Bracelets at Rock Shows with RFID Technology

Oct. 22, 2012 - PRLog -- IF you’ve ever worn one of Precision Dynamics Corp.’s identification bracelets, chances are you aren’t having too much fun. The Valencia company makes bar coded bracelets used by hospitals to access patient data.

But now the company is making products used by revelers at Coachella and other big time music festivals – and helping music festival attendees brag to their friends.

Along with its barcoded products, Precision Dynamics also makes ID bracelets that use radio-frequency identification, or RFID, the same technology found in dog and cat implants that provide data that can help find the owner of a lost pet.

The company has been selling RFID bracelets to music festival promoters for a few years, marketing the bracelets as replacements for paper tickets, noting that they aren’t as easily counterfeited, lost or stolen. Now the company has added something new to its sales pitch: integration with social media sites.

Precision Dynamics this year inked a deal with Montreal firm Intellitix Holdings Ltd. that lets users link the RFID chip in a Precision Dynamics bracelet to a Facebook account.

This summer, the company sold its wristbands to the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest in Ottawa, Ontario. The July festival featured special kiosks where attendees could scan their wristbands, resulting in an instant update to their Facebook page letting friends know they were at a particular festival stage.

Last April’s Coachella music festival in Indio featured the same type of system, but on a limited basis. Tom Foster, a sales manager for Precision Dynamics, said the festival in Ottawa, which drew more than 250,000 attendees, was the first widespread use of RFID check-ins.

Festival-goers could update Facebook through a smartphone, but Foster said that because the RFID check-in system is new and novel, it can lead to more check-ins, which amount to cheap advertising for a festival. “There’s that ‘wow’ factor,” he said. “And the cost to festival producers is minimal, especially compared to the number of impressions they get.”

The entertainment and festival market is a growing one for Precision Dynamics, but now represents only about 5 percent of the private company’s roughly $200 million in annual revenue, Foster said.

About Precision Dynamics Corporation - http://www.pdcorp.com/rfid

With over 50 years of experience, PDC is the global leader and pacesetter in the development of wristband and label systems for healthcare, leisure and entertainment, and law enforcement. The company introduced the first patient bar code ID wristband, patented RFID Smartband wristbands , and the award winning PDC SmartKiosk. PDC is committed to 100% quality in service, design, and manufacturing and complies with ISO-9001 standards (Organization for International Standards).