In late 2010, events technology provider Fish Software announced it was moving out of the tradeshow market and concentrating more on consumer and entertainment events. Rights to the company’s flagship software were snapped up by US-based Alliance Tech in a deal allowing the two companies to cross-licence their respective products. Now, Alliance can use the Fish real-time measurement system alongside its own more passive technology.
The real-time location (RTL) system flaunted by Fish Software is hardware-heavy: it requires each visitor to carry a badge with its own battery, which must be collected again when the visitor leaves. The venue also needs to be fitted with a system of receptors and other hardware. In fact, Fish made a strategic withdrawal from the UK after venues were slow to take up the expensive hardware installations necessary to make the system work.
Alliance’s flagship radio frequency identification (RFID) system, on the other hand, is passive where Fish was active: badges do not need to be individually powered and can be taken out of the venue or thrown away. While the range of the badges is only about 15 feet, the venue doesn’t need the extra infrastructure to use the technology.
Similar to no-touch card reader systems used by banks and public transport authorities in some countries, each badge would have an individual digital ‘fingerprint’ that could be picked up by sensors or scanned by stand staff. Using the unique digital signature, one could call up information about the visitor including but not nearly limited to preferred language, sector, company and potentially even buying history, or which other stands the person has visited. For example, if you bought a BMW seven years ago and walk on to the BMW stand at the Geneva International Motor Show, the on-stand salesperson would know to approach you. This could also be used by organisers to alert exhibitors on an iPad or laptop whenever a hosted buyer entered the stand.
For the organiser, the real-time nature of the technology can let them see where visitors are crowding, and respond in an instant by, for example, moving a drinks stand to draw visitors through emptier areas. Exhibitor teams could be alerted to areas experiencing a high concentration of powerful buyers and send a delegation to approach them. Attendance to each quadrant of the show can also be measured to assign different rates to more popular areas, and back your claims up with hard figures.
“We have been successful with our current product offering and this is an additional offering,” explains Borrego. “If it sounds like RTL is a better solution then we are going to propose that, but we haven’t had one of those situations yet. That’s one of the reasons we haven’t offered it in the past. It’s a bit more expensive and requires a logistical challenge to collect all those tags,” he adds. “RFID is a lot more portable. We can take our technology from one venue to another and set up in a couple of days.”
Regardless of the method, the data offers a rich opportunity to the savvy organiser, although it requires experience and training to extract useful information from the raw numbers.
According to Borrego, in the first year an organiser uses Alliance’s RFID technology there might be a lack of education about what the data is and what can be done with it.
“The second year, they show that data to the executives and salespeople up the chain, and we get them coming to us saying they want to know more and giving suggestions of what to do. Each year you can see the level of sophistication increasing. It’s a trend we see every time we have an engagement.”
“When you see salespeople getting excited about what marketing people are doing, and working together to drive leads, that’s very exciting. Those are leads that would be put in the drawer and forgotten otherwise.”
However, five chains keep Alliance’s RFID technology from taking off. According to Borrego, the company must raise awareness of the technology while bringing down its cost, work on effectively demonstrating its value and find ways of integrating it with other emerging technology. Finally, venues need to increase their levels of wireless connectivity. Cost is shrinking and connectivity in venues is increasing, but demonstration of value, spreading awareness and integration with other technologies are still challenges Alliance and other companies must face.
When it comes to integration with other technologies, Borrego foresees an almost science-fiction-level of technological presence on the show floor: “We have got mobile and wireless technologies and a lot of digital signage, and our customers are saving money and going away from the static signs to the dynamic signs,” he says. “With RFID being able to interact with signage while you are walking up the hallway, the sign becomes more relevant to you. They could even change languages, giving the attendee a better experience but also giving the host more information on the interests of the attendees.”
One argument against this technology is that the same near-field communication is becoming available on mobile phones, which could make Alliance’s offering obsolete. This doesn’t bother Borrego, as he believes people will become more reluctant to use their mobiles if they are associated with a bank account or credit card like other touch-free systems.
In the end, the industry itself will decide the fate of touch-free technology. However, if we open our arms to it the potential for exhibitors and organisers alike is huge.
Any comments? Email exhibitionworld@mashmedia.net
