Inspired by https://twitter.com/alexhillman/status/1625947358235136004

If I were going to organise a business conference or event (which I plan to in the next few years—organising events is one of the situations I’ve identified where I feel most fulfilled, in flow, etc in life), what name tags would I use?

I’d say the goal of the name tag is to help quickly scan for some information about who a person near them is. And I think it can also be an opportunity to break the ice / encourage fun interaction between strangers.

And I think the best implementation of that I’ve ever seen is the t-shirts at uni freshers bar crawls. They were fun, well designed t-shirts with a space for name, what you’re studying, and then a checklist of challenges to encourage interaction. And then Sharpies everywhere for writing your info, checking the boxes, and any other writing or doodling on each other. Typically “do a shot with someone who ………”, but this could also be adapted to “talk to someone who ………” or “find someone new and ask them about ………”. With a couple of adaptations to the specifics I think this would make for a fun and effective alternative to name tags at a business conference.