Article

Kiosk Show to get '`intimate' with attendees

Potential kiosk deployers will see complete solutions up close and very personal at the Kiosk Show Seminar and Expo Sept. 17-18.

December 9, 2004

There is an ongoing debate in the kiosk industry about whether vendors should offer complete, "turnkey" solutions, or mix-and-match components such as printers, keyboards and touchscreens. Now even the industry trade shows are reflecting the differing opinions.

Potential kiosk deployers will be able to see the kiosk industry up close and very personal at The Kiosk Show Seminar and Expo in Long Beach, Calif., Sept. 17-18.

The show, sponsored by Kiosk magazine and KIOSKmarketplace, is purposely being kept small, allowing in only exhibitors that can show full kiosk solutions and buyers who have checkbooks in hand, according to Lief Larson, publisher of Kiosk magazine.

"We received 6,000 applications for attendance, but our criteria is stringent. We will have 500 attendees or less," said Larson. His company has now confirmed 300 attendees. Big-name technology buyers such as Philip Morris, American Automobile Association (AAA), Travelers Group and Citicorp are expected to attend.

"We've privatized the event, unlike KioskCom. We've closed the doors," said Larson. "It will be an intimate environment with pre-qualified companies."

Larson explained that the Kiosk Show is not meant to compete with KioskCom. "We recognize them as the industry leader. Our goal is simply to bring together customers and solution providers."

But he said that keeping the event very focused will cut down the learning curve for potential deployers. "If you present kiosk solutions from the component level, you may confuse them."

Voyagi Inc., the show producer, has prohibited attendance by internal industry vendors. The last show was open door, and plenty of vendors attended.

"We found that they were upselling to exhibitors. In fact, the exhibitors were inundated with salespeople, and because of that they found it difficult to concentrate on the buyers," said Larson.

He said the concept for the Kiosk Show is following common sense. "If you are selling an auto, you don't show the customer the manufacturer of the steering wheel or the maker of the leather seats."

There will be 24 exhibitors demonstrating complete kiosk solutions at the Kiosk Show. KioskCom, in comparison, had 100 exhibitors last year, and will have more in Las Vegas this year, according to Lawrence Dvorchik, executive director of KioskCom LLC and the Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards. See related story, "KioskCom set for Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, April 26-28."

Dvorchik said of KioskCom, "We offer the greatest number of choices. There are a greater number of solutions here than at any kiosk event in the world."

He used Apunix Computer Services as an example of a KioskCom exhibitor. "Apunix won't just have software at KioskCom. The software will be featured in a full-service machine."

Dvorchik said KioskCom has full-service solutions, but also components for those who are looking specifically to buy items like printers or touchscreens.

He said he is interested to see how the Kiosk Show succeeds in its mission. "If it will provide a good venue for exhibitors and be the right environment for buyers, then I'm all for it. All opportunities are necessary for this industry."

Said Larson, "We are growing in baby steps. We will walk away from this show with experience. So far, the process looks like it's working."

Alex Richardson, executive vice president of Netkey, and a speaker at the Kiosk Show, said he likes the idea of small, regional shows. "They're great for companies that can't afford to fly," he said.

Larson said one big draw of the Kiosk Show is the speaker list. "We have a lot of participation on the seminar side. These are people who know the technology inside and out."

Richardson said he will address whether return on investment, or ROI, "really matters."

He said he will present about six Netkey case studies, complete with the ROI formula for each. "I'll show the kiosk adoption rate, what the real barriers are, and where ROI fits in."

Kelly Mundell, general manager at HTS Interactive, will speak on the human-machine interface. "I'll discuss why buttons should be a certain color, why you should have contrast, how many levels deep a user should have to click," he said. He'll offer examples of good and bad interface designs.

Other scheduled speakers and their topics include:

• "Why & How to Plan a Kiosk Strategy" - Sylvia Berens, Apunix Computer Services;
• "The Retail Kiosk: The Future of Customer Empowerment Technology" - Sam Matheny, DTV Plus;
• "The Internet Kiosk: A Pay-per-use and Hotspot Access Gateway" - Shervin Rashti, Touch N Surf;
• "The Human Dynamics of Kiosks" - Bob Fincher, NetWorld Alliance;
• "The Human Resource Kiosk: Centralized Employee Access & Streamlined Recruiting" - Pete Synder, Kiosk Information Systems;
• "Beyond the Box: Identifying the System Components and Enclosure for your Program" - Derek Fretheim, Ceroview
• "The Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality Kiosk: Meeting the Needs of Those on the Move" - Amy Hsiao, Logiclink
• "The Healthcare Kiosk/The Government Kiosk" - Dave Gornokowski, WebRaiser
• "Open Panel Forum: Take Your Questions to the Experts" - group expert panel

[Editor's note: Info Touch Technologies became Tio Networks in April 2006.]