Conference Lanyards - Guide to choosing the best lanyards for Your Event
Conference lanyards are an unsung hero at many successful conferences, trade shows, and events. More than just a convenient way to carry badge holders and event badges, conference lanyards help deliver the branding and messaging you want your event to be remembered by.
The right conference lanyard will do more than hold an attendee’s name badge. A great lanyard can create a lasting impression of your event or organization, one that lives on long after the last catering table has been cleared.
Lanyards are also useful for:
Identification & Security – Making it easy to spot attendees, staff, speakers, and VIPs.
Branding & Sponsorship – Helping to enforce your brand identity, or even providing advertising space for event sponsors through custom lanyards.
Convenience – Keeping attendee badges easily accessible.
In this guide we’ll explore the many different ways conference lanyards can help improve your event and why it’s important to choose high-quality lanyards.
We’ll explore how to choose a lanyard, from choosing the material, features, colors, and branding, to seeing how you can elevate your event experience using custom lanyards.
How to Choose a Lanyard For Your Event
There are so many lanyard options on the market, each with different features.
Type of Lanyard
Lanyards come in a few main flavors:
Solid loop — where the lanyard is a one-size fits all loop that fits over your head with a badge holder at the end
Adjustable loop — a tied loop with a drawstring or not that can be used to shorten the lanyard
Breakaway lanyards — where the lanyard has a clip that breaks away if pulled
Breakaway clips are useful for quickly changing badges or when your event has physical activities that could snag a regular lanyard, as they offer a little more safety. They do sometimes make it easier to lose your lanyard though, so bear that in mind when you’re making your choice.
Clipped lanyards generally feel more premium than solid loop lanyards though, and that can have an impact on how your attendees view your brand.
Type of Badge Holder Clip
There’s also a wide range of clips to hold your badges or badge holders. The type of clip will impact the price, comfort, and security of your lanyards. Conference badge holder clip types include:
Alligator/Bulldog Clip —these are similar to jumper leads clamps you might see in your car, only smaller. They’re a toothed, spring-loaded clamp that grips the badge or badge holder. They’re usually cheaper than other options, but offer security and strength.
Lobster Clip — think of an oversized jewelry clasp and you’re on the right track. Lobster clips are circled clips, usually with a thumb-operated lever to open the clip and thread through the hole on a badge.
Standard/Oval Clip — a standard oval clip, sometimes called a j-hook features a closed oval with one side that moves to allow you to thread a badge onto it. This simple design is lightweight and secure.
Clip accessories and upgrades help make badge clips more user friendly, they include:
No-twist Clip — a double-ended lanyard that grips your badge in two places to prevent it twisting. This set up can be combined with any of the three standard clips above.
Swivel Clip — a swivel hook has a rotating holder that spins freely so your badge always points forward. Swivels can be combined with other clip types too.
Retractable Lanyards — these are used more for security tags than event badge holder lanyards, but a retractable lanyard is useful for compact ID badge holders.
You may also see breakaway clips used to hold badges for events.
Often, highly secure metal clips are bulkier and less comfortable than smaller plastic clips. The right choice for your next event may also depend on the type of conference name badge you use. A card or paper badge in a plastic card holder will require a different clip from a printed plastic hard card.
Lanyard Materials
Lanyard materials vary widely. Natural fibers are more expensive but also more premium and comfortable. Stitched materials allow you to accent your lanyard color more easily. Printable fabrics make it easy to apply custom, full-color event branding or logos to your event lanyards.
Common lanyard material types include:
Cotton — a natural and eco-friendly option with a premium price tag.
Neoprene — a weatherproof option
Nylon — affordable, smooth, and comfortable, nylon is also popular because it’s easy to color
Polyester — a mix of comfort, printability, and durability
PVC — an expensive, but durable heavy-duty material
Satin — a surprisingly durable option that makes any custom logos or graphics really pop
The choice of materials can have an impact on the cost of your lanyards, but can also help you present a high-quality image to your guests. Polyester lanyards are among the common options because they represent a good blend of premium, versatile material and cost.
Natural woven materials like cotton are long-lasting, comfortable, and allow you to create spectacular designs with stitching
There are also many eco-friendly lanyard options, including bamboo and recycled PET. These sustainable materials are increasingly popular for special events, especially in a world where environmental responsibility is a key consideration for major organizations.
The biggest American event industry body, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has committed publicly to using eco-friendly lanyards in an effort to support environmental sustainability. And, some of the best cities for conferences require organizers to show their commitment to sustainability, which eco-friendly lanyards can help with.
