32,000 sustainable badges for HSBC's roadshow
Conference Badges provided VIP event registration and name badge solutions for a well-known global sponsor at one of the world’s leading international art fairs, in both the UK and the USA.
The audience at each event comprised up to 5000 guests, including very high net worth individuals, stakeholders, dignitaries, guests and sponsor staff.
The brief was to make it simpler for VIPs to access a sponsor lounge area, upholding the sponsor’s brand experience while ensuring other visitors were easily identified and refused access. This would keep the VIP lounge running efficiently when it mattered most.
Data integrity was imperative, while maintaining a system accessible enough that no invited guest would be turned away.
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Challenge: Deliver a first class arrival experience, with short arrival windows, unpredictable flow, and ever-changing invitee lists
The art fair attracts collectors, partners, and VVIPs; many arriving within tight peak windows of time where first impressions are made or lost.
The event registration team was tasked with handling:
– Up to 5,000 VIP passes per event, printed and issued at check-in
– Late additions and alterations to the guest list, often just minutes before arrivals
– Management of side events access
– Peak-arrival-window pressure: no queues or errors
– Instant VVIP recognition, which means that the guest will have a special meet-and-greet before they get to the loungeÂ
– Consistent delivery across countries and venues, with returning VIPs expecting the same experience every time Â
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Solution: scan and print VIP registration with real-time VVIP alerts
To ensure VIP’s experienced an arrival moment they would remember, Conference Badges set up an automated personalised alert system. When a guest arrived, an alert would be instantly relayed to the appropriate relationship manager (RM).Â
As many of these RM’s were present in the lounge, this allowed them to come and greet their most valued clients at the lounge reception.
For less familiar guests, the alert system also provided a useful aide-memoire for the RM to ensure they greeted them correctly. This proved particularly effective if a guest brought their spouse or a family member, avoiding any embarrassment of not remembering their name.
Result: 15 years of consecutive service
The effective implementation of the onsite systems and consultative approach that Conference Badges employed with this project has resulted in being re-employed as the registration systems provider for 15 consecutive years.
Benefits to the sponsor:
– Concierge-style arrival experience for all valued guests, helping to enhance the client relationship
– Real-time visibility of exactly who has arrived, and when, with reports fed into CRM database
– No wasted badge due to no shows, as badges are printed on arrival
– Fully compostable premium badges, printed in under 5 seconds.
– Fast re-entry to the lounge
– Every pass accurate to the moment of arrival, not the moment the list was exported
– Registration that scales instantly during peak periods without extra staff briefings
Consistent across continents
The same core workflow is deployed across UK and US venues, creating consistency for sponsor teams and returning VIP guests who expect the experience to feel familiar wherever they are.
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Successes: 15 years of results
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Metric | Outcome |
| Check-in speed | Under 10 seconds per VIP, including peak periods |
| Pass accuracy | Near-zero reprints despite frequent late guest changes |
| Pre-print waste | Eliminated through onsite production |
| VVIP recognition | Instant – no missed meet-and-greet moments |
| Client retention | 15 consecutive years as the sponsor’s registration partner |
Due to engaging with Conference Badges for such a long period, the workflow improved year on year, but the fundamentals stayed the same: fast, accurate, and calm under pressure.
Conference Badges operated as part of the sponsor’s hospitality team, not as a supplier waiting for instructions. This involved anticipating issues before they arose, taking complete responsibility for the registration process, and handling each VIP arrival with care, diplomacy and precision.