CHICAGO — The 2023 New York Comic Con (NYCC) marks 10 years of partnership between ReedPop and Leap Event Technology. The two companies have collaborated through the decade on process and technology innovations that enhance the attendee experience and generate success for NYCC.
The partnership began in 2013, and for NYCC that year, Leap Event Technology deployed a specialized RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) access control scanning solution. The technology helped to manage the large crowds at NYCC, as well as keep transactions secure and organized, as attendees could just tap their badge or wristband for immediate verification. The results were shorter lines and safer fan management.
“RFID access control has remained largely the same since we rolled it out and has truly improved the safety and security of NYCC,” Kristina Rogers, Vice President, ReedPop Comics Portfolio, said. “This year we rolled out Janam units with Leap, a self-serve tap in and out kiosk that quickens fan entry time. For any large-scale event, RFID is a must in order to truly manage crowds and support our security measures.”
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Leap Event Technology later integrated fan verification into the on-sale process, which required fans to sign up for an exclusive account to be eligible to buy tickets to the event. The reasoning behind the integration was to real fans were able to purchase tickets, and to prevent resellers and bots from purchasing them first.
“Fan Verification was our solution to prevent bots and scalpers from grabbing up all the badges for the show – now we require anyone holding a badge to have an account, which has dramatically cut down on bad actors reselling for three or four times the original price,” Rogers said. “It was a real learning for our team when we rolled it out and involved a lot of fan education – no one loves an extra step to purchasing – but over the last seven events, we’ve seen great results on mitigating reselling, but also this has created opportunities for us to have a real time understanding of who our fans are attending the show, what they prioritize, and has allowed greater curation of the event in real time.”
During the pandemic, ReedPop and Leap worked together to provide fans with the opportunity to meet their favorite celebrities. Leap developed a virtual meet-and-greet platform that ensured safe and secure interactions between fans and celebrities.
The two teams also collaborated on improving lead retrieval by connecting a tool to fan’s badges, allowing brands and exhibitors to make meaningful connections with current and new customers at the show with just a tap of the badge.
“We have a partner in Leap that is just as passionate about creating the right tools and technology to best serve our fans as we are, which is something you don’t often find in the consumer side of events,” Rogers said. “Whenever we approach them with ‘Well, what if we…’, they’re ready to listen and work with us on creating something that serves our brands and fans. Whether it’s building an account that holds our fan’s tickets and reservations or something as simple as supporting our matchmaking efforts, Leap is always there to work with us on building a solution together.”
NYCC will return to Javits Center Oct. 17-20, 2024.
Reach Kristina Rogers at Kristina.Rogers@rxglobal.com
