Cindy at AE on the Verge hit one of my hot buttons with this post about the unreadability of name badges. I don't know when the super-long lanyard became standard, but it does make it downright impossible at times to see the badge. And I don't know about you, but I'm not real comfortable with staring intently at someone's chest to try to catch a glimpse as it plays peek-a-boo with a jacket.
Mike offers the "socially optimized badge, which is a step in the right direction, but still not there yet. I like one of his commenter's suggestions to just do away with the badges and print everyone's name and affiliation on show t-shirts--not only does this get rid of the badge problem, but it also makes it easier to figure out what to wear (sort of like school uniforms, eh?). But somehow, I doubt this will fly for most conferences (though if the shirt is cool enough, who knows? I loved the shirts Canada was giving away at PCMA this year, and am kicking myself for not stopping by to snag one for myself).
I'm up for ideas on badge reform--what can we do to make a better name badge?