Craig Keefner homepage

Here is the 2003-2001 capsule.

2003

• Netkey founder Alex Richardson steps aside to let V. Miller Newton, former head of monster.com, to become Netkey?s president.
  
• Summit Research Associates releases its first report on the state of the photo-kiosk market.
  
• Voyagi Inc produces The Kiosk Show, and continues mantra that it is limiting exhibitors to just full kiosk integrators; and attendees to proven kiosk buyers.
  
• Technologies such as RFID and Wi-Fi start to gain mainstream acceptance in kiosk deployments.
  
• In Britain, a project to install 20,000 Web payphones is underway. It's the most ambitious project of its kind in the world, and plans to expand to other countries are in the works.
  
• July: Craig Keefner rejoins the business side of the fence with Kiosk Information Systems of Colorado. Craig resigns from Networld.
  
• Kiosks.org Association holds its first member pavilion at the Retail Systems show in Chicago. This is Keefner's last event before bowing out.
  
• The 2003KioskCom event in Las Vegas was notable for a full house, business optimism and a number of near ready-for-market projects.
  
• Info Touch says it achieved profitability for the first time in the quarter ending January 31.
  
• Globalshop announces that it will shift from Chicago to Las Vegas next year.
  
• McDonald's details pilot project on fast food-ordering kiosks.
  
• July: The U.S. Postal Service awarded a $4.1-million contract to Kiosk Information Systems for kiosks called Personnel Central. Netkey provides the software.
  
• Las Vegas McCarran Airport is set to become the first to deploy self-service kiosks not tied to a particular airline.
  
• Delta Airlines marks its 10 millionth kiosk check-in for 2003 by hosting a customer celebration at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.
  
• High-profile hotels, including Hilton, announce trials of self check-in kiosks. They claim that the next step is integrating the kiosks with airline check-in.
  

2002

• Kiosks.org Association moves toward a self-service emphasis at its fall meeting. Membership in the organization grew to more than 200, and the KOA board expanded to include more user-members.
  
• Self-Service checkouts reach additional retail segments. NCR announces a rollout to 800 Home Depot stores of its FastLane system.
  
• Officials in the United Kingdom announce a requirement that all local governments deliver services electronically by 2005.
  
• 7-Eleven expanded its Vcom program. Vcom, a "virtual commerce" financial services kiosk, placed in 1,000 stores.
  
• During October?s Interactive Self-Service in Info Touch announces plans to install its Zaplink multi-function kiosks in 500 stores by the second quarter of 2003.
  
• Among the self-service applications on display at October?s National Association of Convenience Stores exhibition is a touchscreen device from Intermedia Kiosks that allows customers to order and pay for Burger King menu items.
  
• Netkey produces a Webinar in September entitled "Top 20 Trends for Self-Service."
  
• Southwest Airlines announces a 250-kiosk, $2 million initiative with IBM Corp.
  
• In Germany, high-speed access to the Internet is available to citizens free at 150 bars, bistros and coffee shops, thanks to a program from AOL Germany.
  
• About 150 attendees, representing 90 companies and 15 countries, attended the Amsterdam KioskCom in July.
  
• Despite lower attendance and exhibitor numbers at the KioskCom 2002 show in Orlando, KioskCom executive director Lawrence Dvorchik viewed a glass that was half-full.
  
• The first Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards, presented at KioskCom , attracts plenty of interest and entries. Winners include St. Clair Interactive, Apunix Computer Services, Kiosk Information Systems, nanonation, Kosmo Studios and Fidelity Investments.
  

2001

• BigFatWow! Media Networks completes the acquisition of rival company CyberXpo.
  
• High-speed access provider Darwin Networks Inc., files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
  
• Kmart announces one of the largest kiosk deployment in the sector's history, more than 3,500 online kiosks in 1,100 stores.
  
• Kiosk software developer Netkey completes a $9.5 million round of funding.
  
• Pixel Magic Imaging, which offers photo kiosk solutions, secures $10.5 million in second-round funding.
  
• BigFatWow! announces it has more than two million users per month at free Internet access kiosks in 106 shopping malls through the United States, making it the country?s largest provider of broadband Internet access. By year?s end, the company is
  
• Gaming kiosks developer
  
• Ford Motor Co. Internet executive Thor Ibsen is named president and chief executive officer of kiosk software developer Degasoft.
  
• During KioskCom 2001 convention in Orlando, Fla., members of the online trade association Kiosks.org meet to discuss establishing a formal association to promote the needs of the kiosk industry.
  
• Four months afterKmart launches a major kiosk deployment built around its retail Web site, BlueLight.com, the site announces a major restructuring.
  
• Convenience store chain 7 Eleven Inc. rolls out its Vcom line of financial services kiosks at 36 stores in southwest Florida.
  
• Target Corp. vice chairman Gerald Storch, delivering the keynote address at the Retail Systems 2001 trade show in Chicago, says kiosks that allow shoppers to buy out-of-stock items through a retailer?s Web site represent a poor in-store application. He argues that gift registries, store directories and information applications (job hiring, product information, etc.) make more sense.
  
• Public access kiosk provider PayStar Communications announces plans to buy 1,000 public Internet kiosks from eKiosk Corp.
  
• Kiosk deployer CitiKi unveils its first kiosk at America?s Food Basket grocery store in Dorchester, Mass.
  
• IT consultant and kiosk designer UBICS Inc. appeals a delisting notice from NASDAQ, which says the company no longer complies with its $5 million minimum market value requirement.
  
• Australian kiosk manufacturer NeoProducts Pty Ltd. acquires English kiosk developer LGC Associates, consolidating its presence in the European kiosk market. Earlier in the year, the company landed a contract to manufacture 9,000 Jobpoints employment service kiosks for UK Jobcentres.
  
• As part of its continued kiosk expansion, PayStar Corp. announces plans to purchase 200 Internet kiosks from
  
• GameCom shareholders approve the company?s merger with Ferris. The shareholder meeting was delayed a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
  
• In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, SMO MultiMedia Corp. announces it will add security measures, including safety information and airport security rules, to its line of E-station airport terminal kiosks. A month later, the company announces it is adding biometric technology to its kiosks.
  
• Six months after completing a $253 million round of funding, check-cashing kiosk provider InnoVentry shuts down, citing financial problems.
  
• Eastman Kodak Co. director of digital retail systems Rick Rommel is named interim president of the Kiosks.org Association advisory board.
  
• Kiosk software developer NetShift Software Ltd. obtains $5 million in venture capital funding from Shell Internet Ventures BV. The company plans to use the funds for marketing and product development.
  
• Degasoft announces it has changed its name to Kudos Development Group. The name change coincides with the launch of the company?s Kudos version 6.1 kiosk development software package.
  
• Phillips 66 Co. begins deploying a kiosk test program at Circle K stations in Phoenix and Philadelphia.
  
• Regional carrier America West and international airline Cathay Pacific both launch passenger check-in kiosks. America West deploys six kiosks at Phoenix?s Sky Harbor International Airport, while Cathay Pacific launches its system in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
  
• British Telecom and Marconi Interactive Systems enter a strategic partnership to deploy 28,000 Internet payphones in the United Kingdom by 2007. The payphone kiosks will also feature full Internet access, e-mail, directional services, and retail advertising.
  
• American Airlines reaches the seven-figure mark in self-check ins.