ITN’s BTAGs Deliver Content at NAVC Conference

When it comes to wowing attendees, exhibitors and sponsors, content is king.

That’s why the organizers of the NAVC Conference 2014 took advantage of ITN’s new BTAG to deliver attendees content by touch inside the NAVC Conference New Product Gallery.

Thirteen companies participated in the juried new-product showcase, always a popular feature of NAVC’s annual event. The organizers provided each participating company an ITN BTAG, programmed to deliver collateral materials relating to the product on display.

NAVC Conference 2014 attendees—like attendees at every B-to-B event—were hungry for new product information, and BTAG made it amazingly easy for them to acquire it.

Simply stated, a BTAG is an NFC reader or “hotspot.” When an attendee touches a BTAG with his or her badge, the device records the touch. When uploaded to ITN’s cloud, that touch is processed as a request for digital content. The content is sent to the attendee as a link via email.

In addition to functioning as an NFC reader (able to record badge-touches), the BTAG functions as an NFC tag (able to pass information to other readers). That means attendees can also use their NFC phones to interact with BTAGs.

BTAGs are compact, self-contained, battery-powered units. Each unit is Bluetooth enabled, allowing it to connect to a mobile phone and upload badge-touches to ITN’s cloud.

At your event, you can display BTAGs anywhere by affixing them to posters, signs, walls, stands, kiosks, tables or countertops.

You can assign to a BTAG any Web content (URL) you want: Websites, YouTube pages, Facebook pages, e-literature, presentations, photos, etc. Attendees who touch the BTAG with their badges receive an end-of-day email with a link to that content. Attendees who touch the BTAG with their NFC smartphones link directly to the URL.  You manage the content assigned to the BTAG through the BCARD Portal.

And because all the BTAG touches are uploaded to ITN’s cloud, they are available for tracking and analysis at any time.

ITN’s new BTAG gives organizers an innovative tool for adding value to their events. The solution is ideal for providing content that supports keynote addresses, educational sessions, sponsors’ exhibits, and special displays like the NAVC New Product Gallery. BTAGs can also be used effectively for gamifying any event.

ITN Streamlines Valet Service at EMC World

Today’s attendees want to stay connected 24/7, which means they sometimes need to recharge their mobile devices while on the go. That’s why many event producers are now offering a valet charging service at their events.

The producers of EMC World 2014 provided just such a service on their exhibit floor this May.

Instead of waiting idly at a charging station while their mobile devices recharged—wasting time better spent networking and educating themselves—EMC World attendees could drop off their devices for recharging at a service desk, and pick them up later.

The challenge to managing the flow of devices dropped off and picked up at the service desk resides in two areas. How do you quickly and accurately identify who owns which device? And how do you keep track of every device’s whereabouts.

ITN assisted by providing a simple system that addressed the challenge.

We equipped each attendant at the valet charging service desk with an easy-to-use application and an NFC reader.

When an attendee approached the service desk, the attendant asked the attendee to touch his or her badge to the NFC reader. The attendee’s record immediately popped up on the attendant’s computer screen. The attendant then recorded the activity (drop-off); keyed in a cubbyhole number (specifying the slot where the device would be stored for pickup after it was recharged); and entered a description of the device (for example, “iPhone”). All of that information was attached to the attendee’s record. In addition, two copies of a claim check were printed immediately on a local printer—one for the attendee to hold, the second to be kept with the device for identification purposes.

When an attendee later returned to the desk to pick up a device left for recharging, the attendee again touched his or her badge to the NFC reader. The badge-read triggered the attendee’s record to pop up on the attendant’s screen. The attendant entered the activity (pickup) into the record, located the device in its numbered cubbyhole, and returned the device to the attendee—all in a matter of seconds.

In addition to supporting a valet charging service, ITN’s valet service application can be used whenever attendees avail themselves of a temporary storage service at an event—a coat check, a luggage room, etc. The producers of EMC World 2014 also used the application to manage the check-out and check-in of headsets by attendees, which were made available in connection with a free onsite translation service.

Learn more by watching this video.