End Users Want to See RFID Solutions

It's not just about new products, however. Some products that have been on the market for months are excellent, but vendors are moving beyond "Here are our tags and readers or middleware or applications; you figure out what to do with them." They are now listening to customers and partnering with other vendors to create complete solutions.

Those attending the supplier meeting Sam's Cub is hosting prior to our event are interested in the hardware and software that can help them meet tagging requirements and achieve internal benefits. These folks will be looking for EPC-compliant technology, so we've worked with EPCglobal to create a floor sticker that identifies vendors offering EPCglobal-certified products. The stickers will help Sam's suppliers and others looking for EPC technologies to easily locate such vendors.

Finally, we're encouraging vendors exhibiting at RFID Journal LIVE! 2008 to categorize themselves and list their products at RFID Connect, our online community tool that enables attendees to search for products and vendors, as well as arrange meetings online. Vendors can use this technology to search for end users interested in their products, to request a meeting (attendees can choose whether or not to reveal their personal information).

I hope attendees and vendors will both take advantages of all we are doing to ensure they have a successful event. If there is anything else we can do to help end users connect with the vendors they want to meet at LIVE! 2008, please let me know.

Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog or click here.