Do you remember the time your Dad took you to your first hockey game? Do you remember the night Joe Carter hit the home run to win the 93 World Series? Often these memories are brought back to life by looking at the ticket stub from that game, a real printed stub you may have saved in a box of keepsakes or simply collected. Every game, concert , or major event always had a ticket that the attendee could scrap book away as a memory, a token of the time. But times have changed and the likelihood of getting a “real” ticket gets less and less.
News of the demise of the paper event/concert/sport tickets have been increasing every year, with ticket vendors, re-sellers and host facilities resorting further toward end user print solutions (print at home) and end user scanning solutions (mobile devices). Sure there is a time and convenience factor involved along with the reduced costs of printing color tickets, but is this truly the end of the paper ticket? Perhaps, but it need not be.
High quality printed tickets will always be sought after by collectors, and can receive premium pricing for the service. But what we believe at Labelink to be the next evolution of the printed ticket…is RFID technology.
If you are new to RFID, it stands for Radio Frequency Identification. RFID utilizes wireless frequencies to automatically transfer data. There is no need to scan a barcode. There is no need for someone to physically look at a wristband. Information is transferred automatically!
Now how does this relate to printed tickets? Well the first step, is to embed and RFID chip into the printed ticket. This is what we do at Labelink along with placing a special code in the chip. The next step is the toughest though. How do we use it, and what can we do with it? This is where creativity comes to play with the options endless. Here are a few ideas….
• Automatic ticket validation for event entrance
• Additional level of authenticity of tickets for fraud prevention
• Automatic online link to contests related to the event through the use of NFC enabled mobile devices
• Post event marketing through online signup related to automated tracking of user at the event
• Treat the ticket like a lottery ticket, with high level security features
One of our favorite uses of RFID is that being done by Vail Resorts. Check out this link – EPIC MIX. RFID enabled ski tickets are the link to complex user experience site that creates a wealth of marketing information and opportunities for Vail Resorts.
But there is a lot to think about when it comes to implementing RFID to extend an RFID enabled printed ticket. But if you have done your homework, and defined your issues accurately, the rewards that come from the visibility of real time, encoded data through RFID, will most certainly prove have a positive ROI in a very short time frame. It’s well worth the effort!
For more information on printed RFID tickets, tags and Labels, and references to our systems integrator partners please contact Norm McGlaughlin at Norm@Labelink.ca – Director RFID Products, Labelink.