KioskCom follow up

KioskCom in Las Vegas was fun and there were lots of new things to see. Everyone's feet are tired but we all gathered many new leads and had opportunities to talk to other vendors in the industry. The show was unlike last year in that the flow of traffic and prospects was... how do I say it... not necessarily slower, but more evenly distributed. Instead of 80% of the leads arriving in the first 2 hours, it was fairly consistent throughout. Except for the last 2 hours of the final day, which is almost always slower. That's to be expected.

Many of the same industry vendors as always and a few new ones too, like Big Wave who has an online software service to help manage kiosk rollouts and kiosks that are out in the field. This is an important tool that can help make rollouts go smoother, allowing all of the players to login and see the current status, post message, see specifications docs, installation notes, all the way down to the tech on the ground who can make updates for each machine he touches. And post launch this can be used to manage the kiosks over time. It's an interesting product that you may not even think of when you are first putting together a kiosk project and planning for the rollout, but once you go through a large rollout, you'll understand the value of it. Check out www.bigwavesoftware.com for more information

Another lively booth at the show was a bit unexpected... and I'm not sure if it's really a kiosk, but it is a self service device. The company is Glenview Health Systems, and the product is BioMeasure. It measures your height, weight, and you grip some handles on the side where it can presumably get a good bit of information about your body and the final product is an analysis of your BMI body mass index, and other helpful information. It became a competition for everyone to get measured and see how they stacked up! I was pretty average, and leaning towards being overweight. But I think I dropped most of that weight by the end of the show from all of the walking you do at shows and in Las Vegas itself! Check out their cool product at www.biomeasure.net

There was a great seminar on PCI compliance that was presented by Fast Transact
that dealt with many great security issues when it comes to credit card transactions at a kiosk. It also spent a good bit of time talking about kiosk security in general, from the OS and application level all the way to the physical level which was very very interesting. I hope they continue to have these seminars at every show! The folks at Retail Solutions Providers Association www.goRSPA.org also gave out a great CD about this topic. There were several Ah Ha moments at the seminar where a white hat hacker gave his perspective and insightful observations.

Our company showed off it's new model of kiosk hardware, the EasyShip XL which you can see at our newly re-designed web site at: www.ElectronicArt.com

A fun side note, an employee of mine passed this link on to me, which is a blog entry from a self proclaimed "trade show virgin" who lists lessons she learned at a recent show. Check it out at: http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/iland/2008/05/nine-lessons-from-trade-show-virgin.html

Getting Ready for KioskCom

Well, it's time again for KioskCom in Las Vegas. This show runs each spring and fall, between Vegas and NYC to give both coasts a chance to see the latest in Kiosk and digital signage technology and vendors such as our company, Electronic Art. We've been working hard to prepare, including loading up the kiosks into large crates (that cost more than they should to ship), preparing brochures and business cards, making sure the booth materials are ready and more! And trying to meet deadlines for shipping, etc.

This is the first year that the KioskCom show is including a digital signage show within the same show floor with one entry fee! The two technologies are very similar when it comes to hardware, networking, etc. and most large deployers are integrating both into their overall interactive marketing strategy. Or they are considering both, which makes it easy for them to get more bang for their buck by attending this single show. Our firm provides hardware and content for digital signage as well as kiosks, so we will have a 37" touch screen panel in our booth running some demo content. Check us out in booth 521 at the show.

Those guys at JD Events (show operators) are working hard to make sure everything goes off without a hitch... and they always do a superb job with this show. And it helps that they are all very nice people too!

