The Independent Journal of Event Technology
itn-international.com is an independent publication about what happens when people meet in big halls: registration desks, smart badges, lead retrieval and the data that comes out of it all. We also follow the casino resorts where chip-and-card technology has been running on the floor for years.
| Challenge: | Events ask a lot of a small piece of plastic: admit the right people, record who went where and pass contact details to the right exhibitor. |
|---|---|
| Solutions: | Many, and they keep changing. We compare barcodes, NFC, long-range RFID and phone passes in plain language, without selling any of them. |
| Results: | Articles, guides and worked scenarios for producers, exhibitors, marketers and attendees, written for people who have to make it work on the show floor. |
Editor's Pick
Start here: NFC or barcode badges?
A plain comparison of what each badge type costs and where it works best.
Latest Articles
Casino Expos and Gaming Floors
Few industries lean on event technology as hard as gaming does. A casino floor already runs on the things trade show organisers talk about: tagged chips, tracked cards, cashless wallets and very fast queues. Its own expos, G2E in Las Vegas and ICE in Barcelona, bring tens of thousands of visitors into the same world of badges and lead scanners.
Our section on the subject covers that overlap: what RFID poker chips have in common with NFC badges, how a player card resembles a session scan and what sportsbook operators have learned about fan data at stadiums. It is written for event people, and it sits alongside the rest of the journal.
Show-Floor Glossary
- NFC
- Short-range radio at 13.56 MHz, read within a few centimetres.
- Lead retrieval
- Scanning a visitor's badge to capture their details at a stand.
- Prize draw
- Legally close to a lottery if people must pay to enter, which is why promotions stay free.
- Walk-in
- A visitor who registers on arrival, usually the slowest case at the desk.
- CEU
- Continuing education unit, the credit that many professionals need to show they attended.
Which Badge Fits Which Event?
| Event | Common choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regional conference | QR code on paper | Cheap, and any phone can read it |
| Large association show | NFC or QR, plus session scanners | Fast at busy doors |
| Medical congress | Touch-range chip or QR | Reliable records for credits |
| Expo at a casino resort | QR with offline readers | Signal can be weak on big floors |
| Fan festival | Phone pass or wristband | No desk, little queueing |
Photos on this page via Wikimedia Commons: maebmij (CC BY-SA 3.0); Detroit Regional Chamber (CC BY 2.0); CCDBarcodeScanner (CC BY-SA 4.0); Jim G (CC BY 2.0).