News & Press

New Express Badge Pickup Speeds Registration, Saves Money and Verifies Attendance

Broadview, IL – March 26, 2007 - A new approach for distributing badges at a trade show, CompuSystems, Inc.’s Express Badge Pickup system, has made life easier for trade show exhibitors, trade show attendees and trade show management.

Instead of long lines waiting to pick up badges or to print new or lost badges, CompuSystems' (CSI) Express Badge Pickup uses a program similar to the airlines new e-ticket system. The exhibitor or attendee simply presents a barcode printed out on their home computer and a badge is created instantly for their use.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on the speed of our registration process, but nothing we or any of our competitors has ever done is as fast as Express Badge Pickup,” said Paul McCaffray, CSI's Executive Vice President and COO. “Express Badge Pickup combines two technologies that no other registration service uses,” McCaffray continued. “First, we use a technology that produces bar coded confirmations that have a read rate at the show of approximately 99.9%.

“Second, we use a single-badge that is both the identification badge and exhibitor lead card. This badge is printed on a high-speed thermal transfer printer which produces a badge much more efficiently than a laser printer. The single credential approach eliminates the need for a second step to produce a separate magnetic strip lead. “In addition, we’re continually re-investing in our registration system to ensure it remains on the leading edge and operates at optimum speed,” McCaffray said.

Does Express Badge work? Trade show management emphatically says, “Yes.” “We used Express Badge at our fall ISSA Show,” said LeeAnn Nowling, ISSA’s Director of Conventions. “Our first priority always is to serve our customers better. We wanted to move the 17,000 people who come to our show on the first day through our registration system faster. We also wanted to eliminate people not receiving their badges or losing the ones we sent them. Express Badge Pickup achieved both these goals. “Last year, we still mailed badges to exhibitors, but Express Badge Pickup worked so well for our attendees that for 2007, we are going to use it for both exhibitors and attendees,” Nowling added.

A big advantage of Express Badge for show organizers is in verifying attendance. “Show management wants to know how many people attended their show, not just how many people registered,” McCaffray continued. “When an attendee comes to the show and has their badge printed, we know they’ve attended. It’s the easiest and most reliable way to know how many people came to a show.”

Attendance verification was an important reason why the 2007 PGA Merchandise Show in January used Express Badge. “Reed Exhibitions was looking for a solution that would provide 100 percent verification while improving customer satisfaction at the pre-registration areas on site,” said Randy Field, Director of Registration, Reed Exhibitions. “CompuSystems helped us come up with an Express Badge Pickup solution for the PGA Merchandise show that worked wonderfully for us. Lines moved rapidly and our customers were very pleased with the reduced waiting periods. As a result, we achieved the 100 percent verification goal."

A final major advantage of Express Badge is tremendous cost savings. There are no postage costs, no envelope costs, no carrier costs and no inserts are necessary. There are no forgotten badges and no lost badges. “Even if an attendee forgets to bring their printed confirmation, he can show an ID and get his badge, just like at the airport,” McCaffray said. “We’ve found that most people simply print the confirmation from their computer and put it into their travel file they are bringing to the show.”

CompuSystems is a full-service registration provider for the exposition industry, offering a broad range of services for show organizers, exhibitors and attendees. The company’s mission is to help its customers achieve the best possible trade show experience by providing innovative technology and cutting-edge products and services, backed by the most experienced professionals in the industry. For more information visit the company website at www.compusystems.com.