But I did not go to see what Google, Amazon or what others were launching;
rather to see print on-demand badge printing in action.
 |
| C3500 Badge Printers at CES |
CompuSystems, www.compusystems.com, provided the registration solution, including identification badges,
for CES. Founded in 1976, CompuSystems
has enjoyed many years as a major registration service provider for the trade
show industry. They offer integrated software that meets the specific needs of
their clients, creating an ecosystem that fosters the buyer and seller
relationship.
If you follow my blog, you may remember this earlier post covering
CompuSystems’ move to print on-demand color badges:
During my short visit at the end of the 2nd day, I found the
solution that CompuSystems built for CES amazing. According to Jeremy Kubik, Director of IT for
CompuSystems, “we constructed and managed 19 different registration locations
in Las Vegas for CES; including not only the main registration tent and the
various halls of the convention center, but also in hotels across Las Vegas. We
even had three registration areas at the airport.”
 |
| CES Main Registration Tent |
At the various locations, the CompuSystems team setup carts that
included a computer, printer and wireless router to connect to the servers
running BarTender. CompuSystems added
these locations just prior to the show including the VPN networks to handle all
of the data. Here was the cart running
at one of the hotel locations.
 |
| Registration Badge Cart at CES |
In addition to the network of registration desks, Jeremy and his team
used BarTender to create the template and add the variable data to the
badges. The badges included fixed images
such as the CES logo and an advertisement on the back panel, but also variable
data including a picture which was required for all attendees. For example, attendees could upload an image
prior to the event, use the CES application on their phone, or capture a
picture during registration using a small HD web camera:
 |
| Camera for Badges |
And all of the images were verified instantaneously by an application
to confirm the picture was a face.
Also, CompuSystems added a lot of variable data; such as name, company,
city and QR code for lead retrieval. In addition, they added color-coded bars
for the type of attendee or exhibitor (13 total types).
 |
| CES Print On-Demand Color Badges |
For the badges, CompuSystems used a 4” x 12” matte poly tag with a
crease in the middle to enable front/back printing. I thought these poly badges printed great;
including the images. For example, the
WHOA image, the CES mark for the 2018 show, look great.
 |
| WHOA CES 2018 |
Or the advertisement on the back panel:
 |
| CES Badge Advertisement |
After attending CES 2018, I believe Jeremy and the team at CompuSystems
deserve an “atta-a-boy” for their work and their on-demand badge solution for
the CES show. I can’t imagine the pressure of having hundreds of thousands of
people waiting for badges at a trade show; I’m glad the printers and badges
worked great.
 |
| Guy Mikel at CES 2018 |
If you want badges for your next tradeshow, pick them up from us here
at Color Label Solutions.
Guy Mikel
855-962-7670
