HOUSTON -- A wide range of technologies from multiple vendors will be integrated with one another to demonstrate the seamless flow of data in a new exhibit to debut at the 1998 MarkeTechnics show.
Information systems used in the home, store, warehouse and corporate headquarters of retailers and manufacturers will be woven together in an educational exhibit, estimated to occupy 12,000 to 15,000 square feet.
Each of the technologies featured has commercial installations on its own; however, the exhibit, called Super Tech Mart, will represent the first time all have been linked together. Kiosks will be set up at the 1997 MarkeTechnics show to educate attendees about the exhibit.
"This is an educational push for 1997 and 1998, to reach as many people as we can in the industry," said Ken Fobes, president of ITStrategies, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. "Some exhibits tend to be presentations of 'what ought to be' rather than 'what is.' Instead, we will teach 'what is,' then how to get to 'what ought to be."'
Fobes is spearheading the effort and working with the Food Marketing Institute, Washington, which sponsors MarkeTechnics. Super Tech Mart will also be featured at the 1998 annual FMI convention in Chicago.
Super Tech Mart will showcase technologies from an estimated 25 vendors, he noted. "The exhibit will give the message of how technology is used together rather than promote individual vendors.
"We are working with various sponsors to determine how their particular solutions complement other solutions," he said. "By taking complementary systems and combining them, they are being enhanced."
Mike Smoyer, director of exhibits and sales for FMI, said discussions about Super Tech Mart are ongoing; a program of workshops and seminars will also be included.
Super Tech Mart is being developed and funded by its participating vendors. Organizing sponsors and exhibitors include ACR Systems, Jacksonville, Fla.; Catalina Marketing, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Efficient Market Services, Deerfield, Ill.; Electronic Retailing Systems International, Wilton, Conn.; ITStrategies, here; Kurt Salmon Associates, Atlanta, and Symbol Technologies, Holtsville, N.Y.
