Precision Dynamics Corporation's Smart Band RFID Wristbands To Help Combat Counterfeiting At The South By Southwest (SXSW) Festivals
Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC), a global leader in automatic wristband identification, will supply South by Southwest (SXSW) with its Smart Band RFID Wristband System during the world-renowned SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Festivals, which run from March 12 – 21 in Austin, TX. SXSW is using RFID technology for the first time to help prevent counterfeiting of wristbands, help alleviate over-crowding, and increase public safety at their events.
Last year during SXSWeek, thousands of counterfeit wristbands were made and sold on the street with a face value of as much as $500,000. Those involved in the counterfeiting were caught and charged with forgery and trademark counterfeiting. This year, the chance of counterfeiting the new RFID wristbands will be almost impossible.
"It's great to know that we're [SXSW] able to implement the latest technology in wristband identification at our events to help stop counterfeiting," said Eve McArthur, Director of Operations at SXSW. "The new RFID wristbands will not only help track and detect counterfeit bands, they will also alleviate unnecessary crowding inside the event, which also increases security and public safety in general."
PDC's Smart Band RFID Wristbands revolve around a tiny, flat RFID chip, sealed in a non-transferable plastic wristband that uses customized software to store and transfer data which is read by RFID readers. "The wristbands used at SXSW will be scanned by specialized PDAs at the admissions entrance of every venue," said Victor LaRosa, PDC RFID & Age/ID Manager. "Once the PDA reads the RFID chip on the wristband, a light will appear signaling whether or not the wristband is real—a green light represents a legit band; a red light represents a fake or counterfeit band."
"Future applications will allow patron's to load money on the wristbands resulting in convenient cashless point of sales and easy tracking of sales for event organizers. Also, Smart Bands can interface with PDC's Electronic AgeBand Verification System which helps prevent underage drinking," adds LaRosa.
"We look forward to using PDC's RFID wristbands," adds McArthur. "We're excited to enter a new world of identification technology and be leaders in our industry [on implementing RFID wristbands]."
More than 10,000 music, film and entertainment professionals as well as the general public are expected to attend this year's SXSWeek. In addition to the thousands of RFID wristbands, music and platinum badges, which are intended for entertainment business registrants, will also have embedded RFID chips in them. Approximately 7,000 music and platinum RFID badges will be sold.
For more information on PDC's RFID solutions, please call 800-847-0670 x1320 or visit www.pdc-rfid.com.
About SXSW, Inc.
South by Southwest (SXSW, Inc.) is a private company based in Austin, Texas, with a year-round staff of professionals dedicated to building and delivering conference and festival events for entertainment and related media industry professionals. Since 1987, SXSW has produced the internationally recognized Music and Media Conference & Festival.
About PDC
With nearly 50 years of experience, PDC is the global leader and pacesetter in the development of automatic identification wristband systems. PDC introduced the first patient bar code ID wristband in 1984, radio frequency identification (RFID) wristbands in 2000, and the AgeBand Electronic Age/ID Verification System in 2004. PDC's quality system meets the requirements of the International Standards Organization ISO-9001 certification, representing the finest in product service, design, and manufacturing. For more information, visit www.pdc-rfid.com.