QR Code vs. Smart badge: what is best for your event?

With beamian, the pre-registration and purchase of tickets is preferably done online (before the event), but at the time of check-in the first disruptive changes are introduced, which cause the main alterations to the visit and participation experience (for attendees, brands, exhibitors and the organizer). How? With the introduction of smart badges (which can replace or complement QR codes), security increases and counterfeiting is nullified. beamian smart badges use contactless technology, just like the one used in bank cards. Each badge contains a unique unrepeatable chip. There is therefore greater security, thanks to the reduced possibility of copying tickets which guarantees the uniqueness of each credential, and the possibility of introducing different authentication technologies (in addition to the QR code).

Reading a smart badge is done with a quick touch (~ 3 seconds) while reading a QR code requires a repetitive process of reading the credential (~ 9 seconds on average). With this change alone, we potentially reduce waiting times by more than three times. And this phenomenon is extensible and multiplied by all the mini-events and registrations that populate each event, it’s faster, and it offers a better user experience.

Events, by their very nature, provide moments of personal contact that occur quickly, repeatedly and in large volume. What happens when we walk around a venue and visit 30, 40, 50 companies/exhibitors in two hours? Wouldn’t it be great to simply record in a timeline all of the projects/companies/brands that we visited, without having to add an email or a note on our phone? At beamian, we believe there is a more efficient way than a folder full of brochures😊. By simply placing a small device on the stand of each exhibitor (company/startup/brand), we are defining a contact collection point. Whenever someone wants to mark that project as “interesting”, they just touch it with their smart badge and that’s it. Having more time for building bonds = getting the best out of each event (while guaranteeing a simple way of collecting contacts). To make it even better, each project could add a presentation on beamian during their early registration in the event, and that presentation would later be placed on the timeline of everyone who was interested – all of this integrated with the applications of each event. And for the exhibitors? = increase in the rate of collection of qualified leads How to remember the hundreds of people that visited your stand? And remember the most interesting? beamian facilitates this process by digitally recording all interactions, which in turn opens up new possibilities for follow ups after the event, in a simple and practical way, without scanning. At the end of the event, everyone can have access to the chronological record of interactions with the notes and records of the preferred projects/companies, which gives them the possibility of getting in touch again and doing a follow up on all the ideas that they liked the most.

In a situation where all the participants are equipped with a smart badge, multiple branding mechanics can be implemented, from raffles to campaign implementation, all at the touch of their smart badge. The organization can offer all exhibitors new tools for the collection and treatment of business contacts in a way that complies with legal requirements, distribute brand activation tools and ensure that all contribute to a better experience. Advantages:

• Creation of on-demand dashboards which can be available in the digital signage and explore rankings of interactions (for example: most visited Exhibitor/Brand by section).
• Data centralization, greater control over the use of personal data and much more analytical information available to the organization so that better events can be organized and monetized = More income.

Each participant’s smart badge can be associated to an event wallet, thus making payments easier and increasing consumption as well as the perception of innovation during the event. Staff and guests can access special areas, have pre-charged consumptions, etc. Again, the introduction of smart badges would open a series of possibilities, making processes easier, recording and improving the whole experience, ultimately resulting in more income for the organizer and less stress for the participants.

When all interactions are registered, a lot of information and conclusions can be generated so that the ROI of the event is better evaluated by everyone, both for the participants (who have a better record of their presence in the event – with session notes, attendance, interactions and preferred companies/projects), as well as for companies (who can know how many people they attracted and gain tools for an eventual follow-up) and for the organizer who, by increasing global interaction and registering more participants, improves their sales pitch for upcoming events.