Collect-onsite

With collect-onsite badges, nobody gets a badge in the post or prints one at home: attendees queue at the registration desk, give their name or show their QR code, and leave with a badge. The badge is either pre-printed and filed alphabetically or printed on the spot. The model works well when the badge comes with a coloured lanyard, a holder or pre-printed artwork that no one could make at home, and it fails when the desk is understaffed for the rush before the opening keynote.

UK suppliers offer collect onsite beside print-at-home and print-on-arrival badges; US organisers say badge pickup or onsite badge pickup. Staff the desk for the peak rather than the average, since arrivals bunch before the first session, and keep a separate lane for walk-ins and name changes so they do not hold up everyone else.

eventcloud covers both halves: print badges from the dashboard before the doors open, one attendee at a time, or print each one at the Badge Kiosk as its owner arrives, checking them in as it prints. Coming soon: batch printing from the dashboard.