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3 Things Event Organizers Should Know About Facial Credentialing

As organizers start exploring faster, more modern check-in options, facial credentialing is entering the conversation. But between privacy concerns, conflation with facial recognition (there’s a difference, more on that below), attendee adoption, and the practical question of whether it’s worth the investment, there’s a lot to sort through. Here are three things worth knowing. 

1. Your attendees already understand the technology. 

Consumer adoption of biometric technology is already well ahead of the events industry. Nearly 70 percent of people have used biometric authentication and consider it faster and easier than passwords. Half of all air travelers used biometric identification at an airport in 2025, up from 46 percent the year before—and 85 percent of those who used it reported high satisfaction. Of people who use facial biometrics on their devices, 68 percent use it to unlock their phone or laptop. The familiarity is there. And it’s growing. 

Wicket, (not the AMS company) which provides a facial authentication platform trusted by professional sports team venues across the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL, has surpassed one million opt-in users and processed over eight million biometric transactions. And it’s not limited to stadiums. Salesforce’s Dreamforce, a B2B conference of roughly 50,000 attendees, has seen a 60 percent enrollment rate, with 80 percent of enrolled attendees using it to check in. Facial credentialing is already working at significant scale in environments that look a lot like yours. 

2. It solves a problem you might not realize you have.

Event check-in has gotten faster over the years. Barcode scanning and self-service kiosks have shortened the process on the system side. But for events that use barcode scanning, the attendee still has to do their part before the scan can happen—setting down their bag and coffee, finding their phone, searching for the confirmation email, adjusting screen brightness and zoom so the scan works. For events using name or badge ID number lookup, the process is simpler but inherently slower. Either way, there’s friction that the current processes can’t eliminate. 

None of these preparatory steps show up on a spec sheet, but every one of them adds time and effort, both physical and mental. These small tasks stack up and can make something simple feel effortful. In that first moment of an event that should be welcoming and engaging, it can be a detractor. Your attendee won’t say check-in was frustrating, but they’ll feel the effect of those small moments of friction.

Facial credentialing removes them entirely. Enrolled attendees approach a check-in station, are authenticated in less than one second, and retrieve their badge from the adjacent printer. No phone, print out, or laborious process required. Check-in becomes something attendees simply walk through instead of think through. 

3. Trust is earned, not assumed.

The unlocking-the-phone analogy only goes so far. When attendees unlock their own device, they feel in control. When someone else’s system is authenticating them, the dynamic shifts. Earning that trust comes down to how organizers communicate and implement the technology. 

It also means understanding what this technology actually is—and what it isn’t. Facial recognition identifies unknown people. It scans a face and searches an extensive database to figure out who someone is, often without their explicit knowledge or consent.  

Facial authentication confirms a known person: someone who has deliberately opted in and chose to use the system in this way. Because it’s consent-based by design, it aligns with biometric privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. One is designed to identify people who don’t know they’re being scanned. The other is designed to welcome people who chose to participate. 

The most successful deployments share a few things in common: 

Enrollment is always voluntary and removable. No attendee should ever feel pressured or expected to participate, and they can change their mind at any point. Making it opt-in isn’t just a privacy best practice. It’s what builds the trust that drives adoption in the first place. 

Transparency starts in the registration flow. When attendees understand exactly what happens with their data—that the enrollment photo isn’t what’s used to authenticate them, that the system converts it into an encrypted biometric template that can’t be reconstructed into an image of their face, and that they can request removal at any time—enrollment rates go up, not down. 

The alternatives are always available. Attendees who don’t enroll can check in the same way they always have. Barcode scanning, manual lookup—nothing changes for them. Facial credentialing adds an option. It doesn’t take one away. 

Privacy is the foundation. The right partner builds privacy into the architecture, not as an afterthought. That means no crowd surveillance and no data shared with or sold to third parties. 

So, What Now?

Facial credentialing is gaining traction in the B2B events space. The question is whether you’ll be the organizer who introduces it thoughtfully, earns trust, and delivers a check-in experience that matches the rest of what you’ve built. 

See It in Action

Curious? Come see it for yourself. eShow will be demonstrating Express Entry—our new facial credentialing option, powered by Wicket—at the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Indianapolis, August 15–18, at Booth 425. Visit our booth to do a sample enrollment, then walk up to the demo check-in kiosk, get authenticated, and see how quickly a badge is printed. 

 

Originally published on associationsnow.com

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Mid-Year Check-In: 5 Event Technology Shifts to Consider for Fall and 2027 Planning

Summer is a strange season for event professionals. Some of you are heads-down on a Q3 or Q4 event and the pressure is real. Others have already turned the page to 2027, mapping out next year’s calendar, budget, and RFPs. Many of you are doing both at once.

