13,000+ On-site Registrations:
How Beck’s Uses On-demand Badge Printing and Check-in At Its Largest Annual Event.

Photos from Becknology Days™ Source: Instagram, X, Beck’s

Beck’s is the largest family-owned retail seed company in the United States, serving farmers across the Midwest and beyond with a commitment to research, innovation, and personal service.

Every August, Beck’s hosts Becknology Days™, a series of educational and appreciation events that brings together and celebrates the farming community, exploring groundbreaking concepts, and sharing the latest insights and products. This multi-day event includes seven regional events that draw 1,000 to 1,500 attendees each, and a flagship event at Beck’s headquarters in Atlanta, Indiana, which welcomes over 13,000 attendees across three days.

Becknology Days offers a unique combination of hands-on product demonstrations, insights, and personal engagement—along with a famous free meal!

The Challenge: Flexible, Fast On-site Registration & Badge Printing

Becknology Days also presents unique challenges from an event check-in and badge printing perspective. The events are 100% free and 100% day-of, walk-up registrations — meaning thousands of attendees arriving in a short window each morning needing to register for their badge. This requires a flexible, reliable badge printing solution capable of handling high-volume at high-speeds, while still delivering a professional and personalized experience for every guest.

Previous to switching to Expo Pass three years ago, Beck’s was printing individual name stickers for each attendee. While that process was fine-tuned and very fast, it was rigid and lacking in terms of actionable data collection. Plus, as Mike Mehringer, Senior Event Strategist at Beck’s put it, “The badge, the lanyard, every part of it — it makes it look more official than a sticker on your chest.”

Source: Facebook

Beyond the first impression of professionalism that comes with the on-site badges, the badges themselves also provide a unique keepsake for attendees. Toby Ripberger, another Senior Event Strategist at Beck’s, adds: “We give badges to everybody. All family members. The children think it’s a pretty big deal that they have a lanyard and a badge and it has their name on it.”

Tackling up to 4,000 registrations in a single morning at the main Becknology Days event is a distinct challenge. Expo Pass’ technology team worked hand-in-hand with Beck’s to meet their unique requirements and make the process as smooth and efficient as possible.

Source: Instagram

Added Value of the Expo Pass Event Badge Platform

Going into their fourth year using Expo Pass, Beck’s is seeing the tangible benefits of collecting better data at their events.

“Having those databases helps us a lot with speed and being able just to say, ‘Hey, good to see you this morning, Phil.’ And just start typing that last name — it pops up, and hit print,” says Ripberger.

Beyond the day-of experience, they’re also able to put their attendee data to use later. “Being able to send emails to those folks whose information we had of, ‘Hey, thanks for joining us on Wednesday,’” continues Ripberger. “We have so many people at once, we have a tendency of not seeing everybody that’s there. So we’ve been able to go back over the list and go, ‘Man, I didn’t see Phil there last Friday. I should, next time I see him, make sure I mention that I really appreciate him coming out to the show.’”

Reliability and Quality

Beck’s is known for their extremely high standards and doing (almost) everything in-house. As Mehringer puts it:

“We do everything in-house. We have our own data center that hosts all our own data… Every sign that you see printed across the whole country that says Beck’s is printed in house in Atlanta and then shipped… Our trucking is all our own trucks with our own truck drivers because we don’t want you having a bad experience when the trucker shows up. All our pilots, all of our planes are owned in-house, managed by our own people… We don’t want to be renting anybody else’s stuff.”

In regards to bringing on Expo Pass for their on-site badge printing and registration:

“Using your equipment and using your stuff means that it’s working pretty well for us. Because they would much rather buy our own equipment and make our own stuff. So, I think it’s a testament to how it’s worked.”

Additional Benefits

Mehringer also notes, “One other thing it has helped us with is having the ability to have lanyards differentiate between a dealer and a guest… Or have one that says [they’re] in our President’s Club. Different ways to differentiate those people… and be able to make you stand out a little bit more.”