Hall 8 at Fira Barcelona Gran Via

Technology Guide

Event ProducersEvent ExhibitorsMobile MarketersAttendeesCasino Expos

The building blocks of event technology, in the order you are likely to meet them. This is a reader's guide: nothing here is for sale, and the descriptions apply to many vendors.

Registration and Badges

Registration

  • Full-service registration: a vendor handles the website, payments and on-site desks.
  • On-site registration: check-in stations and payments at the venue.

Attendee tracking

  • Handheld readers for checking access to rooms.
  • Standalone stations for main traffic areas.
  • Pods that combine attendance counts with sponsor messages.

Badge printing

  • Software that prints on demand from your existing registration data.
  • Design tools for printing and encoding any kind of credential.

Badge types

  • Chip badges with NFC.
  • Paper badges with a barcode or QR code.
  • Photo ID credentials.
  • Phone passes.
  • Printed activity tickets.

Data and reporting

  • Standard and custom reports covering registration, finance, access and leads.
Staff at a conference registration desk
Staff at a conference registration desk. Photo: Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lead Management

PC-based applications

  • Kiosk software for data collection with custom surveys.

Mobile solutions

  • Phone and handheld apps with custom questions and live upload.
  • Compact barcode scanners that collect badge and survey data.

Web-based tools

  • Simple online forms for managing data across a global calendar of events.

Follow-up

  • Email campaigns sent to the lists collected at the show.

Online access

  • Secure web portals for accessing leads and exporting them to your own database.
An exhibition hall full of stands and visitors at CeBIT 2000
An exhibition hall full of stands and visitors at CeBIT 2000. Photo: maebmij, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Mobile Marketing

Interactive systems

  • Phone-based data collection at consumer and sporting events.
  • Smart tags and short codes on printed displays that deliver content to a phone.
  • Systems that alert a nearby dealer when a visitor asks for details.

Data collection

  • Online survey kiosks.
  • Mobile surveys on phones.

Fulfilment

  • Automatic email or text replies.
  • Reporting portals for agencies and their clients.
A portable cashless payment device, the kind used at event counters
A portable cashless payment device, the kind used at event counters. Photo: RuinDig/Yuki Uchida, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Attendee Services

At the show

  • Kiosks to change a session schedule and update a badge on the spot.
  • Seating charts on large screens for banquets.
  • Messaging between checked-in attendees.

Rewards

  • Stored-value wallets for merchandise and food, an idea now familiar from casino cashless systems.
  • Digital passports that reward visits to defined areas.
  • Random-draw tools for choosing prize winners.

Records

  • Credit tracking and certificates for professional education.
  • A personal record of sessions attended and contacts met.
A phone paying by tap at a cafe terminal
A phone paying by tap at a cafe terminal. Photo: HLundgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Photos on this page via Wikimedia Commons: Zarateman (CC0).