What the Apple Watch and iPhone 6 Mean for Events
/Near-field communication and other new features may influence how event hosts engage with guests.
7 Ways to Use N.F.C. at Your Event
/List originally published as part of a full article at BIZBASH
1. Access Control
Place N.F.C. readers at the doors to your event to digitally track guests as they enter and exit, eliminating the need for guests to show a paper ticket or an email with a bar code. As a tag is scanned, it also stores a time stamp so planners can understand when people arrived and departed. That data can be even more specific if the tag is associated with the guest’s demographic information, for example to sort arrival times by age. “It’s all the things we think we know, but when we have this data, it starts to make it concrete, and we can use it to make decisions,” Palermo says. “Let’s say if your sponsor is specific to an older demographic, you can say, 'I’m only going to advertise your stuff between this hour and this hour because that’s when you are going to get the biggest bang for the buck.'” Unlike non-digital wristbands, N.F.C. bands also can reduce fraud since they cannot be reused by multiple guests.
2. Accreditation
If your event has different types of access, such as general admission and V.I.P., the N.F.C. tag can be preloaded with that information. When the tag is scanned, the display on the reader instantly shows whether the guest should be admitted into a specific area, such as an executive lounge. “It keeps the environment secure and makes the process that much easier because there’s nothing to figure out at the door,” Palermo says. Tags can also be digitally deactivated to eliminate access if necessary.
3. Cashless Payments
There are multiple ways to use the N.F.C. wristband as a digital payment system at events. Credits can be linked with each tag, such as to give each attendee a set number free drinks, or planners can ask guests to link a credit card with their bands. In that case, either a fixed amount of money can be loaded into the system and purchases are debited from the balance, or charges can be accrued as they take place. “I think [cashless payment] is probably the fastest-growing application we’ve been asked to deploy,” Palermo says.
4. Social Media
Keep your guests off their phones and focused on your event by using an N.F.C. band to provide effortless sharing on social networks. Planners can invite guests to link their wristbands to their Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts, and then their activities on site can be shared instantly. Examples include an automatic Facebook check-in as the guest swipes into the event or the sharing of photos taken at a photo booth. “You can’t pay for that kind of advertising and social reach from a corporate side. It’s consumer-to-consumer advertising for your brand,” Palermo says.
5. Gamification
To encourage guests to authorize social sharing, Palermo suggests clients use game-based strategies to reward them for participating. For example, if an event has five photo booths, hosts can offer a prize to guests who visit each one and allow those photos to be shared on their Facebook page. The same concept can be used to encourage guests to visit all sponsors or to attend all keynote sessions. Each swipe of the N.F.C. wristband tracks guests’ activities, and that data can be shared on leader boards.
6. Post-Event Rewards
Extend the engagement with your guests after your event by offering an incentive to reuse their wristbands in some way. For example, a retail sponsor might offer a discount to people who show their wristband when they make a purchase, or hosts can offer a reduced ticket price for future events.
7. Analytics
The more the tags are incorporated into the event, the more data they can provide to planners. The information can also be cross-referenced with survey results to provide context to the feedback. “You can dig down to the individual and say, 'How did this individual act?' For example, if you get a complaint, you can drill down and see what the interaction was. Or for positive feedback—was it mostly from people who engaged a lot or a little?” Palermo says. “It allows you to understand how to make it better next year.”
Read the full article here
CNET Reports Sony's next-generation SmartWatch will include NFC
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Sony's rumored next-generation SmartWatch will offer some notable feature upgrades to the company's current wearable tech offering, a source has confirmed to CNET. The source stated that the watch will come equipped with NFC for easy one-touch pairing with a smartphone -- a connection it would maintain via Bluetooth.
NFC: Not Just for Mobile Payments Anymore
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More companies embraced the close-range connectivity technology at the Consumer Electronics Show. How they're using NFC may surprise you.
At CES, NFC popped up in nearly everything imaginable (just not at cash registers). Along with the usual devices, like smartphones, there were speakers, cameras, televisions, refrigerators, business cards, and numerous other items. Some companies, such as Panasonic, have even added NFC to rice cookers and other usual items.
A New Meeting Frequency→
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Near-field communication (NFC) is already embedded in your personal life (whether or not you realize it), but what can it do for you professionally?
You’ve likely used radio frequency identification (RFID), a technology found in passports, debit cards and even the London Underground’s Oyster cards. The latest attention-grabbing sub-set of RFID now gaining ground is near-field communication (NFC), and it has countless applications for the meeting and event industry.
NFC allows smart devices to establish radio communication. Only one NFC device needs to be powered for communication to take place. A chip with no battery of its own can be inserted into something as small as a piece of paper. One device acts as the writer, the other as the reader. However, with two powered devices, peer-to-peer data transfer is possible. It’s similar to Bluetooth, but with three major differences.
Preparing for the NFC revolution
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In recent years, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology has been identified as having the potential to completely revolutionise the future travel process. From check-in and boarding, to payment and passenger tracking, the possibilities that could be brought about by the widespread adoption are considerable.
Samsung And Visa Team Up To Make NFC Payment A Reality
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Samsung and Visa will now be working together to make mobile payments via near field communication (NFC) technology a reality, a feature which many have been lustily eyeing but few have been able to widely implement.
The two companies announced this partnership yesterday in Barcelona, Spain during the Mobile World Congress and plan to build upon Visa’s existing NFC initiatives in Europe, the UK and the US. Samsung’s market dominance and Visa’s ability to sign such deals makes this partnership an important one for the future of mobile payments.
Near Field Communication – A Game Changer In Event Technology
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With more and more smartphones coming out equipped with Near Field Communication chips, or NFC, more people are getting aware of the existence of this promising technology. But only a few actually know what exactly NFC is and that it can be used for many things – including events.
Unlock your Hyundai with a tap of your smartphone by 2015
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An NFC-enabled smartphone is the key to the Hyundai Connectivity Concept, both unlocking its doors and powering its infotainment system via MirrorLink.
NFC Digital Billboards→
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Be it at the cinema theatre, the bus stop shelter, airport lounge or other public space, digital posters will increasingly carry value propositions that consumers can access through their NFC-enabled smartphones. Digital posters in these spaces will be interactive and can facilitate two way transactions. By waving the NFC-enabled smartphone over the poster, content such as a discount coupon for the movie or a snack at the concession stand can be loaded to the smartphone. Consumers can pass back instant reviews, and sign up for Facebook and Twitter updates. With the multifunctional capabilities of NFC, more than one type of interactive transaction can be managed between the consumer and the merchant through the digital posters.
QR Codes are Losing to NFC Technology→
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Just as some of the world realized what QR codes actually are, the shift is happening toward Near Field Communication (NFC) instead. That was quick. It was also necessary.
QR codes just haven’t taken off the way the industry envisioned. In an age of consumer empowerment, you don’t tell people what to use or embrace…they’ll tell you. They told us that QR codes were too clunky and had too many steps from ‘notice to value’.
