Lead Retrieval: Harnessing the Power of RFID

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 3/20/2006

In the supply chain management field, radio frequency identification technology is being deployed mainly to track inventory. But in the tradeshow industry, it's being harnessed in a variety of increasingly creative ways.

Technology companies initially conceived RFID as a faster and better way for exhibitors to capture leads. Then, they developed walk-through portals that show managers can use to track attendees. Now, RFID is even being used as a marketing tool to draw attention to exhibitors' booths.

And while some vendors are having success specializing in only RFID lead retrieval or attendee tracking, others are targeting both. In addition, some companies see the market beginning to take off, while others are still waiting.

The Princeton Junction, N.J.-based Avante Intl. Technology produces RFID readers for lead retrieval and portals for attendee tracking, as well as RFID-based voting and voter registration systems.

Avante has deployed its portals at several tradeshows. But CEO Kevin Chung said exhibitors and show managers have been slow to embrace RFID for lead retrieval. "I think it's going to take a little while," he said.

Chicago-based Dietze Enterprises, however, marked the rollout of its Nomad-RF handheld lead retrieval device at RFID World, held Feb. 28–March 1 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center near Dallas. Some 135 of the event's 185 exhibitors rented the devices at the Shorecliff Communications event, which draws more than 3,000 RFID industry members.

Dietze Enterprises also deployed four RFID attendee-tracking portals that counted customers with RFID badges and helped drive traffic to its own booth. The portals and Nomad-RF handhelds both use high-frequency 13.56 MHz, which has a range of 3 feet.

Attendees were able to use their RFID badges to get receipts and meals, and enter the exhibit floor. "When you went to on-site registration in years past, you had five pieces of paper in your name badge. This year, they put everything in the badge," said Vaughn Dietze, founder of Dietze Enterprises.

Dietze isn't the only company trying out RFID. Bartizan Connects offers portals for attendee tracking, and RFID readers for both attendee tracking and lead retrieval. Smart-Reg Intl. of Palo Alto, Calif., has come up with a reader designed for both RFID and magnetic stripe badges.

ExpoExchange, however, is focusing only on attendee tracking with a portal system using ultra-high-frequency 915 MHz, with a 12-ft. range. Its most recent large deployment was the Las Vegas Market, which drew nearly 1,200 exhibitors to the World Market Center, an outdoor pavilion area and Mandalay Bay Convention Center Jan. 30–Feb. 3.

Show director Brianna Mackey said the hope was that RFID would help analyze visits to the three venues. The reams of data generated went beyond that, enabling organizers to analyze traffic patterns, daily populations at the venues and the categories of registrants that visited the individual areas. It also made registration verification a piece of cake.

"I think we're all pretty delighted by the end result and how in-depth the data seems to be. It really exceeds our expectations," said Mackey, adding that attendees were aware that RFID was being used but didn't seem to mind.

The World Market Center is already considering RFID possibilities for the July show. For instance, the technology could evaluate traffic in certain parts of the showfloor or movement by certain categories of buyers.

"It has tremendous applications for show managers moving forward. The opportunities are limitless," said Mackey.

ExpoExchange also provided attendee tracking for 26,000 attendees at the American Heart Assn. Scientific Sessions last year.

"I've seen almost no interest in RFID lead retrieval," said Bob Lucke, executive vice president of business development for ExpoExchange parent Conferon Global Services. "RFID doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the lead retrieval process, but attendee tracking is not possible without any of these new techniques."

One barrier to RFID lead retrieval is cost. RFID badges can cost up to $1 each, compared to pennies for bar-code badges.

Lucke said RFID for attendee tracking also doesn't come cheap. But for companies that know what to do with the data generated, it's worth it, he said.

Fish Software, meanwhile, has stumbled upon another use for RFID: helping exhibitors deliver personalized greetings to buyers visiting their booths. A test run of the system was conducted at the Feb. 13–17 RSA Conference at the San Jose (Calif.) McEnery Convention Center, where it helped win security solutions provider Cybertrust a "best of show" award.

Cybertrust event manager Liz Campbell said her company was looking for a way to stand out at the show, which kicks off the tradeshow season for the information security community. "It's hard to stand out at a show like that because it's so big," she said.

In conjunction with Fish and exhibit house Access TCA, Cybertrust used its pre-registration list to offer recipients the possibility of winning an iPod for filling out a survey. Survey information populated the show database. The survey takers were sent an RFID card and asked to bring it to Cybertrust's booth.

When survey takers entered the exhibit hall, staff members were alerted by a text message sent to their cell phones. And when the survey takers got within range of the booth, they were welcomed by name and company via a large screen that fit in with Cybertrust's medical-themed campaign.

"It was a very personal experience for them," Campbell said. "I think they were intrigued to see what it was going to do."

The experiment also told Cybertrust how much time the buyers spent in the booth. The average visit lasted 15 minutes, with the longest running nearly one hour. The campaign is being duplicated for Reed Exhibitions' Infosecurity Europe in London April 25–27, Campbell said.

Fish President Michael Gilvar said the system can also be used to provide exhibitors with attendee background information, such as products they've recently purchased. Gilvar, who was showing off the system recently at EXHIBITOR, said attendees weren't notified that RFID was in use.

He insisted there were no objections though. "We have had no pushback ... If we were going to get pushback, (RSA Conference) would be the show where we'd have gotten it," he said.

Because the security show audience is tech-savvy, Campbell said they were intrigued by the badges. Although the promotion didn't state that RFID was in use, he said the badges clearly showed the chip embedded inside.

Lucke said ExpoExchange strongly advises show managers to alert attendees that RFID is in use and be careful when handling information. In most attendee-tracking deployments, the badges only contain a number and must be cross-referenced with the show's registration database in order to yield personal information.

Dietze said that's his typical experience too. At RFID World, he said, "all they were tracking was a unique ID number. We didn't have a name, but we knew how much time No. 6509 spent on the tradeshow floor. Only show management knew who owned the number."