Technology innovations continue to improve how today’s event planners do business. And one of the more common trends involves near-field communication or NFC. If it sounds like a new concept, it’s not. You might have even used NFC when paying for your coffee this morning. Apple Pay and other digital device-based technology involve NFC.
Since its inception in the early 2000s, near-field technology continues to be a dominating force in how consumers pay and interact today. As a New York event planner, are you exploring NFC tech to improve your business engagement? For those of you who aren’t and those who may only be using it for processing payments, for now, there are countless other benefits to how you plan and manage events and conferences. Here are a few additional reasons to be leveraging NFC for your New York event planning business.
What Is Near-Field Communication?
Before you can properly implement NFC, you’ll want to understand what it is, how it works, and why it’s important. The concept involves the ability to transfer data between two digital devices, usually a smartphone and a digital card reader designed to interpret your digital credit card information. But NFC goes beyond digital payment processing. And the radio-frequency identification method is great for badge reading, information processing, security access, and so much more. At its core, NFC offers real-time and money-saving solutions to event planners in a variety of methods.
Near-field technology applications’ core benefits include:
- Secure
- Fast
- Convenient
- Efficient
Is Near-Field Technology Secure?
Anytime you consider using technology as a method for transferring sensitive data, you want to know about security. So, is NFC secure? Yes. In the example of payment processing, the NFC method doesn’t use the magnetic stripe on the back of your card. Instead, an NFC transaction takes your card info (based on the picture of your card you have in your device) and encrypts it before sending. And this encryption is dynamic, meaning it changes continuously, unlike the raw data available with the magnetic stripe swipe. Apple Pay uses this tokenization to protect bank information. And anytime you use NFC, there’s this added layer of discretion and encryption to ensure data is protected from end to end.
NFC Is Great for Cashless Payment Processing
Let’s start with the basics, payment processing with NFC. As a New York event planner, contactless payment options are a necessity. Attendees prefer it, your event clients appreciate it, and it makes collecting for event sponsorships and exhibitor spaces a breeze. Anytime you can streamline processes, you can improve overall event experiences. And payment process or fee collection is a great first reason to incorporate near-field technology into your event planning solution model.
NFC to Improve Conference Registration
Take that super-efficient swipe-to-pay model and turn it into a quick and easy way to register attendees at your event registration booth. Avoid the lines and wait times of incoming guests with kiosks designed to register guests immediately with the scan of a digital ticket, QR code, or pre-made badge. For those New York conferences that also feature breakout sessions or sub-events with classes, speakers, or groups within the event, provide another NFC touchpoint so you can verify permissions and collect data.
Avoid the gridlock and improve the attendee experience using NFC to:
- Monitor up-to-the-minute capacity
- Track which attendees attend or participate in various sessions
- Reduce overhead in staff or volunteer help
Near-field Technology to Get Into Your Hotel Room
If you’ve ever swiped a hotel card to enter your hotel room, you’ve used near-field communication technology. And while the NFC movement has alleviated the hotel industry of complex key management, you can look for similar solutions. Room access control, as New York event planners know, is an important piece of the event planning business. For larger gatherings, like celebrations and festivals, granting access to various venue areas can be a tall order job. But NFC makes it easy, with quick scan accessibility and tracking.
NFC As a Networking Business Card Exchange
Networking is an essential part of your event planning business. Building strategic partnerships across a variety of business segments will determine how well you deliver on your event planning promises. Learning from colleagues, sharing among other New York professionals, and building a go-to roster of vendor partners are just as important as landing new event clients. And near-field technology can help you there, too.
If you haven’t scanned someone’s business card using a QR code, you’ve likely seen others do it. The digital transfer of contact information is incredibly convenient. Using NFC automatically adds someone’s contact information, including name, number, title, and company, to your address book. So, when you lose that physical business card, and you probably will eventually, you’ll still have the details you need to stay connected. Alternatively, with a scannable QR code on your business cards, you can be sure important contacts won’t lose your information either.
Using Near-field Technology to Verify Guest Status
As previously mentioned, using a quick-scan device system for efficient event registration is a huge reason you should be using NFC technology for your events. But you can also explore other verification and identification efforts, too. Providing a digital ID for guests who qualify as VIP or Special Guests, for example, can quickly allow them to be identified with their privileges, improving their experience. NFC wristbands are helpful, as well, ensuring only the verified VIP attendees gain proper access permissions. Think of how much more convenient and efficient it will be for you to have digital scanning solutions for VIP access, Special Guest badge status, backstage access, and more.
Near-field technology continues to provide solutions New York event planners can be using to improve processes and streamline event management. Explore some of these options to incorporate NFC to enjoy the many benefits for your event clients and guests.
To stay on top of event planning industry trends, you’ll also want to make sure you attend The Event Planner Expo 2022 this October. And take your Expo engagement to the next level by becoming a sponsor. Check out the remaining exhibitor space, too, for three days of networking with the events industry’s biggest names, brightest leaders, and New York’s best vendors!
