RFID Group Picks Show Producer
By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 9/27/2004
The Intl. RFID Business Assn. has selected Advanstar Communications' technology group to launch a series of global tradeshows dedicated to the emerging technology.
The four planned RFID Systems conference and expos will be collocated with existing Advanstar tradeshows. The first, RFID Systems Brazil, is set for March 1–4 in Sao Paulo in conjunction with Latin American telecom show Telexpo, which normally draws about 45,000 attendees. The second, RFID Systems Canada, is scheduled March 21–23 at the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre, alongside ICCM Canada and an enterprise information technology show. The three Canadian shows will be produced under the banner of the Business Technology Solutions brand.
Two of the RFID shows will be held in the United States. RFID Systems U.S. will be collocated with Advanstar's AIIM ON DEMAND, expected to draw 20,000 people to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia May 17–19. RFID Systems Government will be held alongside SensorsGov, another Advanstar event, set to attract about 1,500 people to the Doubletree Hotel in Virginia Beach, Va., Sept. 13–15.
Harry Pappas, the RFID association's president and founder, said his group picked Advanstar to launch the shows because the company already had established shows in several vertical industries the association wanted to target. That was key to the collocation strategy.
"We looked at the assets of tradeshow organizations and did a competitive analysis. We felt Advanstar had the global reach. That's important, since RFID is a global technology," said Pappas, who is also CEO of RFID systems integrator Viaera.
RFID — short for radio frequency identification — has been around for years, but its adoption took hold after Wal-Mart embraced it last year. Since then, the Department of Defense has mandated that its suppliers use RFID tags. RFID is also a component of a federal act requiring manufacturers to report on potential defects. The Yankee Group expects consumer goods manufacturers to each spend $6.9 million on RFID this year. Label giant Avery Dennison recently established a division dedicated to including RFID tag in its labels.
RFID is among the areas addressed by Advanstar's Frontline Solutions Conference & Exposition, an event catering to the supply chain management crowd that drew about 6,000 attendees and 150 exhibitors to Chicago's Navy Pier Convention Center Sept. 14–15.
Kerry Gumas, vice president of the Advanstar technology group, said Frontline has offered RFID content for eight years. Four years ago, the company launched an RFID Summit as part of that show. Even after the RFID Systems shows are launched, Frontline will continue to include RFID in its offerings, he said.
Advanstar and the Intl. RFID Business Assn. aren't the only organizations producing RFID events. Southern California-based Shorecliff Communications puts on about a dozen RFID conferences per year. The 2004 RFID World Conference & Expo, held in Denver last year, drew 1,200 attendees and 70 exhibitors. Shorecliff also produces RFID events in Europe and Asia, as well as for targeted audiences in the United States.
Such competition is typical in the case of new, high-growth industries. "We're finding there are more and more companies coming into the industry every day," Gumas said, adding that the association's involvement should distinguish the RFID Systems shows.
The industry is so dynamic that there are numerous RFID groups operating around the world. Pappas predicts that many of them will end up joining forces. Already, one Canadian RFID association has agreed to merge with Pappas' international association, he said.
