Patent ID: 7373372

Claim:
A method of accrediting participants to an event, said method comprising the steps of: a) collecting information from each of said participants; b) recording the information in an accreditation system; c) producing a non-valid pass for each of said participants; d) issuing the respective non-valid passes to said participants; and e) upon arrival of such a participant at or proximate an event venue, validating said non-valid pass for the participant, thereby accrediting said participant, wherein the non-valid pass is issued in d) prior to the participant's arrival and the participant presents the non-valid pass for validation upon such arrival, or else the non-valid pass is issued in d) to the participant upon such participant's arrival so that the non-valid, issued pass can then be validated, and wherein the validating of the non-valid, issued pass in step e) includes the steps of: updating an accreditation status of the participant in the accreditation system; and laminating the pass in a security pouch, wherein the laminated pass includes a photograph of the participant to provide a physical form of validation, so that the participant is granted access to the event responsive to identifying the pass in the security pouch as worn by the participant, and wherein the pass is for access to the event and not for access to repeated instances of the event.