April 2003
The Gucci Factor

Case Study:  E-Gov gets smart with bCard lead management system

by Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

Big spenders deserve smart business cards. At the E-Gov Conference and Exposition, where attendees wield multi-million dollar IT budgets, they get the bCard, with an 8K memory chip that sends and receives data for gaining access to sessions, tracking exhibits visited and accruing airline mileage-point rewards.

“E-Gov focuses on technology applications that push government to do its job better,” says Chuck Lockard, Co-founder of 101communications in Falls Church, VA. “We felt it was important to demonstrate our commitment to advanced technology.”

bCard President and CEO Ivan Lazarev calls the need for a cutting-edge lead management solution “the Gucci factor.” But at a cost less than paper printouts, bCard has panache without a hefty price tag.

Last year E-Gov paid about $1.15 per bCard, then sold one sponsorship to cover the entire cost. Exhibitors paid $225 for a handheld unit with an integrated bCard reader or a PC-compatible bCard reader, and $325 for a stand-alone bCard reader that both prints and saves leads from the two-day show.

Pre-registered attendees received a paper badge in the mail, then checked themselves in on-site and printed a bCard encoded with a 14-digit account number, contact information and a detailed profile. On-site registrants entered their data in terminals with screens configured to mirror E-Gov’s online registration form.

Post-show, E-Gov exported the onsite registration database to its own system to produce a verified attendance list. Attendees could also update their bCard data through the E-Gov Web site (www.e-gov.com). Then, when they register for this year’s show, to be held June 9–12 in Washington, DC, their information will be prepopulated in the online registration form.

Exhibitors used bCard’s standard lead form or customized the system to specify products, action items and other qualifying information. The bCard reader saved data in the file format approved by the Trade Show Exhibitors Association. For an added fee, bCard customized the format to integrate with exhibitors’ customer relationship management systems.

E-Gov introduced the bCard in 1999, when smart cards were gaining acceptance for government applications, such as security and access control. Replacing the previous barcode badge, bCard added the capability of writing data to the card. This let attendees record the exhibits they saw, then receive a complete list via e-mail after the show. They also earned 500 or 1,000 mileage points for visiting designated booths, then entered a grand-prize drawing for 25,000 mileage points. They redeemed the mileage points through the bCard Web site  (www.bCard.net).

Future applications at E-Gov may include an electronic purse or access control for an Internet cafe. Other applications would be overkill. “You could use it instead of a ticket for meals or conference packets,” says Lockard. “But it’s almost easier to turn in a lunch ticket than to get a reader, scan the card, and see if they’re eligible.”

The challenge for show organizers is to decide what applications yield the most value. “We look to the high end, where we try to create some excitement and show off the technology,” Lockard says.


Cathy Chatfield-Taylor covers meeting technology as a freelance writer/editor. E-mail: cathy@cc-tunlimited.com.