News

Self-Service & Kiosk Show underway with cutting-edge tech, seminars

October 17, 2005

The Self-Service & Kiosk Show opened yesterday in San Francisco.

Officials with NetWorld Alliance, which owns and operates the event formerly known as The Kiosk Show, said about 600 people were expected to attend, based on pre-registration numbers and early check-in rates.

Sponsors of the two-day, end-market-oriented event include IBM, Zoom Systems, and Whitech Software Solutions.

Anchor partners are PDNB Electronic Banking Solutions, St. Clair Interactive Communications Inc., friendlyway and Source Technologies.

Monday morning was devoted to three tracks of pre-conference workshops, with topics ranging from ROI to systems integration to usability design. Speakers included Mark Krogh, vice president of self-service solutions, retail services division for NCR; Doug Peter, president of St. Clair; Sylvia Berens, co-founder of Apunix Computer Services; Alex Richardson, managing director of Selling Machine Partners; Francie Mendelsohn, president of Summit Research Associates; and Greg Swistak, executive director of Kiosks.org Association.

Afternoon seminars were devoted to in-depth exploration of specific topics, and most of them were delivered to standing-room-only crowds. Peter Honebein, Ph.D. and Roy Cammarano, co-authors of "Creating Do-It-Yourself Customers," outlined the psychology of a customer and how education is pivotal in getting those customers to understand their new roles in a self-service society. Next door, Mark Krogh explored a retail self-service success story.

St. Clair's Doug Peter spoke to a capacitycrowd.

Doug Peter led a seminar on using technology to manage multiple channels, and how to use multiple devices and touchpoints throughout the retail space to reduce lines and make customers happier.

Paul Barron, publisher and COO of Fast Casual magazine and QSRweb.com (properties of NetWorld Alliance), gave a big-picture overview of the ways self-service is improving the quick-serve dining experience, making things more enjoyable for customers while making a drastic impact on the operator's bottom line.

Gary Pageau, group executive of content development and strategic initiatives for Photo Marketing Association, explored the changing face of photography in his speech on "Photo Kiosk Trends." He explored how a few enterprising photo kiosk developers are taking the "Starbucks approach" - putting the machines in cozy, relaxing environments, and encouraging patrons to take their time and think of the experience as a break from their hectic day - and turning what was already a profitable business model and giving it whole new potential.

Several all-stars of the financial services world were on hand next door to explore ways to bring check-cashing, bill-pay and money transfers to the masses via self-service. Dave Grano, president and CEO of VERO, Sandra Hartfield, president and CEO of the electronic banking division of PDNB, and Chris Ericksen, executive vice president of services of Info Touch Technologies, led a discussion on how low-fee financial operations can bring value to retailers, and how best to structure such deals to maximize the value from each transaction.

NetWorld Alliance executive vice president of sales and marketing Bob Fincher spoke about the "State of the Art in Kiosk and Self-Service Solutions," a presentation that included fresh data from a NetWorld Alliance survey sent out to more than 40,000 people in the self-service trade and end-market verticals. Next door, Nanonation's vice president of business development Brian Ardinger explored how to take self-service and make it a part of the entire retail experience, rather than just a device sitting in a fixed physical space.

It's show time!

While classes were in session, exhibitors were busily preparing the "main event," and at 5:00 pm, that event roared to life. In a special welcome reception sponsored by IBM, the show floors were opened.

Apunix's Sylvia Berens speaks with an attendee on the show floor.

(For a complete list of exhibitors and their planned offerings, click here to read our show preview.)

"The organization of this show is really good," said Heinz Horstmann of PROVISIO, which is demonstrating its SiteKiosk browser software. "The customer support, the exhibitor services - it is all really good."

Attendees seemed similarly impressed.

"This show is definitely worth doing," said Klaus Pfeiffer, senior manager for Fujifilm Australia. "We're learning a lot."

On tap for today: Kiosks.org Association has its annual meeting, Cisco Systems' Mohsen Moazami presents the show's keynote address, panel discussions on digital signage and an "ask the experts" roundtable. Winners of the 2005 Kiosk Awards and Readers' Choice will be announced following the keynote address.

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