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Ruby Passport
Organizer's Guide

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This is a guide for conference organizers.

The Ruby Passport is a fun way that event organizers in our space can work together to create an ongoing experience for the Ruby community as they travel from event to event around the world.

The idea: a realistic passport where attendees collect stamps from Ruby events they have been to.

Adrian from Avo in collaboration with Amanda Perino, Marco Roth, Adrien Poly and others are the ones making this possible for the community.

As a conference organizer you can receive passports to give your guests and prepare a cool booth for them to activate them.

TL;DR

The Ruby Passport is a very memorable happening you can do at your event.

  1. Make a stamp for your event
  2. Give your guests the Passport and tell them to fill it out and claim it
  3. Take their headshot photos and add them to the passport

FAQ

Do we need to pay to get into the program?

No, the Ruby Passport program is completely free for event organizers.

Do we need to prepare with something?

The main thing is to have an event stamp made. Everything else is optional but recommended for the best experience.

What do I do with the left-over passports?

Keep them for your next event or return them to us. We'll work with you to manage inventory.

What to do as a conference organizer?

You can use the Ruby Passport to create a memorable experience at your event.

Have an event stamp

This is the bare minimum that you can do β€” have a stamp made for your event. It can contain the name of the event and your logo/logomark. If your event is a recurring one, you can have a stamp for each year.

This will ensure that your guests will leave with a nice, in-real-life artifact from your event.

Also, this is the place where you can go wild. Add text, logo, logomark, make it dual-color, have a date stamp… go wild and impress.

πŸ“‹ Stamp samples

Ensure the guests have a passport

To get "the best bang for your buck" is to ensure your guests get a passport.

During such events, most folks are in this "wondering" mode, and finding their friends and focusing on other things, so they need some help to get started with the Passport.

1. Hand it to them at the reception desk when you hand them the badge

… and tell them: "Please claim your passport by scanning the QR code or tapping it with your phone", and "get your stamp on at the next booth/table" and have a separate booth or table where they can get the event stamp.

More on this on the Embassy section.

2. Don't have piles of them laying around

This has to be the anti-advice. Leaving piles of them lying around on a table for them to take it.

This will ensure that nobody will touch them, and nobody will know what to do with it.

Have a way for guests to print their photos

Another nifty little thing is to have a way for guests to take their photos, print, and stick them on the Passport.

This will ensure a better stickiness and a better experience for them.

Hire a photo booth

The simplest thing you can do is hire a photo booth which you can also brand in your event visuals. It's also the recommended way for events larger than 300 people.

The guests would have their photo taken and immediately printed for them. Most photo booths have photo paper with an adhesive back.

Plus, the photo booth will most likely be there the whole day and your guests will have so much fun using it.

Improvise using a camera, stand, and photo printer

If you have a smaller budget you can improvise by using a camera on a stand or handheld, then transfer the photos to a laptop, tablet, or straight to the printer.

It's a slower process but it will get the job done and will get those smiles going.

PS: Don't forget to have adhesive photo paper or double sided sticky-tape for them to stick it to the Passport.

Have a mock "Embassy" desk

If you want to impress the crowd, create a special Embassy desk where they can fill in mock forms and have mock government workers "give them a hard time" while they try to get their Passport stamped.

The desk should have signage like "The Ruby Embassy" and "Get your paperwork in order before the next event" or other funny messages.

There, you should have the stamp, photo gear, and plenty of pens and sharpies.

Each passport has a blank "Date and conference of issue" field. This is where you can leave your mark and on the next page, be the first to place the stamp on their unofficial Ruby document.

Mention the Passport in your previous communications

As time goes by, more and more folks will have passports, and it's important not to leave them at home, so make sure you write in your updates (email newsletters, tweets, and other social posts) to bring theirs.

A simple "Oh, chuck your passport in the backpack now so you can collect the stamp at our event" is sufficient.

The stamping booth

As previously mentioned in the Embassy section this is where you help the guests fill in their passports, add your stamp, and send out good vibes.

Don't forget to have:

  • Pens & sharpies
  • Event stamp
  • Stickers

Mention the Passport on stage

Another great way to make sure they are properly used is to mention them on stage in the opening when everyone is around.

The things they need to know are:

  • each person gets a passport
  • they can get their photo taken and added
  • they can claim it online by scanning the QR code or tapping with their phones

If Adrian is at the event, he can do that on stage for two minutes.

How to get Passports for your event

We'll work on making this process more straightforward, but for now send an email to Adrian:

βœ‰οΈ adrian@adrianthedev.com