Issue link: https://tradeshowexecutive.epubxp.com/i/76788
READERS' CHOICE MOST INNOVATIVE INDIVIDUAL IN TRADE SHOW INDUSTRY C I O INDIVIDUAL: IVAN LAZAREV COMPANY: ITN INTERNATIONAL EMAIL: ilazarev@itn-international.com WHY THIS INDIVIDUAL IS INNOVATIVE: ITN, led by President & CEO Ivan Lazarev, has been a leader in innovation in the lead-retrieval, registration and "near field communications" arena since it was founded by Lazarev and Neil Packard in 1999. The company broke from the gate quickly with technology for the iPad that can be used by exhibitors and attendees on the trade show floor and outside the convention center. The company's recent innovation, Citywide Credential, makes it easier for attendees to get out and visit a show's host city. Citywide Creden- tial is an app that turns smart phones into an "all access" ticket good for admission to museums and other tourist attractions. It also acts as a pass for public transit systems as well. ITN has also made time spent on the show floor more productive. The iPad and iPhone are naturals for exhibitors and attendees who put in some long days in the aisles and like the ability to download and upload product data into a mini- laptop that weighs about as much as a handful of sales brochures and business cards. The new ITN apps give these devices full lead-retrieval capa- bility and provide show organizers with another selling point they can offer their customers. Show organizers can also make increased use of QR codes with the assistance of ITN. The company and Microsoft have partnered on a QR-based solution that will allow organizers to monitor traffic patterns as attendees scan the codes during their booth visits. VOTE FOR PERSONAL ID: MI-PR-IVAN 56 July 2012 | Trade Show Executive INDIVIDUAL: COMPANY: TERRY MULLIN VIRIDISTOR LLC EMAIL: tmullin@viridistor.com WHY THIS INDIVIDUAL IS INNOVATIVE: Terry Mullin, with over 25 years of creating award-winning information technology innova- tions in software and hardware, founded ViridiS- TOR. His goal was to deliver the world's first fiscally sound/sustainable solution replacing paper-based materials at events, greatly reduc- ing the environmental impact and financial costs, while making information infinitely more useful. Leveraging his experience in developing "information technology" solutions, he ensured that all stakeholders (producers/exhibitors/ attendees and the environment) of events would benefit from the solution. By designing software that provides for easy, web delivery of content to the ViridiSTOR servers, he made the use of the system simple and efficient for exhibitors. With his design of the Green Box, which acts as a digital brochure-rack in exhibitor booths, he made it easy to use. And with USB thumb drives, and custom software on the USB, which act as "digital tote-bags," he ensured that the solution would work on both PC and Mac. Together, this award-winning solution increases the power of information that can be delivered to attendees at any event and greatly reduces the financial costs of delivering content of any type, while eliminating the pollution caused by paper- based materials. Mullin achieved the sustainable solution to event paper pollution. VOTE FOR PERSONAL ID: MI-PR-MULIN INDIVIDUAL: JACQUES RACINE COMPANY: SHERPA SOLUTIONS WHY THIS INDIVIDUAL IS INNOVATIVE: EMAIL: jr@sherpa-solutions.com Jacques Racine, President & CEO of Sherpa Solu- tions is a born serial entrepreneur and innova- tor. Before starting Sherpa, Jacques Racine was CEO of Laser Registration for 15 years, which he founded in 1989, at age 19. Within a few years, the company had expanded to a workforce of 90. Since founding Sherpa, Jacques has initiated: y Backpack, the first cart-based registration and housing solution (2005) y First RFID Portals tailored for the meeting industry, with integrated motion sensors (2005) y Introduction of the first lead retrieval unit featuring a color touch-screen, Bluetooth, WI- FI, RFID capabilities (2005) y Introduction of ActivID, a real-time locating system (RTLS) in 2007 More recently, Sherpa has focused on the ap- plications of mobile technologies in our industry. For example, Sherpa launched in the Fall of 2010 the ActivTouch mobile platform, which garnered several awards, including the prestigious EIBTM' s WorldWide Technology Watch Award. Furthermore, Sherpa is the only company to have been recognized twice in the history of the WWTW Award since Sherpa also received an honorable mention for ActivID, in 2009. In 1996, Laser Registration became the first Canadian company to offer registration and housing services to the U.S. market, and in 1999 became the official supplier of registration and housing services to PCMA's annual meeting. VOTE FOR PERSONAL ID: MI-PR-RACNE R A E D R E ' S C E H