Badges Get ‘Smart’ at Outdoor Advertising Association National Convention

May 31, 2017

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the trade association for the out of home (OOH) advertising industry, joined forces with event technology solutions company ACCESS Event Solutions and digital experience engine Blue Bite to deliver interactive engagements to attendees at the 2017 OAAA\ Geopath National Convention + Expo, held May 15-17 at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans.

In an effort to engage attendees throughout the annual event, each conference badge was enabled with dual-sensor technology.

Attendees simply tapped their phones against their NFC-enabled badges to receive conference materials, contextual content and real-time information, including the event agenda, local weather updates, social media feeds and information about nearby restaurants.

At the same time, RFID antennas in the badges enabled attendees to receive personalized welcome messages on large media screens as they entered the conference venue. Names and companies were featured in a flap display on the screens, providing each attendee with a unique interaction.

“This new experience at the industry’s largest annual gathering highlighted innovative capabilities that can be applied to today’s OOH campaigns,” said Stephen Freitas, OAAA chief marketing officer.

He continued, “Some of the most influential industry leaders saw first-hand exactly how OOH can use technology to connect with consumers in the real world.”

During the first two days of the conference, the smart badges boasted a mobile engagement rate of 3.4 percent and a Secondary Action Rate (SAR) of 86 percent, while the media screens displayed a total of 10,194 names on the display boards, with an average of 7.7 scans per badge.

“ACCESS Event Solutions is excited to be part of a great digital experience for OAAA attendees, merging our expertise in RFID laminate manufacturing and RFID tracking technology with Blue Bite’s ability to create an exciting and engaging experiential activation,” said Seth Sheck, CEO of Access Event Solutions.

According to Blue Bite CEO Mikhail Damiani, any physical object can become “smart” with the integration of a technology like NFC and the power of Blue Bite’s platform.

“The smart badges at the National Convention allowed the attendees to become more engaged throughout the event and enjoy a richer user experience,” Damiani said.

He added, “We’re delighted to bring the first such experience to this annual event.”

After such positive results, OAAA is now considering bringing back smart badges for its 2018 event, taking place May 7-9 in Austin, TX.

Learn more about ACCESS Event Solutions and Blue Bite here and here.

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