My Name is RFID - Using RFID in Meeting Badges

Filed in archive RFID Basics on July 7, 2006

As interest in RFID grows, the uses for it are multiplying rapidly.

One of the most innovative uses is RFID in badges for large meetings, conferences, expositions and other business events. RFID chips attached to the badges that attendees use, are being experimented with in increasing numbers.

One of the big advantages of RFID in badges is the ability to speed up the registration and entry process. RFID also allows event planners to get much better insights after-the-fact into how well certain seminars or events were attended -- allowing for better planning next year.

This article in Meetings Focus describes some of the benefits -- as well as the downsides -- of using RFID:

It wasn't that long ago that the only way to identify people at a big meeting was the cheesy, "Hello my name is -- " badge, stuck jauntily on the lapel. "Hello, my name is Jack. Don't be put off by the childish scrawl on my badge; I'm really an okay guy. If anyone's looking for Jack, send them my way. Say, did I mention that my name was Jack?"

In the information age, the "Hello my name is --" badge is starting to look distinctly low-tech: "Hello, my name is dinosaur."

Badges first sprouted electronic bar codes and then magnetic strips, which could hold much more information about an attendee other than the fact that his name is Jack. But even these technologies don't know Jack.

Now comes the latest and most technologically sophisticated badge of all, embedded with a radio frequency identification, or RFID, chip. The tiny chips, a quarter-inch in diameter, enable badges to respond to radio frequency signals from a nearby antenna.

Hat tip to Creative Reporter "kgcurry," who placed the link to this article on the site a while back. I wanted to highlight the article by writing a post about it here because it is so informative. Thank you, kgcurry -- your tips are very welcome!