The Ultimate Conference Blog. QR codes 101. Are you seeing a lot more of those little black and white squares everywhere? QR codes are appearing in the wild more and more. They are showing up on postcards, business cards, storefronts, event tickets, billboards, promotional items, and signage. They are sometimes used well and often used poorly. We are getting a lot of questions about QR codes here at SpinWeb so in order to help our clients navigate this new technology, we've put together this guide to QR codes, including what they are, how to scan them, how to use them, and when to use them.
What are QR codes? First things first. QR stands for "Quick Response" and QR code literally means Quick Response Code. QR codes are typically scanned using smart phones, such as an iPhone or Android device. How do I scan a QR code? There are a number of apps that will allow you to scan QR codes. These apps are free and, once installed, make it very easy to scan QR codes from your smart phone. How do I create QR codes? Great question! Tips for Testing QR Codes for Scannability in Print. You finally talked the marketing powers that be into letting you try out these newfangled QR Codes, though they are not really new at all, on some type of printed marketing material, but hold up partner, have you tested it?
Failure to test QR Codes is unfortunately very common and to be honest, I made the mistake on a set of business cards once too. If the code fails to scan after being printed, well…let’s just avoid that issue shall we? Here are some tips for testing QR codes for scan-ability before releasing them into the wild. Here we see an example of a QR Code, at a major retailer, that has insufficient contrast to scan from the distance the display was set at. Android applications to test against: i-nigma, Barcode Scanner, QR Droid, Scanlife, At&t Code, Google Goggles, BeeTagg, and others. iPhone applications to test with: Redlaser, Scan by QR Code City, and others. In a future post we will discuss optimal ways to create and track QR codes. PCMA. IAEE. CEIR. Webinars for The Center for Exhibitors and Event Marketing. MPI. Sponsorship.com. Sponsorship Blog. EVENT MARKETER. EXHIBITOR ONLINE.