Kiosk and self-service professionals attending KioskCom Wednesday and Thursday at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas have a full plate awaiting them. Along with new product releases from some of the industry's biggest players, the show will feature information sessions on timely topics led by award-winning self-service leaders.
New product rollouts
On the new product front, one word could sum up a number of the offerings: touchscreen. Display manufacturer Samsung, for example, will be touting two new touchscreens, the 65-inch 650TS, designed for interactive blackboard use, and the outdoor-friendly 460DRN.
On the software side, Nanonation's booth will feature employee-facing applications for the Apple iPad touchscreen device. The software suite is designed to give retail employees quick, intuitive access to a wider range of tools and information than would be practical on a handheld device or laptop.
And application systems will also have their time in the spotlight. Kioware's booth will include a display of PicsWare, a self-service photo sales system that has proven popular in the cruise industry, thanks to its electronic photo management and touchscreen kiosk customer interface.
Words of Wisdom
The educational aspect of KioskCom kicks into high gear 9 a.m. Wednesday with the first of three keynote sessions. Bill Ratcliffe, senior vice president of market analyst BrainJuicer, will present on the topic, "Creating Outstanding Experiences and Content: Engage Customers by Winning their Hearts." The hour-long session will be followed Thursday by two more keynote presentations: Library of Congress COO Jo Ann Jenkins will present "Creating and Sustaining Innovative Interactive Experiences: Connecting the On-site and On-line Visit," which touches on the library's award-winning interactive deployment.
Finally, a panel of industry leaders — Flextronics general manager Dave Gonsiorowski, Friendlyway co-CEO Karl Joachim Veigel, ParTech vice president of marketing and business development Peter Wolf, and Russell Young, Samsung Electronics America's senior manager of strategic alliances — will close out the keynotes with a session at 2:30 Thursday, "Insights, Tips and Tricks from Global Scale Industry Leaders: What Do They Really Think?"
Between new products, two full days of information sessions and the invaluable networking that will undoubtedly take place on the trade show floor, KioskCom attendees will have a full — and likely highly productive — week in Las Vegas, despite the fact that few of them may make it beyond the trade show to see that city's neon-lit attractions.
