The Best Ever Conference offers a community space for real estate investors looking to enrich and expand their networks, a crucial element of their jobs. While it started with around 150 people, it has expanded to 1,000+ people in less than a decade. This rapid growth outpaced certain planning practices, forcing the company to adapt quickly.

Check-in is a principal challenge faced by every event planner. When Kristen Rae Lodahl joined the Best Ever Conference as the Event Master, she experienced how chaotic this challenge can become. This motivated her to find a better, more “seamless” solution to badge printing and check-in.

After discovering Expo Pass during a Google search, she decided to give our service a try. Our on-site badge printing made a radical difference to the 2023 Best Ever Conference, so much so that she worked with us again for this year’s conference. We spoke with Kristen about her experience with our on-site badge printing and how it elevated the conference for attendees, staff, and the planning team.

The Challenge: 1,000+ badges.

When she joined the company, Kristen adopted her boss’s previous check-in strategy. A different event management company provided them with a template for pre-printed badges, a typical method for event check-in.

“They give you an Excel spreadsheet, and…you can pre-print your badges and then lay them out on a table and let the person come up and grab their badge,” she explained. In 2022, following a virtual year, the Best Ever Conference experienced an unexpected influx of eager attendees, which highlighted the flaws of pre-printed badges.

“It was a mess!” she declared. Guests overwhelmed the check-in table, searching for their badges and requesting name corrections due to errors, which had to be completed by hand, slowing down the process and requiring more staff than necessary. The stress from 1,000+ attendees scrambling for their badges made an impression. Kristen was determined to find what she described as a more “seamless” strategy.

The Solution: on-site badge printing.

As the 2023 conference approached, Kristen looked for a better way. She found Expo Pass and was drawn to our on-site badge printing service. It appeared to check all of her boxes. “We were looking for a seamless experience, being able to edit onsite; we were looking for it to be fast, and you guys were providing all that. So, I signed up.”

What we provided:

• 8 iPads

• 4 printers

• 1 router

• Remote support

We delivered and picked up the equipment, so all Kristen had to worry about was unpacking and repacking. On-site badge printing simplifies check-in by allowing attendees to print their badges and, if necessary, make quick changes before the badge is printed, reducing waste and saving time. As long as you have a WiFi connection, the service works anywhere.

By signing up for Expo Pass, Kristen hoped to prevent the chaos she’d experienced during the 2022 Best Ever Conference.

The Impact: a stress-free check-in.

While initially intimidated by the new system, her anxiety quickly dissipated due to the efficient packaging and intuitive set-up. “I couldn’t have been happier. I opened it up, and the instruction manual is right there.”

“I loved that the boxes were organized,” she continued. “The iPads were in their cases, so you don’t have to worry about them being broken.” Kristen particularly appreciated how simple we’ve made the user interface. The only accessible apps are the two used for on-site badge printing, reducing the guesswork.

As it turned out, she didn’t even have to use the instructions. Her support call was scheduled for that time, so she hopped on with one of our specialists. “He walked me through everything; it was seamless. Plugging in everything, how you guys have everything perfectly labeled. It couldn’t have been easier.”

Kristen was able to set up the on-site badge printing by herself. It was that easy. All the equipment was rigorously tested to ensure optimal working conditions and pre-programmed for immediate use. Kristen saved time and the usual set-up headaches!

Year 1

In their first year using Expo Pass, Kristen and her team received tons of positive feedback from attendees who appreciated the simplified system. She even referred a few attendees to our company for their own needs. The service represented a 180° turn-around from the previous year. According to Kristen, “no longer than like a minute were they (attendees) at the stand.”

Year 2…and onward

In the second year, they reduced staffing needs thanks to the efficiency of on-site badge printing and its ability to empower attendees to complete check-in with minimal assistance. “It’s dwindled every year,” she explained. They also made use of our lead retrieval services, which supported their network-focused audience with quick capture leads.

The best-ever check-in at the Best Ever Conference.

Using on-site badge printing from Expo Pass, Kristen delivered fast and efficient check-ins for 1,000+ attendees in 2023 and 1,500+ attendees at the 2024 Best Ever Conference. She’s returned to Expo Pass because of our efficiency, helpful staff, and seamless badge-printing experience. But there’s another, more important reason.

“You care about your customers,” she explained, “which is super important, and I feel like it is lacking everywhere today.”

We offer innovative event planning solutions, it’s true, but we do it with heart. Our customers and their events drive us to maximize quality every year. Stories like Kristen’s, about happy attendees and relieved Event Masters, are why we do what we do.