Here are five shifts worth considering — some in time to influence a fall event, some worth folding into your 2027 planning. Either way, the choices you make in July and August tend to shape how the next stretch runs.

1. Reassess the check-in experience

Check-in is the first thing every attendee, exhibitor, and speaker experiences at your event. It’s also one of the shortest windows to influence how the rest of the day feels for them. A long line or a slow lookup at 7:30 a.m. affects sessions, exhibitor traffic, and staff bandwidth for hours afterward.

Registration and badging technology has moved quickly in the last 12 months. On-demand badge printing and self-service kiosks are increasingly standard. Opt-in facial credentialing is now a real option — eShow launched Express Entry earlier this year, giving attendees who choose to enroll a fast-track check-in path alongside every traditional method.

Worth asking now: what does check-in actually look like on day one of your next event, and what would you change if you could?

2. Look at what your event data is really doing for you

Event organizers collect a lot of data — registration numbers, session interest, exhibitor activity — and use only a fraction of it to inform the next event. Too often it sits in reports nobody opens after the debrief.

Two questions worth asking, whether you’re heading into a fall event or scoping 2027:

Are you pulling registration insights during the cycle, or only after? Real-time visibility into pacing, source, and segment tells you what your marketing is doing while there’s still time to act on it.

And what happens once attendees are onsite? Registration tells you who showed up. Movement and behavior data — sessions attended, booths visited, dwell times — tells you what they actually did. That layer is where a lot of the interesting decisions live for 2027 planning. It’s also where eShow’s new take on RFID badges is focused, with an attendee behavior dashboard deploying in Q4 this year.

3. Plan for the reality of late registration

Late registration has become the norm rather than the exception. Most event organizers can confirm it from their own recent numbers — a growing share of attendees now register in the final days and weeks before an event, often in the same window when operational plans are locked, F&B counts are in, and printed materials are ordered.

That’s not solvable by pushing harder on early-bird promotions. It’s a planning problem now — for a fall event, and even more so for how you scope registration timelines, cutoff policies, and onsite processes for next year.

A few things worth pressure-testing: How late can you accept registrations without cascading effects across sessions, catering, and badging? How quickly can your team turn around a late-add — a new registrant on Tuesday for a Wednesday event? And what’s your process for the registrant who shows up onsite having never registered at all?

The organizers who handle late registration well aren’t the ones with the tightest cutoff. They’re the ones whose systems and processes flex without breaking downstream.

4. Give exhibitors better tools before the show, not during it

Exhibitor satisfaction comes down to lead capture and follow-up. Exhibitors who feel their leads were poorly captured — or their post-show reports were incomplete — remember it when they’re deciding whether to book next year.

Two things worth doing between now and your next show: talk to three or four of your best exhibitors about what they wished had gone differently at the last event, and audit whether your lead retrieval tools give them what they actually need. Rating, notes, exports — the basics matter more than the extras.

5. Understand what's shifting in badge technology

Badges themselves are having a moment. On-demand printing solved one problem. What’s next is what a badge can actually do once it’s printed — RFID and NFC chips turn a badge into an active data source, capable of tracking movement and engagement across the show floor without asking attendees to scan anything.

eShow has an RFID/NFC badge rolling out in Q4 2026, paired with an attendee behavior dashboard that layers movement data with registration data — so organizers can see attendee activity alongside the person behind it. If you’re building your 2027 technology plan now, this is worth understanding before your RFP goes out.

Where to go next

If you want a closer look at what’s new and what’s coming — Express Entry, RFID/NFC badging, and the attendee analytics dashboard — we’re hosting a webinar on August 12 called What’s New at eShow: Facial Credentialing, RFID, and Attendee Insights You Can Put to Work.

If you’re evaluating your event technology setup more broadly, we’ve been building event technology since 1996 — we’re happy to walk you through what an integrated platform looks like.

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Make Your Hybrid Event More Accessible & Inclusive

Hybrid events became popular once Covid-19 entered our lives and, although restrictions are being lifted and in-person events are returning, this event format is expected to stick around. The adage “the more, the merrier” should come to mind when planning your hybrid event and direct you to create an inclusive event. You want everyone to have a positive experience.

You should aim to accommodate attendees with disabilities not only because the ADA requires it but because it’s the right thing to do. For being conscientious, you’ll be rewarded with increased attendance which translates to higher revenue from registration fees. You can also tout your attendance rate when promoting future events (similar to a promoter boasting prior sold-out concerts).

Here are ways to make your hybrid event more accessible for both virtual and in-person attendees.

