Exhibitor NXP Uses BTAGs to Deliver Branded Content

ITN's new BTAG is a touch marketing tool that boosts the impact of presentations and demonstrations. A live NFC touchspot, BTAG delivers content whenever an attendee touches it with his or her event badge or NFC smartphone. BTAG lets attendees take home branded content in the easiest way imaginable—by turning their badges and phones into “digital tote bags.” Learn how exhibitor NXP used BTAGs at Mobile World Congress 2014.

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.

Intel Free Press Likes ITN's NFC "Smart Badges"

Intel Corporation's Free Press has nothing but glowing praise for ITN's NFC-enabled "smart badges."

"The so-called Internet of Things is expected by industry watchers to be among the major themes at International CES in Las Vegas," Free Press writes. "More everyday objects are becoming 'smart' and that extends to the trade show badges attendees wear at the annual consumer electronics industry gathering."

That "smartness" is thanks in large part to the embedded NFC chips provided by NXP Semiconductor.

"The intent of the smart badges with wireless chips is to ease information exchanges in situations such as checking in at booths and events as well as storing information like lunch tickets for media attending the show," Free Press says.

Read the full story here.

BTAG: Your Content at a Touch

ITN's latest innovation, BTAG, is a near-field communication (NFC) hotspot that delivers content whenever an attendee touches it with his or her event badge or NFC smartphone.

BTAGs allow attendees to gather content during your event in the easiest way imaginable—by turning their NFC badges into “digital tote bags.”

BTAGs give you an innovative new tool for communicating throughout your event:

• BTAGs are ideal for event producers who provide content for education, marketing or customer experience enhancement. They're also the perfect solution for exhibitors who want to enhance an in-booth demonstration or presentation by providing attendees collateral.
• BTAG is a BCARD Reader (able to capture badge-touches) and an NFC tag (able to pass information to other readers). That means attendees can also use their NFC phones to interact with BTAGs.
• You can assign to a BTAG any Web content (URL) you choose: microsites, e-literature, video, audio, slides, etc. Attendees who touch the BTAG with their badges receive an email with a link to your 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. You can change the content at any time.
• On site, you can deploy BTAGs anywhere by affixing them to posters, signs or any surface; or by asking your representatives to carry them.
• Every BTAG is a self-contained unit, powered by a battery that lasts up to seven days. Each unit is Bluetooth enabled, allowing it to connect to a mobile phone and upload badge-touches in real time to the BCARD Portal, so you get a live picture of attendees’ interest in your content.

1 in 2 Phones Will Soon Have NFC

NFC's champions consider the technology a breakthrough because it makes accessing content and exchanging information more interactive and intuitive than competing technologies. But skeptics have been quick to point out that NFC hasn't caught on everywhere because there aren't enough NFC-enabled smartphones in use.

The landscape is about to change.

According to ABI Research, mobile manufacturers will ship more than 500 million NFC phones in 2014, up from 285 million in 2013. And, according to Frost & Sullivan, by 2015, one in two phones in use will be NFC enabled.

Worried about Privacy Issues?

Are you worried that tracking attendees at your events may be an invasion of their privacy?

For answers, check out the recent article appearing in Meetings & Conventions, "Attendee Privacy."

Authors Michael Lowe and Michael Shapiro offer practical tips for tackling the privacy issue, based on interviews with event planners and attorneys nationwide.

As the authors discovered, most planners are comfortable with today's tracking technology when used for educational session scanning, access control and lead retrieval. That's because the vast majority of attendees at large events have "a reasonable expectation of privacy."

"Planners should include information in registration forms noting what kind of data is being collected, via what methods, how it will be used and how it will be stored," one attorney told the authors.