Breaking the Ice 2.0

Schmoozing can be a trial for the shy, reclusive, and socially challenged. Even those who understand the power of networking sometimes quake at the thought of a roomful of strangers.

But a Boston company has come up with a solution that helps break the ice at big meetings. All participants need to do is enter some personal information into an electronic file before the meeting or event: place of employment, alma mater, job title, hobbies, or, for sports lovers, the name of the team they rooted for during the World Series. An electronic name tag then helps get conversations going.

The brainchild of Boston inventor Rick Borovoy, the product is called nTAG: It measures 4 inches wide and 3 inches high, and hangs around the conventioneer's neck from an adjustable lanyard. Wearing the nTAG is a bit like sporting a tiny, six-ounce TV screen, except the screen beams messages to fellow conventioneers like, ''Hi, Jane, I like strawberry ice cream, too."

For those who do their networking at cocktail hour, when the lights are dim and the bar is stocked, the nTAG lights up in the dark. It uses infrared sensing, radio frequency identification, a screen, and three control buttons to connect people with mutual interests or needs, including people who might otherwise gravitate toward folks they already know or hover around a buffet table instead of employing the art of schmooze.

''People want a reason to interact," said Borovoy. ''They need help. This gives them a powerful nudge in that direction."

Dayton Semerjian, executive vice president of marketing and alliances at Concord Communications, a $100 million Marlborough company that helps clients manage their technology infrastructure, networks, and applications, said his firm rented several hundred nTAGs for a company-sponsored gathering last month that drew 300 executives and technology representatives from 70 firms. Each participant received an nTAG.

''At first, it was a little awkward," said Semerjian. ''You felt as if you were at a 'Star Trek convention or something, but the value of the device quickly became evident. People who typically would stay with only the people they knew were going around and talking to customers and sharing information about our company. In terms of getting an event kicked off and getting people integrated socially, it was wonderful."

Borovoy, who started nTAG Interactive LLC on Harrison Avenue with partner George Eberstadt, said the tag is based on doctoral research he and two others conducted at the MIT Media Lab in 1995.

The device also collects data, giving convention planners, exhibitors, and participants real-time access to attendance and other information that can take days to collect. Meeting planners can find out what sessions participants liked best. Employers can figure out how many clients networked with the company marketing staff, or how clients reacted to their products, and why. The nTAGs also have the capability to store conference agenda information and grab business-card data.

Said marketing operations manager Mike Phelan, who attended the Concord Communications event at the Boston Copley Marriott Hotel, ''When the dust settled, we got to harvest all kinds of data that nTAG had collected. It was not just a mechanism for fun."

Kevin Johnson, of the PTC User Group, an independent organization comprised of managers and other individuals who use software produced by Needham-based Parametric Technologies Inc., said the group used the nTAG at a meeting in Nashville last June that drew 1,300 people.

''It is the best data collection device that I've seen," said Johnson. ''We used it to ask how we could improve our inventions, and we did it throughout the 3-day event."

Cindy Wright, manager of business analysis at the Staubach Co., a real estate firm founded by Roger Staubach, the Hall of Fame football player, said the company used the tag at an annual meeting in October for 700 people.

The company used the tags to track attendance, and encouraged brokers to attend sessions and meet others from different divisions by allotting points and awarding prizes to top scorers. The nTAG tracked and assigned points to each participant, Wright said.

''We have a real open culture, but this for sure led them to speak to others they had never spoken to before," said Wright. ''The tag also told them how many points they were getting and allowed them to track their progress."

There were some drawbacks, however: A few participants said the tags were heavy; others worried about privacy. One reason: The technology can also track employees' whereabouts, collect private information like addresses, e-mails, names, and other data. It can provide even more detailed information, for example, the attendees at a medical convention could be asked to give information about drug use and their health. That kind of access might give some participants pause.

''There were some people who thought the tags were a little Big Brotherish," recalled Wright.

''But it was no different from having people come in and sign a piece of paper saying that they were there."

Maryellen Blette, director of sales at nTAG Interactive, said the company will not dispense private information about individual conventioneers. It will, however, provide aggregate marketing, sales, business, or demographic data that might show, for example, the type of people at an event, what they purchased, or their business interests, needs, or goals.

Blette said the goal of the nTAG is to provide timely information without invading anyone's privacy.

''We allow the wearer to control what is being fed into the system," she said.

''Customers say, 'We want to own the data,' " but we always refuse. We will give them information, but not about individuals themselves."

Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.