Not at a school? Our lanyard recommendations can still help you determine which style is right for your organization!

The different schedules and responsibilities of school personnel requires different kinds of ID badge accessories to ensure ID badges are properly used and displayed. Lanyards are the most popular ID badge accessory for schools because they keep ID cards visible at all times, making visual recognition of students, staff, and visitors simple.

Here are our identification experts’ recommendations for school year lanyards:

Stock Lanyards for Students. Student identification is crucial to school security, but making sure students display their ID card can be a challenge. Stock lanyards are an affordable option you can choose to give each student a way to display their ID card. Be sure you add the breakaway function, however, to protect students from possible choking hazards.

Theme Lanyards for Visitors. Schools are a hub of activity, and visitors are constantly in and out of the building.  Protect your students and staff by requiring all visitors to wear a themed lanyard when they are in the building. The themed lanyards help adults in the building easily identify approved visitors.

USB Lanyards for Teachers. Welcome teachers back to school with a USB lanyard they can use to both display their ID card and carry important data. The USB lanyard has 1 GB storage and detaches from the lanyard for easy use. To make a special gift for the school year, customize your USB lanyard with your school name and the year.

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David is an IDville Identification Specialist with over seven years product and sales experience.  Around IDville, David is known for his new product ideas, sports knowledge, and experience as a catalog model (you may have seen him in a previous IDville catalog!).

Custom lanyards are a popular and affordable way to get your employees and students to wear their ID cards, but the creation process can be overwhelming! There are many decisions to make for even a simple lanyard, and it can be difficult to know what features are best for your needs. This post will be a guide for your custom lanyard order and provide valuable insight into lanyard creation.

• Quantity. How many lanyards do you want to buy? This will quickly narrow down the number of choices at the Lanyard Wizard.
• Budget. How much do you want to spend? The prices are per lanyard, but quantity discounts are available. 
• Timeline. When do you need the lanyards? Our Quick Ship Lanyards ship to you in just one day, but the Smart Buy Lanyards take 4-6 weeks. Be sure you choose the lanyard that will deliver your custom lanyard order in time.
• Style. Do you have a lanyard style preference? I personally like the Vivid Color Lanyards because you can match colors and the fabric is very soft. We also have Embroidered Lanyards and Recycled Lanyards if an eco-friendly option is important. 
• Size. What width lanyard do you need? If the lanyards will be used for a long period of time, I recommend our thicker styles for long lasting comfortable wear. 
• Breakaway. The breakaway feature on a custom lanyard is for security purposes. This style is typically used in manufacturing environments and elementary schools. You can read more about the breakaway in our Knowledge Center.
• Attachment. Standard metal attachments are available for all of our custom lanyards, and it includes a split ring, j-hook, and bulldog clip. Consider how you want the ID card displayed before making your selection. If you have a one-sided ID card, I recommend the bulldog clip because it won’t turn your ID card around.
• Length. Are you buying custom lanyards for children? Then you will want the child-size lanyard length.
• Design. What do you want your custom lanyard to say? You have many color, font and graphic choices, or you can add your own logo. This is the fun part!

That’s it! You’ve now created your custom lanyards!

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Todd is an identification expert at IDville with over seven years experience. Around IDville, Todd is known for his excessive coffee drinking, beautiful daughters, and impressive ping pong skills.

New this week, we’ve added 10 new products to the IDville offering. As part of our mission to stay current with emerging identification and workplace security trends, we’re introducing several innovative products. Here are a few of our personal favorites you should check out:

 USB Lanyard. Professionals in all industries rely on USBs to keep their data portable and protected. The new USB Lanyard makes it convenient to carry your data with you wherever your work takes you. The lanyard detaches to reveal a 1GB USB drive. This item can be valuable to teachers who can always carry class records with them.

 RFID Secure Badge Holders. With many organizations relying on smart cards to contain employee information and access control, it’s important to protect personal information from being stolen. As part of our new product offering, we now offer RFID Secure Badge Holders. The badge holder prevents identity theft by blocking RFID signals that can access the personal information stored on the card. ID cards easily slide out of the holder for scanning.

 Badge Reels. Fun and functional badge reels encourage employees to wear their ID cards at all times. For night shift employees, consider the Carabiner LED Badge Reel that shines a bright LED light at a push of a button. For a more light-hearted crowd, our Flashing Badge Reels are sure to be a hit!

Click through our online catalog or browse the website to view all our new products that will keep your people safe and secure.

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Dan is the IDville General Manager and oversees all product management and marketing for the IDville brand.  Around IDville, Dan is known for the catchphrase, "talk to me," his not-so-secret designer past, and his passion for Michigan State sports.