[Rick TYler]

One frustrating thing about all competition events is the certain knowledge that I am walking right past people I have chatted with on CD and in email, and don't know who they are. At most trade shows the participants wear "credentials" (which usually just means they've paid) showing their name, company, and city in a plastic cover on a lanyard around their necks. Some of the lanyards have safety quick disconnects so that they come apart if caught in something. I would LOVE to have this become a tradition at FIRST events so that we all know who each other are. At FIRST these might have:

NAME
Primary role (student, mentor, coach, volunteer, FIRST employee, etc.)
Team identification (team name and number, NEMO, FIRST, volunteer, etc.)
City, state and/or province and/or country

Frequently these credentials are a sponsored item, with a company paying for the privilege of distributing lanyards with their marketing message on them (like "GENERAL MOTORS," "US AIR FORCE," "ANDYMARK," or "WPI ROBOTICS"). It's both a fund raiser and a great way for us to know who we are seeing.

Some people keep them as souvenirs, as the event name is usually printed along the top edge. I don't keep all my old trade show credentials myself, as I would have to clean out the robot parts storage locker to hold them all...

Thoughts?