Poken

Poken is a cloud-based event management platform, utilized by trade shows and exhibitions, corporate and association events, as well as sports and youth events.[1] The modular platform includes features and services such as registration and badging,[2] match-making, meeting scheduling, mobile apps, NFC interactive USB devices, lead generation devices,[3] gamification, access control and metrics reporting.[4]

Poken
TypeTechnology company
FoundedDecember 2007 (2007-12)
FounderStéphane Doutriaux

History
A poken interactive USB device

The company Poken S.A. was founded in December 2007 in Lausanne, Switzerland, by Stéphane Doutriaux. The founder had come up with the initial concept of an interactive USB device for sharing personal information and social networks by touch,[5] while doing his MBA at IMD, a business school in Lausanne. This project was inspired by an application running on the IMD campus developed by Gabriel Klein 2004, one of the first employee of Poken[6] The development of the technology was done in collaboration with the Berner Fachhochschule, a university of applied sciences situated in Biel, Switzerland. The project start was in July 2008 and ended in December of the same year . The first release of the interactive USB devices, called ‘Sparks’, was in January 2009. Since the initial development of the Poken 'Spark', the company has expanded its lines of products and services.[7]

Poken currently has a network of partners and resellers in over 12 countries, with headquarters in London, Lausanne, Dubai and New York,[8] and has delivered events in over 80 international locations.

Products and services

Poken is a modular, end-to-end platform, consisting of both software and hardware products. The Poken interactive USB device utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to allow the exchange of online social networking data between two devices. The primary information exchanged via the poken is a ‘social business card’, a digital replacement for a physical business card. By touching two devices together, a unique ID is exchanged that links to contact information on the Poken website. Contact information acquired by use of the poken can be uploaded to the poken website using a built-in USB connector. The user's poken contact card can contain any information they want to share, for example URLs, mobile number, email address, and location. It can also be configured with links to the user on over 40 social networking sites.

When used in conjunction with Poken Touch points, the Poken interactive USB can collect digital content via touch, such as brochures and magazines, can interact with installations such as media walls and digital surveys, and can be used for access control and meeting check-in.[9]

Awards
  • Swiss ICT Award- Best Newcomer, 2009[10]
  • Tech Crunch Europa- Best Real World Gadget, 2009[11]
  • Red Herring Europe- Top 100 Finalist, 2011[12]
  • Mobile World Congress- Best Innovation in Mobile Advertising, 2012[13]
  • E.X.C.I.T.E - Innovation in the Event Industry: Silver, 2012[14]
  • GMIC Green Meeting Industry Award (GMIC NCC),2015
  • CTI/KTI Swiss Government Innovation Grant- 2016[15]

References
  1. "Poken wins contract for boy scouts of america conference". meetpie.com. CAT Publications. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  2. "Poken expands its partnership with Reed Exhibitions to provide additional technology solutions for ibtm america 2016". Event Industry News. Event Industry News. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  3. Colston, Paul. "Poken selected as Technology Partner for International Confex 2016". Conferencenews.com. Mash Media. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  4. "Home". Poken. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  5. Schaffer, Neal. "What is a Poken?". MaximizeSocialBusiness.com. Maximize Social Business. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  6. Klein, Gabriel. "Networking people?" (PDF). Nuage.ch. Gabriel Klein. Retrieved 30 September 2004.
  7. "A new wave of innovation for Poken". venturelab.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  8. "Poken Contact". www.poken.com. Poken.
  9. Boden, Rian (12 June 2016). "Reed exhibitions uses NFC for ibtm america visitors". SJB Research LTD. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  10. "Swiss ICT Award- Poken, Wuala und Amazee uberzuegen die Jury". Venturelab. Venturelab. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  11. "Tech crunch Europa Awards- Quick Round Up". compuerweekly.com. computerweekly.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  12. "Die Finlaisten der REd Herring Top100". venturelab.com. venture lab. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  13. "Poken wins Global Mobile Award at Mobile World Congress". startupticker.ch. Start Up Ticker. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  14. Schon, Eugene. "E.X.C.I.T.E. awards recognizes Poken's innovations in the events industry". alpict.com. AlpICT.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  15. "Poken receives 1 million innovation award". eventindustrynews.co.uk. event industry news. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
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