Test of Citywide Attendee Credential in North America a Success

BETHESDA, MARYLAND, March 28, 2012—Bethesda, Maryland-based ITN International has successfully tested its prize-winning Citywide Attendee Credential during a North American event.

A select group of attendees of the Smart Card Alliance 2012 Payments Summit, which took place February 8-10 in Salt Lake City, were able to ride local trains using their event badges to gain access.

“The test proves we can readily expand the benefits of our NFC badge beyond the confines of a North American venue,” says Ivan Lazarev, President and CEO.

ITN International introduced the Citywide Attendee Credential during IBC 2011, a 48,000-attendee exhibition that took place in Amsterdam last September.

The Citywide Attendee Credential, an innovative application of ITN International’s BCARD attendee credential, allows a destination and an event organizer to partner to provide attendees value-added services.

BCARD, an event-industry standard in NFC-enabled attendee credentialing, has been deployed at more than 1,000 events worldwide since its introduction in 2004.

With ITN International’s BCARD, a destination can grant attendees access to its infrastructure, attractions and amenities, while an organizer can meet its needs for attendee credentialing, tracking, access control and exhibitor lead retrieval.

In November 2011, the Citywide Attendee Credential won first place in EIBTM’s prestigious Technology Watch Award.

The credential’s test during the Salt Lake City event required the cooperation of two organizations, the Princeton Junction, New Jersey-based Smart Card Alliance and the Salt Lake City, Utah-based Utah Transportation Authority.

““It’s fitting an event devoted to smart cards would serve as the testing ground for an innovative smart card application,” says Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director, Smart Card Alliance. “Enabling our conference attendees to use their badges to access public transport is a real benefit for us, as well as our attendees.”

“We’re delighted to have played a pivotal role in this exciting program,” says D. Craig Roberts, Technology Development Director, Utah Transportation Authority. “While we didn’t address all the card-security issues you’d need to address in a national pilot, the test did show you can blend an event credential and a transport card seamlessly.”

“The Citywide Attendee Credential can help places like Salt Lake City become an event organizer’s preferred destination,” Lazarev added. “I look forward to the day when transit systems all over North America are NFC-enabled and event planners can provide their attendees this kind of ‘all-in-one’ badge.”

About ITN International

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, privately-held ITN International is an event analytics company serving producers and exhibitors on six continents. The company helps clients create, capture and apply analytics to make better management and marketing decisions. With operations in China, France, the UK and the US, ITN International supports large exhibitions, conferences and corporate events by providing registration and lead retrieval solutions based on its award-winning attendee credential BCARD, which has been used by more than 5 million attendees at over 1,500 events worldwide. BCARD integrates Near Field Communication (short-range wireless), the mobile technology driving tomorrow’s “cashless” society. Event producers and exhibitors who want to learn more can call +1.801.676.7931 or send an email to info@itn-international.com. More information is available at www.itn-international.com.

Contact Information

Bob James

Director of marketing

ITN International

Contact via E-mail