This is where you can print name badges with merged attendee data, based on previously created layouts. Learn more about creating a Name Badge layout.
To bulk print name badges, after selecting the "Name Badges" Express Action:
Select your pre-defined badge layout from the drop-down list.
Select the Filter option to search for the group of attendees you want to print badges for. (Select "Apply" to choose all attendees.)
Check the box for "Re-print previously printed records" if you want to enable this.
Check Limit Batch Size if you want to print badges in smaller groups. Enter the number of records you want to print in a single batch.
Choose an Order By option to set an order in which you want the badges to printed - for example, by ID number, Preferred Last Name, Company Name, or other criteria. There are four sorting options here, ordering by:
- ID number
- Preferred Last Name, then by Preferred First Name- Organization, then by Preferred Last Name, then by Preferred First Name
- Country, then State, then Preferred Last Name, then Preferred First Name
See notes below about Preferred names and sorting order.
When your sort order has been chosen, select the Start button to start printing.
Your badges will show in print preview mode, and you can then print them. When closing the print preview window, you'll see a pop-up asking if you want to record these badges as having already printed or not:
More about Preferred names
Sometimes, attendees want the name on their badge to be different to their legal name they registered with (for example, if they have a nickname they're known by in the industry, or a different surname if recently married or divorced).
In EventsAir, these alternative-to-legal names are called the "preferred last name" and "preferred first name". [Exhibitor Staff badges use these preferred names in all cases - search this help site for more information on staff name badges for people working on Exhibition stands.]
You can manually add a preferred last or first name to a contact record, or the attendee can do this when registering (if you have the fields on your registration site).
When printing multiple name badges using this Express Action, the "Order by" options are based on these preferred names. This makes it easier for attendees to get the badge that reflects their chosen name, even if their legal name is different.
More about sorting order for this Express Action
Two things to keep in mind regarding the "order by"/sort by option:
If the chosen sort order finds multiple records with the same value (including blank fields), the legal name is used instead (except for Exhibition Staff badges, which always use preferred name).
For all fields, the sorting order will treat blank fields as being at the beginning of the alphabet.
Therefore, if you choose "Organization" as the first sorting field, and you have 2 attendees with a blank "Organization" field, those badges will print first, followed by all the rest sorted in Organization alphabetical order (and for anyone who has the same organization, by preferred last name, then by preferred first name; or if no preferred names exist, by default last name, and first name).
To think of this another way, if you've decided your primary sorting field is Preferred Last Name, and only two contacts have preferred last names, those two will print last. This is because all the 'blank' preferred last name fields will be treated as coming 'before' the other two. For any contacts without a preferred last name, they'll be sorted by legal last name.
If you don't want to use this options, you can instead add a sorting field to your actual name badge layout. When editing your name badge, add the Sort Field to the band (often the detail band) that your information is in:
If you use this method, don't choose a sort order when printing the name badges - just leave it as "please select".
Selected Records tab
After filtering, you can look under the Selected Records tab to see a complete list of the attendees this Express Action will be applied to.
You may see slightly different buttons underneath the list as those that appear in the image above, depending on the Express Action you're using.
You can use all the Selected Records, or just pick out some from within that list.
To exclude individual records, manually deselect them. You can select them again to include them if you change your mind.
When you're happy with the list, press the "Start" button to start the Express Action (you can also do this from the Details tab).
Save as Data Snapshot
You’ll see this option under the Selected Records tab.
A Data Snapshot captures, or “remembers” the results of a search or report filter so you can re-use the data later. (If you want to save the filter itself, to search on it again later, use the save filter function.)
Read more about using Data Snapshots in this article.
Note: Save As Data Snapshot saves the results, not the selection criteria. Any Attendees added after you made this selection are NOT included, even if they match your original filter criteria. If you want to save the Selection Criteria (instead of the results), use the Save button inside the Filter screen.
