Business conventions are marvels of modern logistics and event planning. Not only are you coordinating the venue, speakers, vendors (and everything else), but you’re also trying to make sure everyone has a good time. There are catered dinners, branded decorations, convention-hosting partners, and dozens more things we couldn’t possibly list. And to top it all off, you’re running half a dozen tables covered in nametags and facility maps to welcome guests as they arrive and direct them toward whatever aspect of the convention interests them most.
In all this mess, the one thing experienced conference, and convention hosts learn is that it pays to have a few extra printers around. Sure, the venue probably has a printer in the lobby and another in the back office, but keeping your convention running smoothly is all about flexibility. And to stay flexible at a massive business event, you need printers.
Nod along with us as we run down the six very good reasons to have a few spare printers on your registration tables and strategically stationed around the event. You’ll know where we’re coming from immediately.
Lost Access Passes and Guest Passes
Guests lose their badges and access passes all the time. They take it off because the lanyard scratches or to adjust their outfit, and it’s gone when they look back. Or they tucked it in a jacket then lent that jacket to a friend who went back to the hotel room. You know the drill, you’ve heard it all before. And rather than denying your guests access to this paid event, it’s so much easier just to print them up a new pass, slip it into a plastic badge sleeve, and send them back to the festivities.
If your convention allows guests to arrive and pay at the last minute, this solution is equally useful to welcome even more attendees than managed to RSVP. From disorganized industry professionals to significant other plus-ones, it pays to be able to print up an extra guest pass on the spot with all the accesses the new attendee is ready to buy.
High Demand for Maps and Programs
Maps and programs are also a great reason to have a few printers available. Many conventions provide a printed map of the event areas and speaker auditoriums when guests arrive and collect their badge. But if guests can’t hold onto their access passes, you can be they lose their maps with a quickness. Not only will attendees come back for a new map (sometimes three or four times), but more than just the registered guests are going to want to snag a map. Soon, all your assigned and spare maps and event programs will be gone, and there will be requests for more. Of course, it’s useful to have a printer to create as many extra maps as you need on the spot.
Supplemental Access Forms
Do you have scheduled events or attractions that require an extra form to participate? Sometimes the best activities at your event require a little paperwork to enjoy These pages include waivers, signed safety notices, or written permission to use photos of them for promotion next year. If your event has activities that require paperwork to participate, those printers are going to come in handy again. There are always a few guests who forgot to fill out the form online, or their form was incomplete, or they suddenly want to sign up once they see the attraction live. With a printer, you can quickly create any specific access form needed the moment a guest makes their request. Having printers handy in this situation is far superior to a stack of backup papers because spills and surprising demand can both easily happen at a conference
Mid-Event Schedule Changes
Sometimes schedules change. Perhaps a speaker comes down with a cold, or there’s incredible traffic setting back their schedule by half an hour all day long. Or perhaps a kitchen disaster has delayed your catered luncheon by an hour, but the meal is still on. Guests can handle delays with a little forwarning, and that warning is best delivered as paper to all who would have attended or likely would have attended. When you need to post schedule changes that happen partway through the event, often the smoothest way to handle it is with a quickly re-printed schedule posted on all relevant signage. Plus, perhaps, a clever SMS message to attendees to make sure they adjust their plans accordingly. For important corrections, it may also be worth your while to print up extra flyers and hand them to every person who passes by or leaves a speech previous to the schedule change.
Last-Minute Corrections to Handouts
Two hours before a scheduled presentation at your convention, a staffer runs up and points out that the last name of the star has been misspelled in the handout. This could be an embarrassment and a fiasco in other circumstances, but you have five event printers on the job. A quick correction to the original document and half an hour of printer humming later, your team is ready to pass the corrected handouts to attending guests with no one the wiser. The ability to make last-minute corrections is vital to a coordinated event planning team working together. You may not even know that a fact listed or a name spelled was incorrect, but with printers, you can quickly make it right the moment new information is introduced.
Available On Request for Anything
Last but not least, with additional printers stationed around your conference, you are ready for anything. Whether a guest wants their own personal copy of every handout at the conference, a speaker drops out and must be replaced at the last minute, or a few dozen guests need new access passes throughout the event, you’re ready for it all. Along with the unexpected potential uses for those printers as well. Make one available via wifi for your guests’ own printing needs, encourage the food vendors to print their special dietary menu options, and anything else that might come up along the way.