Out with the Old. In with the New.

The ubiquity of NFC smartphones assures the end of lead retrieval as we know it—an activity that requires special-purpose devices and costs exhibitors money.

In a recent interview with Exhibit City News' assistant editor Krissy Obeng, ITN's CEO Ivan Lazarev predicts that exhibitors soon will no longer need to rent lead retrieval equipment in order to capture leads at events.

"Traditional badging as we know it will disappear," according to Lazarev.

Tomorrow's event badges will be digital. Exhibitors will capture leads by bumping their NFC phones against attendees' NFC phones.

"The digital badge will be contained in a smartphone. Exhibitors will no longer rent devices from registration companies. They won’t need registration companies to get contact data," Lazarev says.

Read the full article here.

International CES Attendees Enjoy Bottleneck-free Badging

"The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) set out to revamp the attendee experience at its 2014 show and pulled it off, due in large part to ITN International, " says Margo Pierce, writing for EXPO Magazine.

In an effort to reduce waste and leverage technology, show management—for the first time in International CES' history—did not mail badges to attendees before the event, Piece explains.

That meant every attendee's badge had to be generated on demand.

With more than 155,000 attendees descending on Las Vegas, all eager to pick up their credentials and dash into the show, ITN had to assure that onsite badge production and distribution was bottleneck-free.

And it did.

"Anyone could pick up their badges at virtually any time—almost anywhere," Pierce writes.

A citywide network of badge production stations was the answer.

Read the full story here.

NFC Gets Thumbs Up

EventTechBrief reports that International CES is pleased with its decision to use NFC badges at its 2014 show.

Laurie Lutz, Vice President of CES Operations, told the newsletter she was pleased with the advantages the technology offers.

“NFC is the best technology to use, bar none. It’s easy to manage the data. It allows unlimited options on what you can do on site, whether it’s access control, ticketing, lead management or games. It’s fast, versatile, very simple in any environment and makes updates instantly,” Lutz said.

Lutz said it was ITN's mastery of NFC that attracted her organization to the company in the first place. 

“We wanted the International CES to be on the leading edge and make sure that we were taking advantage of the best and most innovative technology out there,” Lutz said.

Innovations in the credentialing process came into play as well.

ITN's ability to distribute onsite badge production citywide allowed International CES for the first time to forego mailing registrants their badges before the show.

“We had over 30% of people pick up their badges at remote locations we set up like the airport or 15+ official hotels before they even arrived at the show," Lutz said.

"It was amazing seeing so many people step right off the shuttle buses or taxis with their badges and be able to walk right into the show."

Read the full story.

ITN's FastTrack Cart. Distributed Event Check-In Simplified.

ITN's new FastTrack Cart is a mobile badge production unit ideal for generating badges at remote locations such as hotel and airport lobbies.

Custom-built of metal and plastic, the cart is compact, lightweight and easily portable. Rubber wheels make it easy to roll the cart over both carpeted and uncarpeted areas.

The central design component of the cart is its removable tray. The tray provides for all power management, connectivity and supplies. Because of the tray, the cart presents registrants with a clean, well-organized desktop when the cart is in operation. In addition, the removable tray can be used with other suitable furnishings (kiosks, tables, desks, etc.) without use of the cart.

Both the cart and the tray are optimized for rapid setup. Total installation takes less than five minutes. A single socket is provided for power and a single socket for Internet connection, and the unit’s large storage capacity allows for enough supplies to serve hundreds of registrants. A custom-built lid and straps also eliminate the need to dismantle the cart at night, and provide for secure overnight storage of all hardware and supplies.

The cart can be branded on three sides. Multiple carts can be networked locally.