From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Sci-Fi Name Tags
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 13:31:54 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

	I immediately see a problem with fans' tendency to adopt alternate
identities.  I still remember checking the badge of a Mr. "Errata Stigmata"
on one Disclave.

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Walsh [mailto:MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 1:29 PM
To: wsfalist at keithlynch.net
Subject: [WSFA] Sci-Fi Name Tags

This from the SMOFS list . . .

from Meetings Net

-Let Your Badge Do the Talking

By Sue Hatch, shatch at primediabusiness.com

At EIBTM in Geneva two weeks ago, the Worldwide Watch
presentation introduced the meeting community to a new
name badge.  For those following Worldwide Watch, a
program that finds one innovative technology product or
service each year to highlight as having great potential for
the meetings industry, a name badge might seem an
unlikely selection, but this badge isn't like anything you've
ever seen before.  The product, nTAG, can work as a
networking tool, polling device, attendee tracker, and even a
digital ticket for invitation-only events.

The computerized, interactive badges, launched in late
April by Boston- and New York-based nTAG Interactive
(www.ntag.com), "talk" with other badges via infrared
sensors and communicate over a wireless network with a
central server.  What does this mean for attendees and
planners?

For the attendee, the badge is pre-loaded with information
he or she wants to share with others.  (The data is provided
by the attendee via a Web site, by answering questions
established by the meeting organizer.)  When attendees
approach one another, their badges' infrared sensors
automatically exchange data and find areas of mutual
interest between the attendees, which are displayed on the
badges' LCD screens -- instant networking.  After an event,
attendees receive via e-mail a report on everyone they met
at the meeting.

The system allows the event host to send messages to
attendees, to poll the audience with multiple-choice
questions, track attendance at sessions, identify high-traffic
areas, and even to see who's networking with whom.

The nTAG badges are for rent, not for sale.  The minimum
cost starts around $40 per badge, and can go up depending
on the amount of data stored for each individual, the number
of badges rented, and the number applications used.

Copyright 2003, PRIMEDIA