Last week at the Comventures Connections Summit I was impressed and relieved when the name badge I was issued listed my name in a large font with bold letters:
CHRIS
No, I haven't changed my last name from Sacca. Instead, a conference organizer finally got smart about optimizing standard issue laminates for their intended purpose – to actually facilitate introductions and dialogue.
As someone who attends dozens of confabs a year, I am continually frustrated and amazed by the absurdly small fonts and minimization of participant company names on name tags. I keep each of them I have ever been issued, and as I thumb through the stack, the consistency of hard to read print across them almost seems conspiratorial.
I don't want to sound insincere or shallow on this point. However, when I am at a networking event, its hard to make conversation on the basis of someone's last name alone. “Gutenstein, eh? I had a Gutenstein in my first grade class. Well, he wasn't so much in my class as my younger brother's . . .”
Instead, the most salient discourse is going to result when you and I have an inkling of what the other does for a living. We can certainly segue from our business underpinnings into any number of fulfilling topics. However, the fact you work at Facebook, or Wired, or SONY gives us a lot to talk about right off the bat. If I don't recognize your company name, maybe I will stop to ask out of curiosity. Either way, it gets us off on a productive foot.
So, please, conference hosts, let's put big bold letters on badges. Thanks!