What do you do with badges after the event?
Reuse them, if you never locked them. That is the decision that matters and it is made before the event rather than after. Either way, void every identifier the same day, because badges leave the venue in pockets and stay valid otherwise.
Void them the same day
Badges leave a venue in pockets, bags and bins. Some will be kept, some will be found, and a few will be presented at your next event.
An identifier that still resolves to a valid record is a credential in circulation. Voiding them all at the close is a single operation in the event system and it closes that entirely.
Do it even if the badges are being destroyed, because you cannot be sure all of them were.
This costs nothing and it is the step most often forgotten, because the event is over and everyone has gone home.
Reusing the badges
An unlocked badge can be erased and rewritten, or simply reassigned in the system if the content is a generic address.
With the mirrored identifier approach, there is nothing to rewrite at all. The badge is already generic, and reuse is purely a database matter.
Collect them at the exit if you want them back. A visible bin with a sign recovers a useful proportion, and a member of staff asking recovers far more.
Inspect what comes back. Badges worn on lanyards for two days are creased, and a proportion will not read. Verify them before they go into the next stack.
If they were locked
They cannot be rewritten, permanently, so their content is whatever it was.
If that content is a generic address, they remain reusable as identifiers and only the system assignment changes. That is the case worth arranging.
If the content is personal to an attendee, the badges are finished and they are also a privacy problem: a locked badge carrying someone's details cannot be erased.
Which is why event badges should not be locked. There is no benefit that justifies it and two real costs.
What reuse actually saves
The chip and the card, which is the cheapest part of a badge programme.
Not the printing, since the visible face is usually personalised and has to be redone.
Not the lanyard, holder or accessory, which is often the larger line and which people keep.
So reuse is worth doing where badges are generic on the face as well as in the chip, and it is close to pointless where every badge carries a printed name. That is a design decision made before the first event, and it decides whether reuse is a saving or a sorting exercise.
Frequently asked questions
Should event badges be locked?
No. There is no benefit that justifies it, and it prevents both reuse and erasing personal content afterwards.
Do I need to collect the badges back?
Only if you intend to reuse them. Voiding the identifiers is what matters for security, and that works whether or not the badge comes back.
Is reuse worth the effort?
Where the badge face is generic, yes. Where every badge is printed with a name, the printing is the cost and reuse saves little.
What about badges that were never handed out?
They are unassigned and go straight back into stock. Verify them with the rest before the next event.