Mingle360's Minglestick networking technology

Mingle360’s handheld networking tool, MingleStick, has been generating some buzz since it debuted last year, but its most significant introduction to the meetings industry may be next month at TS2, the trade show about trade shows, when each attendee gets a device to put to the test.

The system allows attendees to exchange information wirelessly by pointing their Minglesticks at one another and pressing a button. After the show, users plug the MingleStick into a computer to upload the information to an online account and see the information and photos (if provided) for the people they met.

The small device, about the size of a thumb drive, can hang on a keychain or lanyard and be customized with a show or sponsor logo. Sponsorship opportunities are also available on the MingleManager Web site where attendees review their contacts.

Mingle360, Alexandria, Va., has already taken home two awards this spring for the MingleStick system. It earned one of seven 2009 Innovation Awards from Trade Show Executive and the Best Live Demonstration Award from the Government Technology Research Alliance.

National Trade Productions’s TS2 2009 will be July 20-23 at Chicago’s McCormick Place in partnership with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events. The event is sponsored by the Trade Show Exhibitors Association.