How NCEO Delivers Seamless Check-in and On-site Badge Printing with Expo Pass

 

NCEO Annual Employee Ownershp Conference 2025
Photo by David Rainey

The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) is a leading voice in advancing employee ownership through education, research, and practical resources. Each year, their flagship Annual Employee Ownership Conference brings together more than 1,500 attendees, from business leaders and ESOP companies to legal and financial experts, for three days of learning, networking, and actionable insight.

When your mission is to support organizations that put people first, your event experience needs to reflect that same professionalism and care. That’s why NCEO partners with Expo Pass for seamless badge printing and check-in that ensures every attendee starts the conference on the right foot.

We sat down with Jaymie Oviedo, NCEO’s Senior Director of Events, to hear how her team delivers a polished, stress-free registration experience, and why Expo Pass is a key part of making that possible:

First Impressions Matter. Expo Pass Delivers.

At a high-profile, content-rich conference like NCEO’s, the registration area sets the tone. It’s the first thing attendees see, and that impression needs to be clean, efficient, and professional.

“It’s the first place that you see. It’s the first impression that you get when you’re coming to an event — and so, it’s got to be seamless. It’s got to be easy. It’s got to be professional. It’s got to be clean. And Expo Pass delivers that in every aspect.”

Photo by David Rainey

Before switching to Expo Pass, NCEO used a patchwork system of third-party rental equipment and their own laptops. That setup created technical hurdles and made the entire check-in area feel clunky.

“We were using [another company]… you had to have multiple pieces of technology, and they were our laptops. We had to own and maintain those different pieces of equipment, get them prepped and ready. Then the data delivery method between that and the printer sometimes was incredibly hit or miss. You never really knew what was gonna work… It was clunky. It didn’t look good.”

With Expo Pass, Oviedo immediately noticed the difference.

“It just creates a completely different, more professional, and clean-looking approach when you arrive at registration.”

Photo by David Rainey

Photo by David Rainey

Plug-and-Play Setup That Makes Life Easier

For event organizers, simplicity isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. With hundreds of moving parts, any tool that reduces complexity is a win. That’s where Expo Pass stands out for NCEO.

“When you get the equipment it’s all perfectly labeled and it’s just so easy. Which as a planner, when you’re managing so many different execution and production points on site, you don’t need yet another thing to worry about.”

The easy-setup also makes it something she can confidently delegate:

“Expo Pass does it in such a clear, cohesive way. It’s like Legos for badge printing. They’ve made it foolproof. It’s so great to be able to hand it off to somebody that’s very new on my team and they’ll be able to do it.”

A System Designed for Attendees

NCEO’s audience includes many older professionals, who may not be completely comfortable learning new tech. That’s why usability is key:

“45 to 65 is our core demographic, so technology can be hard for them, adoption can be hard for them. They get up there and ask, ‘What do I do?’ We say, ‘Just type your name!’ ‘My first name, or…?’ ‘Anything! Just type any letters of your name—’ It pops up, you preview the badge and hit print. You’re done. That’s it.”

Attendees are often surprised by how quick and painless it is.

“They say, ‘Wow, I go to other shows and it’s so much more complicated,’ and we say, ‘Nope, that’s not us.’”

Photo by David Rainey

Flexible Tools for a On-site Success

Beyond the attendee experience, the platform gives the NCEO team the flexibility they need to stay responsive onsite:

“Say the person has had a promotion and they need to switch their title, or they want to switch their city or any type of data that’s printed on the badge itself. You can very quickly go into the system — it’s so easy to use.”

The iPad interface also makes self-service kiosks easy to manage:

“I absolutely love from the on-site perspective how user friendly all the interfaces are once you set up the iPads themselves.”

No Lines, No Headaches

For Oviedo, a successful registration process is defined by one simple goal: no lines. With Expo Pass, she gets exactly that.

“I do not like lines. I never want to see a line at registration. You should walk up. You should be able to get sorted, get your questions answered, and move away. Lines absolutely are my worst nightmare. And with Expo Pass we never have a line.”

Added Value and ROI with Expo Pass

“We are getting an exponentially better product, in every way. It is a hard cost to the budget, but the value you get from Expo Pass is so much better. It’s creating this really great and seamless experience from that very first entry point.”

And more than just the product, it’s the people that make the difference.

“With any vendor that you work with, it’s the people, right? It’s the people and the product that make you feel supported.”