boxofdelights

I don't remember having heard this story before, about why we have lanyards. It's such a common need that hotels & conventions regularly have their own systems for it. The con I ran, the hotel gave us a few special lapel pins.

And yes, the symbol (lanyard, pin, whatever) signifies both "take me seriously" AND "I can order stuff that costs actual money, and the convention will pay the bill." As opposed to, y'know, bossy and opinionated people who aren't actually in charge (oy, fans). WIthin reason, anyway.

Also, I'm guessing that front desk workers tend to be the newest and thus the least flexible hotel employees. THey're sort of gatekeepers, it's true, but the newer ones don't yet know how much other stuff is around.