Successful Meetings - December 2008 - (Page 33)

Trade Show Report The latest technology breathes new life into today’s expos By Andrea Doyle andrea.doyle@nielsen.com SHOWING OFF “Connecting Radiology” was not only the theme of last year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference, but was a rallying call to its convention services staff. For the largest annual medical meeting in the United States, RSNA’s planners wanted to employ technology that would help exhibitors more effectively connect with attendees. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) fit the bill perfectly. “From an exhibitor standpoint, this was the biggest breakthrough I’ve ever experienced,” says Jeffrey Masters, manager of the North American Marketing Events Group for Philips Healthcare, based in Andover, MA. “This technology allows me insight into my particular slice of marketing and will help us produce better events and exhibits in the future for our prospects. This is beneficial to sales, because a well-educated consumer is what we are looking for.” Masters has experienced the evolution of this meeting firsthand, as this was his 23rd RSNA conference. “This is now must-have technology for us. My background is with IBM, and I believe measurement is the key to all strategic planning and SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS DECEMBER 2008 events. In the past, we were running blind. Running with what we recovered in terms of leads; and as an event manager, I didn’t know if we moved the ball.” RSNA solicited Alliance Tech and Experient to help. They formulated a pilot program that employed RFID technology to measure visitor activity, such as how long each visitor stayed at certain product stations within each booth, information Philips found invaluable. It revealed that close to 10,000 attendees visited Philips’ booth over the week, and many revisited, resulting in a total of 62,000 trips. “We were able to see where our attendees visited and the duration of each visit. We also tracked the path of each visitor walking through the booth,” says Masters. The array of equipment on display ranges from X-ray machines, vascular imaging, and catharization equipment to information systems technology. Last year, there was a staff of 1,300 working in the booth, from all over the world. With the addition of the RFID technology, Masters hopes to have targeted staff on hand on days when they are most in demand, with PHOTO: BOKELBERG.US successfulmeetings.com 33 http://www.BOKELBERG.US http://www.successfulmeetings.com

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Successful Meetings - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note Corporate Events On the Record Calendar Research Planner Spotlight Personal Success Technology Talk Food & Beverage Professional Development Quick Tip Tools of the Trade On Site: Retire Those Tired Power-Point Slides On Site: 12 Tips for Thriving on a South African Safari Deep Impact Recession-Friendly Speakers Showing Off Hawaii Insert Places & Spaces Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth South Florida Beijing Gurus

Successful Meetings - December 2008

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