Lanyard Colors and Graphics
Beyond choosing a pre-dyed solid color lanyard, you can also add custom color, printing, or logos to your lanyard. The two main ways to color custom lanyards are:
One-color imprint
Full-color dye sublimation
Dye sublimation is often more expensive, but it offers the ability to bring on both sides of the lanyard, and offers more options.
You might choose different color lanyards for different groups, different days, or even different categories of people during your events. For example, staff, attendees, speakers, or special guests might all have different colors.
Some special events allow vendors and exhibitors to sponsor lanyards, helping reduce the cost and improve the professional look and feel of the event.
Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing Lanyards For Your Special Event
Now that we’ve covered some of the different types of conference badges we can offer a step-by-step guide to ordering your lanyards and name badge holders.
Here’s how:
Identify the type of event you’re holding. These questions will help determine the next choices you make, so consider the following:
Indoor vs outdoor?
Active versus static?
Large or small?
Will you have many different groups or just one large group?
What is your budget?
Choose a coloring Will you need custom logos or graphics? Or will a simple solid color with some limited custom printing suffice? Select the color types you’ll need
Choose a materialThe material should be robust enough to handle your event, but also fit your budget. It should also allow the type of coloring you need.
Choose attachments Choose how your badge holder will affix to your lanyard. Clips will vary in strength, security, comfort, cost, and style. Choose one that suits your event needs. You may also need safety features like a breakaway clip or convenient tools like retractable cords.
Order your lanyards Once you know what style and features you need its time to order your lanyard
Add this guide to your conference planning checklist template Excel sheet or document to help get the right lanyard for your next conference or event.
Common Lanyard Pitfalls to Avoid
Because lanyards can seem like one of the small details of your event it’s easy to overlook them. Common mistakes with lanyards and ID holders include:
Ordering lanyards too late: Custom lanyards can take time to manufacture and ship. As a general rule, the earlier you plan this step, the less you’ll spend and the better your results. Planning lanyards early can also give you time to find sponsors or exhibitors who will help share the costs.
Using the wrong material: Outdoor events require different materials to indoor events, and some materials are less durable than others. If you have a multi-day event in outdoor conditions you’ll want a material that’s long-lasting and weather-proof.
Using the wrong clips: The pairing of badge holders to lanyard is important. Flimsy cardboard badges will be damaged by alligator clips, and plastic ID holders might be difficult to use with small j-hook clips.
Failing to check the printing: Even the best design ideas can fall flat if there’s a quirk of the printing or design practice you didn’t consider. Make sure you get a mock-up or better yet, a prototype of your design to prevent awkward mishaps.
Insecure clip types: Reddit has many examples of convention attendees who’ve lost ID cards or event badges as a result of insecure lanyards and clips. This is important if your event has restricted access or personalized badges that aren’t easy to replace.
Choose ConferenceBadge.com For All Your Badge Holder Needs
At ConferenceBadge.com we’ve supported thousands of organizations big and small to create high-impact, effective events. From single-day corporate retreats to helping Techo-Bloc create 16,000 badges within days, we are a proud partner for any conference planning team.
We offer a range of plain and custom lanyards from a wide variety of materials, and we know how to pair the right lanyard and badge holder with your event.
Need more guidance? Contact us or use our convenient help center to help you with your lanyard design and ordering.
As well as lanyards and badge holders, Conferencebadge can also develop QR code badges for any event - sign up now or request a quote!
Conference Lanyard FAQs
What are event lanyards used for?
Event lanyards are a kind of “neck wallet” that not only helps identify the wearer, but also holds important items like ID badges, name cards, or even event details like searching charts of conference room layouts or event agendas.
How can I customize event lanyards for my specific needs?
You can order custom lanyards from ConferenceBadge.com with different materials and printing, or even specific attachments to suit your unique needs.
What is the recommended size for conference badge holders?
A good size for conference badges is about the size of a passport holder. This is big enough to hold a large name tag, event map, and other information, including coupons or special information inserts from vendors.
How do I design event badges?
It’s important to consider the information you want your badge to display, for example: the event name, the attendee name, and maybe even QR codes for events that help link guests to your event webpage or guest directory.
Add a separate task in your conference planning app to remind you to focus on the event badge and lanyard design early for best results.
Where can I buy eco-friendly conference lanyards in bulk?
ConferenceBadge.com has a range of eco-friendly lanyards available online, including custom bulk orders.
How do I know if my event lanyards were good?
You can find out if your event lanyards were received well by making it one of the post-event survey questions. In fact, sometimes, asking an unusual question like “did you keep your event lanyard” can help spark more thoughtful responses to your survey.
