One of my sons takes Tae Kwon Do lessons, and my daughter does dance. Every now and then, the schools hold ceremonies to present trophies. The kids don't have to do much to add another bit of brass and plastic to their shelves. In fact, with the ballet, the girls merely show up. I've come to believe cynically that the awards are more an incentive to parents to keep up the monthly checks than they are recognition of any pupil merit.
Such patronage will not be an attribute of the 2005 Kiosk Awards.
On page 32 of the magazine and online here, you will find information about the competition. Simply, we are looking for the best end-market applications in a number of vertical markets. The deployers may submit the machines used in their businesses, or the vendors responsible for them may submit on the deployer's behalf.
Kiosk magazine has sponsored the competition since 2001, but this year we have made several changes.
1. Independent judges. A panel of self-service experts will evaluate submitted materials and provide us with numerical rankings based on specific criteria. One judge will be from the industry, one will be an industry expert, and one will represent the end market.
2. Readers Choice voting. In the September/October 2005 issue, we will publish a photo and summary of each entry, complete with a URL for our readers to vote for their picks in each category.
3. Onsite evaluation. The top-three vote-getters in each category will be expected to present their machines at The Self-Service & Kiosk Show, Oct. 17-18, in San Francisco. (See selfservicekioskshow.com.) There, the panel of judges will evaluate the machines, adding points to totals earned from the evaluation of submitted materials and the Readers Choice voting to determine category first-, second- and third-place winners.
4. Awards presentation and story. We will make a live announcement of the winners at The Self-Service & Kiosk Show in October, with winners examined in detail in the November/December issue of Kiosk magazine.
Entry materials must be received by Friday, 5 p.m. EST, July 29, 2005. Enter now!
It's a whole new ‘World'
By the time you receive your next issue, NetWorld Alliance—which publishes this magazine—will have debuted SelfServiceWorld.com, a news and information portal designed to address everything (and then some!) related to the developing world of self-service technology. Certainly, kiosks make up a large portion of that world, but so do ATMs, aspects of RFID technology and digital display, and POS devices. Check it out now and register to receive a free copy of "The Five Promises of Self-Service Technology," to be published late in May.
