While perusing the web for the latest name badge and conference badge news, I came across an interesting topic the other day about event badges or conference badges, originally answered by Danielle Di-Masi for startupsmart.com, whereby one of her fans asked:

“At functions, which side do I put my name badge?”

At first I thought; it’s an event badge, worn for a few hours, does it really matter? There’s the left, and well, the right! You’re not going to put it in the middle are you! (I suppose you could…) But in fact, Danielle makes a very good point as to why it does matter, even more-so for events or conference badges.

“Placing your [conference] name badge at the upper left side of your jacket, shirt or work dress allows the person you are meeting to read your name easily; as you shake with your right hand it opens up your left side of your body to see the badge clearly.”

Let’s consider a few images taken by the Londonlaunch:Learn team at their very successful event at Paramount Club on Monday evening… (Thanks to @paramountsoho @londonlaunch)

The lovely Alex and Antonia from BIG Badges, doing it the 'right' way, both badges on the left chest area...

Juxtaposed with the image below...

Excellent view of the name badges, so thanks to these two ^ But how many people may have missed that guy's name due to his name badge placement? We all know what events are like, especially as it gets later and the drinks flow more freely.

However, here at BIG, we have to commend him for showing off his event badge prominently and confidently! In this case, it's good that the event badges are on opposite chest areas, as the camera picks them up both beautifully. I'd say this man actually has his event badge perfectly positioned height wise, though I understand it may not always be that simple for the female conference attendees!

Two lovely ladies very happy to be pictured with Ciaran Williams, Team GB Handball captain. Notice one of the ladies has her badge down by her waist, or waste (sic) because no one will see it down there! Perhaps it was just for the photo ;)

Who's got the best look and positioning and why?

Do you have any strong opinions on where you place your name badge at an event or conference? Let us know on Twitter @bigbadges or on our Facebook page.

Credit trackback for this article to http://www.startupsmart.com.au/management/2011-03-24/at-functions-which-side-do-i-put-my-name-badge.html