Exhibition World | Feature31The organiser gets valuable information on flow patternsin halls, dwell time in stands versus in gangways and youstart brokering contact between people interactively ratherthan in a visitor-to-exhibitor flow. This last item is nothingthat can't be achieved with two-way lead recordingsystems but the goldmine of information will haveorganisers, stand sales people and research report writingteams overflowing with new facts and figures.Reactions from organisers are mixed. Many areplaying their cards close to their chest with a 'wait andsee' approach. One or two have been directly sceptical,commenting that it will only tell them things about theirevent that they already know for quite a high cost.Marketing director at Centaur, Nolan O'Connor, fallsinto the more cautious group. "At the moment, we are focused on spending ourbudgets on brokering increased contact between ourvisitors and exhibitors as well as guiding how theymanage their visit," he said. "Anyone who wants toexchange details can do so using cheaper technologyand the intelligence a system like this would give uswould most likely prove interesting, but unlikely togenerate significant new revenues. "It looks to be a great system, but for the cost, it's notone we will be using on our events at present," he adds.Many others, partly due to the high profile support theproduct has, are simply trying to work out how to deliverit on their own events.Do I think the system is good? Yes, I'm a techie and Ilove new gadgets. Do I think it suits our market? Only oncertain events, but there are those that will clearly benefitfrom it. Do I think there are significant hurdles toovercome? Definitely.I believe the technology has a place at events and I amlooking forward to working on shows using it later in theyear, but I don't feel it will become ubiquitous in the waythat barcodes have been over the last 20-30 years.Every year I have an organiser call me and askwhether we can put in "an RFID system for their show".Finally there is a solution I can offer, and I'm hoping it'sexcellent. If not, well, the good old barcode will just haveto suffice for the time being.THE MAGAZINE FOR THE GLOBAL EXHIBITION COMMUNITY WWW.EXHIBITION-WORLD.NET| October 2010|Data capture using RFID challenges traditional registration methods

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Mash Media group Tel: +44 (0)208 971 8282 www.mashmedia.net????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????