Attendees with Mobility Challenges

For those who prefer to attend your event in-person, ensure that your venue can accommodate physical limitations. Consider the following:

Is there an elevator or ramp access? When researching venues, some will indicate on their website whether they can accommodate visitors with physical limitations. In addition to an elevator, a parking lot with a cut curb or ramp will give those in wheelchairs or scooters easy access to the building. The building entrance also needs to be wide enough. If it’s not included on the venue’s website, a quick call or email should yield accessibility details.

Is your venue easy to access (for all attendees)?  If your event will take place in a bustling metro location, what’s the best route for attendees to take? Is construction taking place nearby? Provide this information in your registration materials to save attendees time and make it easy for them to reach the venue. If some attendees use wheelchairs and will be arriving by subway or train, provide the link to Google’s Wheelchair Accessible Routes.

Is there nearby parking?  For attendees using wheelchairs, canes, and walkers, available parking needs to be close to the venue entrance.

What’s the seating set-up?  Is there enough space in the seating area to accommodate wheelchairs, scooters, canes, walkers, and service animals (this is important, as other attendees may be uncomfortable being near animals)? Having a designated area for those with physical disabilities is ideal to ensure that their needs are met.

Accessible hotel room options:  When reserving a hotel block, include rooms that accommodate persons with physical limitations.

Attendees with Hearing Challenges

For deaf and hard-of-hearing attendees, you’ll need to accommodate both those who attend virtually and in person.

Will you provide an interpreter?  For hearing-impaired attendees, will you employ the services of a sign language expert? Will you provide assistive listening devices? American Sign Language (ASL) includes signs for many words; however, there isn’t a sign for everything. Provide interpreters with written program materials in advance so they can decide how best to express unfamiliar terms to hearing-impaired attendees.

People born with the ability to hear may rely on other forms of communication besides ASL, so captioning video content (for both virtual and in-person attendees) will be helpful.  Insist that speakers and attendees use microphones and always face forward to allow for lip-reading. If you’re planning to have background music, this could be distracting to hearing-impaired attendees trying to hear what speakers are saying.

Attendees with Visual Challenges

For visually impaired attendees, ensure that sufficient lighting and print materials are easy to read (minimum 16pt sans serif font on gloss-free paper). Blind attendees may request handouts printed in Braille or screen-reading software (virtual attendees).

Double-Check Access Before the Event

As earlier communicated, you don’t want attendees showing up to the venue only to find out that an elevator is broken or something else isn’t in place.  A few days before your event, call the venue and make sure everything is good to go. If not, you’ll have time to devise a plan B or let attendees know about any changes. They may then opt to attend digitally (formally virtual).

Let Attendees Know They’re Covered

Make sure attendees know the steps you’re taking to make your event accessible to all. To do this:

  • Include accessibility information in event promotion materials.
  • Ask about the following during registration: (1) dietary restrictions, (2) need for an interpreter, (3) need for accessible parking or seating.
  • Mobility, hearing, and visual impairments are often accommodated at events, but what about those sensitive to event elements like flashing or strobe lights that could cause seizures? Sudden loud noises may affect veterans with PTSD. Ask about these conditions as well during registration.

Ensure Website Accessibility for All

All digital (formally virtual) and in-person attendees to your hybrid event should be able to access event information and registration easily. To create an accessible website: 

  • Ensure all website text is easy to read. Don’t replace text with graphics.
  • Provide larger buttons and plenty of space between buttons for those with low vision.
  • The website should be accessible via keyboard instead of via mouse.
  • Use descriptive link text.
  • Provide video captions and transcripts.
  • Eliminate CAPTCHA (spam discourager); it’s not easy for attendees with low vision to access.  

Master Your Platform

To ensure that your hybrid event goes off without a hitch, take the time to become well-acquainted with your digital event platform of choice (Zoom, YouTube, etc.) Conduct run-throughs of any technical and audio-visual elements ahead of the event to smooth out any glitches.

Final Thoughts

It will take more thought and work to make your hybrid event more inclusive, but if it makes your special-needs attendees more comfortable, it’ll be worth it.  Always gather feedback after your event to see if you hit the mark. Did attendees feel they were able to participate fully? Use their responses to continually improve on your accessibility efforts.

Consult disability groups and resources such as the ADA for planning guidance and solutions. Use the information gathered with eShow’s interactive Exhibit Sales & Floor Plan Management module to create an accessible floor plan. 

 At eShow, we can help with all aspects of your hybrid event – from planning to execution.  Our interactive online tools put successful and memorable events within your grasp. Contact us today for a no-obligation demo, and we’ll show you how to ensure that all attendees benefit from your event and much more.

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