up close and really personal

You've read about RFID. Maybe you've even seen the demos. And soon you'll be able to try it out on a very personal level—if you're planning to attend the Council of Logistics Management's annual conference, at least. Conference organizers have announced a plan for embedding tiny RFID tags into attendees' name badges to track attendance at various presentations, seminars and workshops.

Organizers predict the tiny chips will draw big crowds. "Everyone's anxious to see this leading-edge technology in practice," explains Michael Del Bovo, vice president of marketing and business development with Saddle Creek Corp. in Lakeland, Fla., and chair of this year's conference.

While attendees will be able to opt out of the program, those who take part will be giving off (hopefully unmixed) signals that track their progress throughout the conference facilities (though CLM organizers are unsure what, if anything, they'll do with the data). At a minimum, attendees will be able to check a real-time "flight board" that will show which sessions are full and which still have seats available. After the conference, CLM plans to issue a white paper report on its experiences using RFID at the event.