Why I Hate Name Tags

With apologies to @NameTagScott, who claims he even wears a name tag to bed and whose blog I find inspiring, I hate name tags at networking events and business meetings.

Let me say that I’ve always hated name tags. However my reasons were different when I was young. Back then, I hated them because I thought they weren’t “cool.” And I had a hard enough time trying to appear cool without adding to it the indignity of a name tag. To me it communicated, “Look here. Here is my name on this tag. I'm wearing this because I'm the biggest dork on the planet, and this is so you don’t have to stoop to ask my name. Cuz I know you don’t want to do that.”

And that certainly wasn’t the message I wanted to send. I wanted someone to take one look at me and be fascinated enough to ask my name. Either that or just ignore me altogether. So I hated wearing name tags; I thought not doing so made me cooler.

BTW, here’s a fun little name tag story. Not long out of college, I worked for a while as an admin for a political lobby. One evening the entire staff attended a fundraising event, and numerous local politicians were in attendance. Well, one rather famous local politician must have agreed with me about the name tag thing, because she wasn't wearing one and . . well . . stupid me, I didn’t recognize her. And I asked her name. And there was sort of a gasp around me! So she told me who she was, and I have to admit, it was quite the faux pas; I should have known her. But ever quick on my feet, I yanked my proverbial foot out of my mouth by quipping, “Oh my goodness, the photos in the paper don’t do you justice!” But I digress.

I've matured since then, and I no longer view name tags as a cruel plot to render me the absolute least cool person in the room. I acknowledge why people find them useful, particularly at networking events – which I attend a lot of these days. I think the rationale is that it gives people a role – their name plus their business. It enables people to note other attendees, and their businesses, even if they don’t have time to talk to them all. And I wear them when I must.

However, I still don’t like them, though for a different reason. It’s no longer about being cool. It’s more about my memory – which, ahem, isn’t what it used to be.

I have discovered that if you are wearing a name tag, I probably won’t remember your name!

I think the mechanism is that without a name tag, I ask your name, I repeat it a few times while we chat, I make a big effort to lodge it in my memory. But when I can "cheat" by just reading your name, I don't do those things. And 10 minutes later, I may not remember your name because I relied too much on the name tag and didn’t make the same effort to store it in my memory. And I’m guessing I’m not as memorable to others, either. 

In fact, I'm continually amazed that in a room full of folks wearing name tags, more often than not, people don’t even bother to introduce themselves! I'll approached someone, put my hand out and said, “Hi my name is Daphne,” and get an odd, quizzical look as though to say, “Well yeah, I can see that honey!” But I digress again.

Perhaps I have this advantage over some when it comes to name tags. I’m not shy, haven’t been in years. I have no difficulty mingling around a room, walking up to a stranger, introducing myself and starting a conversation. Perhaps my shyer follow networkers find that name tags ease the way toward meeting people, and I’m sympathetic to that.

But personally, I’d rather not wear them, and it's not about being cool. It's simply so that I have a better chance of remembering who the heck you are the next time we meet!