CTA Changes Form Factor of 2018 CES Badges, Does Away With NFC Functionality

CES attendees might be surprised by the form factor of their show badges when retrieving their credentials at one of about 30 pickup locations scattered around Las Vegas and at the baggage claim areas of McCarran airport. Gone are the stiff paperboard badges used since the 2014 show that were embedded with NFC functionality for sales lead retrievals and other applications (see 1311130032). In their place are simple paper printouts that are a little less sturdy but are folded into two and fastened to lanyards through perforations at the top. For the 2018 CES, CTA “switched to a new registration vendor that does not use the NFC technology but was capable of printing photo badges,” Karen Chupka, senior vice president-events and conferences, told us Saturday. CTA in September instituted the head shot requirement on CES 2018 badges for the first time as a new security measure and as a means to reduce the number of badges handed off to others without authorization (see 1709070060). Since the NFC functionality “was used in a very limited capacity we were comfortable with the change,” Chupka told us. “It’s not that we weren’t happy” with the NFC function on the old badges, she said. “It’s that for our uses, the barcode works the same,” she said of the QR codes printed on the face of the 2018 badges.