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Umm.. the nametag for www2010 was very similar. It opened and had the schedule for the conference inside along with other info. (plus the name was on both sides)

This is taking the concept a bit further to be sure, but I don't think this is an innovation of the scale it is being presented to be.

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I went to an IETF meeting in the fall of 1998 where the thing hanging around your neck was a clear plastic holder that contained both your name tag and a brochure. Not quite as nice as this solution, since you could take out the brochure and lose it. Probably much cheaper, though.

I don't think they're trying to present this as an innovation in name tags. It's just a showcase of an elegant novel design.

If I'm not mistaken, innovative is a synonym of novel.

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines novel as "new or unusual in an interesting way". While it may not be new, it's definitely unusual.

(Also, you're not mistaken, according to the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus. But they are different words.)

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