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The final word on KioskCom 2002

This year's edition of the kiosk industry's trade show and conference is now history. Here are a few of the moments that made the event interesting.

March 11, 2004

And now it's back to business. On the flight from Orlando to Louisville, we organized our piles of business cards and new product brochures. Once back in the office, we talked about oodles of story ideas discovered at the show. But before we hunker down at our PCs and leave KioskCom 2002 for good, here's a roundup of some odds and ends we just had to get out of our system.

Picture this: PictureMark Inc.'s new idea is sending photos by e-mail to people attending events such as KioskCom 2002. The company hired a photographer to cover the event; the photographer took pictures of folks and then explained how they could see the snapshots online. The plan is to show up at major spectator events, as the company did at last year's U.S. Open tennis tournament, and give fans a picture at the site to send by e-mail to friends, or, back to the office. You never know when your own photo might show up on the Internet.

Printers Alley:An odd alignment on the exhibit show floor found a majority of the printer manufacturers at the show stationed along the same path. Printer manufacturers, surprisingly, comprised 12 of the 83 exhibit booths. Among them were Hecon by Hengstler, BDT Products, Axiohm Transaction Solutions, Seiko Instruments, Telpar, Westrex International, and Printrex.

The Kiosk Factory made sure its Butler kiosk caught the eye of everyone that visited the company's booth.

Speaking of printers:While Fujitsu did not land a spot in Printers Alley, the company did have plenty to crow about with the launch of its FTP-639 receipt printer. Company representatives at the show said the FTP-639 can print receipts or tickets up to 80 millimeters wide at a maximum speed of about 8 inches per second. But the kicker, as far as Fujitsu is concerned, is that its printer is small but robust. "What we've done is have the smallest one on the market, but it can still handle a big roll of paper," said Fujitsu product marketing manager Jim Harrison.

Best Real Project: On display in the Frank Mayer and Associates booth was a kiosk designed for BMW described by Netkey marketing director Bob Ventresca as a "state-of-the-art enclosure" that is "significant for the industry." Each of the 350 BMW dealerships in the United States will have one by the end of May, Ventresca said. It is designed for a customer and BMW sales associate to view video of BMW models, and goes so far as to allow a customer to choose model, color, and add accessories. The kiosks even show a series of short films showcasing the spiffy cars directed by the likes of John Frankenheimer and Guy Ritchie.

Where are they now? While interviews with exhibitors gave generally favorable reviews to the level of traffic and activity on the exhibit floor, it was hard not to notice that about two dozen companies did not have booths this year. Among them were ePOINT Ltd., Factura Corp., Olea Exhibits/Displays Inc., friendlyway Inc., and Cybertotems, which has withdrawn from the North American market.

You rang!An old favorite that made a return appearance at KioskCom was The Kiosk Factory's butler kiosk. The five-foot tall butler, decked out in black with a wry smile on his face, was the centerpiece of the company's booth. Mounted on the kiosk was a computer that provided information on The Kiosk Factory, and a rack of company business cards for attendees.

Storm trooper: Storm Data Entry Technology founding director Peter Jarvis said he was still trying to live down last year's precision display of intentional violence. Jarvis staged an event in which a Storm keyboard was shaken, thrown, beaten, and burned, but still worked, showcasing the product's toughness. This time, the exuberant Brit took a more subtle approach and it appeared to pay off. He said he made three sales during the show's first hour, and had seen dozens of prospects. Jarvis was also able to crow about this company's recent deal with NCR Corp., which will use Storm keyboards on its Easy Point 45 product debuting in May.

We're number one! Speaking of NCR, the sleekest booth at the show showcased the new product and an emphasis on the Easy Point brand, complete with green foam cutouts proclaiming Easy Point number one. Financial program manager Nancy Halpern said there was plenty of buzz about the new Easy Point 45, as several customers have already placed orders. Many of the kiosks will be used in banks as ATM companions, and will provide services such as inquiries about account balances, loans and other functions.

Don't I know you?It was surprising to see Nessa Feddis, the American Banking Association's senior general counsel, presiding over a seminar on ADA regulations for the kiosk industry. Feddis is a regular attendee of ATM and banking shows and frequently speaks about the importance of compliance with ADA regulations for ATM owners. In Orlando, she said kiosk owners would be wise to be prepared, because ADA requirements for kiosks are likely to be required. "It will be some time, but it's easier in the design and development stage than afterward," Feddis said.

Arral Industries's clear acrylic kiosk went from understudy to show-stealer at KioskCom 2002.

Best use of neon acrylic:Ben Wheeler, sales manager for Ontario, Calif.-based Arral Industries, got plenty of attention for his see-through kiosk made of green and orange neon acrylic. The kiosk, designed especially for the trade show, drew such interest that Wheeler expects to take the striking design into production. This product was so distinctive that there apparently was no runner-up announced in this division.

Best persuasive device: The folks at Olympus wanted show visitors to watch a film about their product and test some virtual reality glasses. There were lots of takers, considering that a free six-minute massage was included in the deal. Ahhhh. That felt so good. We had no idea you could plunge a thumb that far into someone's shoulder blade without causing grievous bodily harm.

Shiny happy enclosures:A number of companies showcased new products at KioskCom. One that caught our eye was Ceroview's Cyber Touch kiosk enclosure. Sleek, silver, and curved, the Cyber Touch is modular, so it can be used a standalone or wall-mounted unit. "The unit has been designed for specifically a retail location which is looking for small footprints," said Ceroview president Derek Fretheim.

www.clarkkent.com:The NetYou booth featured a traditional-looking telephone booth equipped with Internet access. Its recent debut in New York drew the attention of the New York Times, which printed a photo of the new deployment last month. NetYou operates pay-per-use terminals for Internet surfing in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Canada.