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Forget about QR Codes. NFC Will Rule Your Event

April 1, 2011   |   AUTHOR: Julius Solaris   |   POSTED IN: event technology

In a bold move, Google ditched QR and Barcodes in favour of NFC (Near Field Communication). What does that mean for the future of online/offline integration? How can event planners use NFC to maximize revenue and engagement?

QR codes have been widely discussed in the event industry for the capability to perform online actions offline. Services such as Likify give a great deal of tangibility to otherwise lost in translation opportunities. As event professionals, we love that.


It happened before with Flash

Now bear with me. Apple recently ditched Flash for good in favour of HTML5. That caused lots of turmoil in the Interwebs as when a major player makes such a decision, many will feel the impact.

Well, I think we can state the same has happened for QR Codes and NFC.


What is NFC?

I’ve looked at the Wikipedia definition but it sounds too techie for us. Therefore I am gonna quote ReadWriteWeb, who firstly blogged about NFC and its use:

NFC, which stands for “near field communication,” is a wireless technology that enables data exchanges over short distances. It’s the backbone of Google’s (reportedly in development) mobile wallet initiative with MasterCard and Citigroup.

It’s also the technology Google has been testing with its Hotpot program, a Yelp-like service that encourages local customers to rate and review their favorite restaurants, bars, shops and other local businesses. Now in its pilot phase, Hotpot merchants and business owners in Portland, Oregon have been provided with NFC-enabled window decals which would, when tapped with an NFC-enabled handset (or activated by waving the phone near the sticker), would link to the business’ Places page.


How does that differ from QR Codes?

When we think of our customers it gets down to ease of use.

QR codes involve pointing the camera to the code and then being redirected to a website or to an action. Lara summed it up quite well here.

On the other hand NFC looks like a more interactive technology and the technicalities are left to the backend. Shaking the phone or simply tapping will result in actions.

In terms of security, NFC is a much more secure avenue for monetary transactions, while QR Codes seem to be only an engagement tool.


How can NFC be used at events?

Payments and ticketing

I have been thinking about the potential uses of NFC for events and I found this great article by Gary Marshall that points out how ticketing is number one item on the agenda.

When thinking about major events and crowd management, speeding up payments is a must. If we also consider the fact that the most profitable event technology to date is ticketing, NFC looks like a great solution.

Live Response

NFC is a much better alternative to QR codes as far as live response is concerned. Services such as Shakespeak will benefit from the quick and easy interaction without loading the Wifi or the phone network.

Proximity Marketing

Companies such as Hypertag already offer products in this sense and if wisely used with a fair level of engagement, good results can be achieved.


What is next?

The fact Google has stepped in this direction means that Android will. Since Android owns a humongous market share in handheld devices you would expect adoption to skyrocket.

Therefore get ready, read a lot and start playing with NCF.

Photo by Ti.mo

  • http://twitter.com/mclpro Dave McLoughlin
  • http://www.meetjulius.com Julius Solaris

    Awesome

  • http://twitter.com/BobVaez Bob Vaez (EventMobi)

    No doubt NFC is the future of many things from payment to ticketing to QI(Quick Identification) that you can do so much with special at live events and conferences. Being a mobile tech company we are super excited but realistic at the same time!

    I don’t think NFC will have any impact on QR usage at events for the next 2 years. When we started using QR-codes 2 years to allow attendees to get access to mobile event apps (even in Silicon Valley) the adoption was around 20%. This year we have seen around 20-40% depending on the event. BizBash reported 25% for their event. What is important to note is we just tipped the infliction point for using QR codes by the masses.

    Mobile technology adoption is driven by refresh and upgrade cycles of new phones. To cross the 30% usage rate for NFC at events we need to wait for at least 2 upgrade cycles which is between 2-4 years, until then QR codes are our best friends to connect the physical world to digital content.

    Bob
    http://www.EventMobi.com

  • http://www.meetjulius.com Julius Solaris

    Two years seem a lot looking at how fast developers work on delivering apps, nonetheless it’s a valid point.

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  • Philip

    Hey Bob! Interesting thoughts – I loved QR Codes when they came out, but I have to say the amount of people that still don’t know what QR Codes are, and given the fact that you need an additional app you download etc, is for me an indicator that soon NFC technolgies will jump in. It’s just easier. This company Poken for instance has a pretty tight solution: http://vimeo.com/19491909

  • http://twitter.com/BobVaez Bob Vaez (EventMobi)

    absolutely… that’s the downside since it does require additional application download and is not intuitively built into the phone system. NFC on the other hand will be an integral part of a phone hardware. But that’s why it will take more than 2 years to get decent adoption… it’s not just an app, it actually requires you to buy a new phone that has NFC hardware (basically a RFID tag) built into the phone. Or for users to attach a decal to the outside body of the their phone (similar to Paypass credit cards)

    I really like Poken, Badget2Match, mingle360 and Spot Me devices, it’s pretty much the only way to ensure 100% of your audience is covered with that tool and experience. But again those are one time device use in many cases, bad for the environment considering their usage cycle and very expensive for large events with a lot of attendees.

  • Eric

    Great post!! Didn’t know that google had abandoned qr codes… They’re still ubiquitious at their nyc hq.

  • http://twitter.com/thehubtalks The Hub

    So. I used QR codes at my wedding. It was supposed to be all clever and stuff, since it was a 1920s wedding, so we were bringing in the speakeasy element by making people access the code to find out where they were sitting and to access a special message from me and groom?
    Yeah. Total fail. Hipsters who were also Luddites and the older generation didn’t get. Also, we had the thing in a national park, so, um…cell reception spotty. Sigh.
    NFC totally would have fixed the problem. Bumping and tapping is SO MUCH easier to understand than “take a photo, access a web site, squint at screen…”

  • http://www.meetjulius.com Julius Solaris

    Fantastic case study