The deployment of the auto-ID system in a conference

This paper investigates the deployment of the auto-ID system, 2D-barcode and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system, in a conference to manage the conference sessions, to observe the participant behavior, and to record their interests. Within the conference context (e.g. meeting room, hall, or banquet), the study suggests the use of RFID in ultra-high frequency (UHF) band rather than any other bands because of its capability of detection of RFID tags in a range of appropriate distance. The paper presents an example of the design of the 2D-barcode and RFID system and the application in terms of managerial issues and the management of recorded participant data, deployed in the NAC 2007 and ISAP 2009 held in Thailand. The study also highlights the importance of rich information about participant behavior emerging from the recorded data that would be benefit for further analysis such as the arrangement of conference sessions, classification of participants by interests, design of conference venues. The effectiveness of the deployed RFID systems was also evaluated via questionnaires by the participants. The results suggest a good level of satisfactory, especially the paper voting feature. Additional useful recommendations were also observed from the survey.