These shows are a great chance for you to see, touch, and learn about kiosks and the various vendors who can help you deploy your kiosk initiative. You will be tired after walking the floor for hours and your eyes will hurt from all of the visual stimulus which is why it is great that you can walk down the hallway in the Mandalay Bay and eat at a nice restaurant or get a coffee at Starbucks to recharge your batteries. I like the Rum Jungle which is a restaurant / nightclub that mixes fire and huge walls of glass with water cascading down them to make for an interesting atmosphere. After 11pm, the gogo dancers come out as people switch to party mode. You'll even see scantily clad women swinging on trapeze in the rafters over the bar... that's right, just like a circus... Vegas is crazy! Also, check out the hottest nightclub going right now, LAX in the Luxor. Last time I was there I saw Dave Navaro, but beware... the line to get in is very long for the common man!

But I digress, back to Kiosks! Be forewarned, the following paragraphs are less of an unbiased view and more of an opportunity to talk about our company.

At the KioskCom show, we will be unveiling the latest kiosk design in the EasyShip family of products called the EasyShip XL. This kiosk enclosure uses a modern metal enclosure to hold a full size thermal role printer that can print 8.5x11 print outs, or optionally could hold a small form factor pc to run your kiosk and digital signage screens. It also has an overhead signage panel option. See it on our newly redesigned web site at: http://www.electronicart.com/ or see it in person at the show. We will also be showcasing official IBM Paper which you'll find in our printers. You'll also see the original EasyShip kiosk with it's new oval base that is 20% larger to provide greater stability.

We are also announcing a new partnership with a local fabricator. Our new kiosk fabrication partner has enabled us to have greater capacity, more options, quality engineering, and lower costs. That's right, the original EasyShip kiosk is now dramatically cheaper than last year and the new EasyShip XL is a very good value too. The printer hardware is the most expensive part of the kiosk! Contact us through our web site to get a quote for your kiosk needs at http://www.electronicart.com/ .

Are you planning to attend? Need a free pass to the tradeshow floor? Contact me to get one! My next Blog post will probably be at the show or a post show follow up to the cool things I've seen at this year's KioskCom show.

Show Dates: April 16-17 2008, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
October 15-16 2008, Javits Convention Center, NYC
KioskCom

Traveling with Kiosks via Airports

Recently we traveled to pitch a kiosk concept to a very large prospect and the meetings went well. We brought along an IBM AnyPlace kiosk to demonstrate some of our recent custom kiosk applications to the client, which we do often. It gives them an idea of the type of applications they could build, show the level of design quality we can perform, and allows to to touch and feel some actual hardware. The IBM kiosk is retail hardened and can take a lot of abuse and constant interaction. But then we put it up against Delta airlines and the TSA.

After packing it in a foam lined hardshell travel case (TSA locked), we checked the kiosk with our other baggage for our return flight home. All seemed well until we opened the case a week later to prep the kiosk for our next pitch. The kiosk screen was broken! Imagine the shock and then anger. You always wonder how roughly they treat your luggage, and now we have a gauge of the high level of abuse. This glass is not cheap or fragile. It's touch stuff with lots of coatings, etc. (see IBM's specs at: http://www-03.ibm.com/products/retail/products/anyplace/index.html )

As you can see from the picture, it must have taken a hard and heavy blow from a sharp object or corner of another package. But through our hardshell case? That takes some effort. And now that it is a week or more past our return flight, I don't know if we can issue any kind of complaint or claim. I doubt they will cover this, so I am simply down one unit and out a lot of money. My next step is to see what IBM will charge to repair the unit for me. They have great warranty service, but this would not be covered, obviously.

Shipping electronics is always risky business, and passenger airlines are not in the habit of being gentle with the luggage in their care. I'm sure this would be a bit less likely with a carrier such as UPS/FedEx who handle a lot of fragile items daily. An airlines is expecting clothing and golf clubs most of the time. We ship a lot of kiosks via common carrier and rarely have any problems. But we are going to have to re-evaluate how we travel with the kiosks on passenger airlines. We are currently evaluating other types of hard shell cases that we can check with the airlines, and will likely come up with a good solution that we will resell to other customers.

How about you, have you had similar experiences? Do you have mobile kiosks and need to protect them? How do you travel with them?