Tech companies Zenus, Fielddrive and Kubify each recently won a 2018 IBTM World Tech Watch Award, the longest-running industry prize of its kind.
Taking home this year’s awards were Zenus and Fielddrive. Though originally separate applicants, the two companies were judged together due to their interlinked nature. The joint-effort won them first place out of a list of nine finalists, earned by receiving the largest number of online votes from members of the MICE industry.
“This year’s award certainly points out significant event technology trends for our industry,” said Corbin Ball, chair of the IBTM World Tech Award. “Zenus and Fielddrive are among the first companies to bring this technology to events.”
Zenus integrates security facial recognition for easy and efficient event registration, while Fielddrive employs on-site tech assistance at events.
“We’re thrilled that they are joint winners of the IBTM World Tech Watch Award,” said Danny Stevens, founder and CEO of Fielddrive. “Our efforts with Zenus on full integration of facial recognition technology—together with Fielddrive’s kiosks, full-color badge-printing and global deployment—has set a new standard in the meetings industry. At Fielddrive we’re convinced that the latest great experience is the next expectation. We’re proud to be leading the way.”
This year also featured the first Tech Watch People’s Choice award. Kubify snagged the award with its interactive e-poster service, in which attendees can scour through posters based on subject and keywords, post comments and questions, vote for the best poster and more.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have won the Tech Watch People’s Choice award,” said Tamsin Treasure-Jones, co-founder of Kubify. “We’d like to thank the users of our platform and IBTM attendees for voting for us, and IBTM for giving us the opportunity to exhibit.”
The event is hosted by IBTM, part of Reed Travel Exhibitions, and recognized as an integral showcase in the meetings and events industry. This year’s high-profile panel of judges included Michelle Bruno, president of Bruno Group Signature Events; Ruud Hanseen, founder of TNOC.org; and Julius Solaris, founder and editor or Event MB. Due to its esteemed judges, as well as its heavy exposure during and after the event, the award is held in high regard by the MICE community.
