Oct. 16, 2006—Last month, RFID Journal held its first annual RFID Journal Industry Summits conference, an RFID event designed for the retail/CPG, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and aerospace industries. Four co-located summits and a shared technology exhibition were provided to address critical adoption issues in an interactive, collaborative setting. The conference was held Sept. 26-28, at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Chicago.

Nearly 300 professionals attended the conference, including retailers, distributors, manufacturers, consulting firms, systems integrators and vendors of radio frequency identification technology. Several of the industry's major players displayed their technologies and services, and more than 60 speakers were on hand to offer critical insights about how RFID can benefit companies, with industry-specific content for the four targeted niche markets.

Some of the RFID industry's major players presented at the conference.

Education and Regulation
The event opened with a pair of educational preconferences. The RFID Journal University seminar introduced attendees new to RFID to the basic concepts required to understand and design pilots, engage vendors and deploy the technology successfully. Presenters discussed the physics behind RFID, legislation and standardization, building an RFID business case, the EPCglobal Network and other topics vital to success.

Also presented was the Legal Preconference Seminar, produced in partnership with McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, which educated corporate counsel and business leaders about the potential legal ramifications of their adoption of RFID technology, as well as the potential impact of government adoption and legislation of RFID technologies.