Ten checks, in the order I'd run them before paying for any lead retrieval app:
- Show coverage: does it work at every show on your calendar?
- Pricing unit: per device, per user, per company, or bundled into a package?
- The badge: can it read this show's badge, and what comes back when it can't?
- No signal: what happens to a scan when the hall network is down?
- Team size: how many people can scan, and what does the next one cost?
- Data window: when can you download the leads, and when does access end?
- CRM: which record does it write, with which notes and owner, and when?
- No badge: can it capture business cards and people met off the floor?
- Qualifying: can reps answer your questions, tag and note a lead at the booth?
- Enrichment: does it fill in missing emails, and mark which ones it verified?
Each check rests on what show documents say, quoted with the link: 53 exhibitor FAQs, kits and order pages from mid-size association and industry shows (captured September 30, 2026), the 12 big-show order forms behind our organizer price comparison, and 7 show rule pages and guides. New to the term? Start with what lead retrieval is and who runs it.
I build Tendro, an independent lead capture app, so weigh the Tendro line under each check accordingly. Each says what the product does today.
Does the app work at every show on your calendar?
Only if it doesn't depend on one show's registration system. Organizer apps are licensed show by show, and some shows ban outside apps.
The 72 documents behind this checklist name 18 different vendors, each working at the shows that contracted it. CompuSystems spells out the logic on the HIMSS exhibitor hub: "We are the only official lead retrieval/registration company for the show and the only systems guaranteed to work with the badges. Barcodes and badges vary from show to show." (HIMSS lead retrieval FAQ)
A few shows close the door. AWS re:Invent's sponsor rules, updated September 2, 2026: "Sponsors must use the provided lead retrieval device to collect leads. Outside devices, lead retrieval software, or APIs are not permitted." (AWS exhibiting rules)
Ask the vendor: which of your next six months of shows it has worked at, and whether it needs anything from the organizer. Then search each exhibitor manual for a line on outside apps.
Tendro: works at any show that allows outside capture, and every show's leads sit in one team list you can filter by event. Our show pages name the official vendor for each show we've researched.
Is it priced per device, per user or per company?
It depends on the show's vendor. In 53 mid-size show documents, 7 priced per device, 3 per user, 8 per company and 11 bundled the app.
| Pricing unit | Documents (of 53) | Verbatim example | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per device | 7 | "The fee is $200 for leads activation for two devices, which is the minimum amount of lead activations an exhibitor can purchase." | NASW 2025 exhibitor FAQ |
| Per user license | 3 | "Two user licenses: $250; Additional user licenses: $125 for 1 one-user license." | Illinois Parks and Recreation 2026 |
| Per company, flat | 8 | "$175 = Access for up to 5 users per company" | WIN Expo exhibitor kit |
| Bundled with the booth or a package | 11 | "Free Pretix Lead App for all exhibitor staff." | ptc 2026 exhibitor manual |
| Unit not stated | 24 | Names the vendor, points to its order form | TribalNet 2026 vendor packet |
Of the 11 bundled, 9 come free with the booth or registration, 1 is a free app with paid scanner rentals, and 1 sits inside a paid marketing package. On hardware, 30 of the 53 run only on your own phones, 7 offer your phone or a rental, 1 mentions only rented equipment, and 15 don't say.
Big shows price differently. All 12 big-show forms charge per device or per activation and rent hardware too. Two people on their own phones cost $500 to $600 at the advance rate on 11 of them; Central Plains Dairy Expo's Cvent form is the exception at $398 (Central Plains 2026 form). For a full season, the hidden cost of organizer scanners does the math.
Watch the packages. World of Concrete 2027's required $1,100 Standard Listing Package includes one app license; two licenses take the $1,600 package, three the $2,400 one (2027 package flyer; more on our World of Concrete 2027 page). KBIS 2027 gives the Maritz SWAP app free for "Up to 6 users" (KBIS 2027 form).
Ask the vendor: the unit, the minimum buy, and what the fifth person costs.
Tendro: $499 per event, with unlimited team members and unlimited scans at that event. From 10+ events a year the per-event rate drops.
Can it read this show's badge?
An independent app can read the printed face. Only the organizer's system turns an opaque badge ID into the attendee's registration record.
On most big North American shows the badge code is a registration ID, a license plate that means nothing outside the organizer's database; what badge QR codes actually contain breaks down the formats. The organizer's system resolves it: CompuSystems' HIMSS guide says a scan returns "the attendee's full registration information" (CompuLEAD user guide).
The order forms plan for the misses. PRI's 2026 Maritz form and FABTECH's 2026 XPress Leads form both let exhibitors upload leads captured as badge images or handwritten badge IDs within 14 days after the show, for a data services fee (PRI 2026 form, FABTECH 2026 form). That is the organizer's own fallback for a badge its scanner couldn't read.
Ask the vendor: what this show's badge encodes, and what the app returns when it can't decode the code: the printed name and company, or nothing.
Tendro: reads the printed badge face and business cards, then fills in missing email, title, company and LinkedIn from enrichment providers. It does not resolve the organizer's badge ID.
What happens to a scan when the hall has no signal?
It should stay saved on the phone. Then ask what waits for a connection: the contact details, the notes, or the CRM write.
Bringing your own network isn't always allowed. AWS re:Invent says sponsors "may not create private wireless networks for any reason, including demo support, such as setting up a wireless hotspot, router, or access point" (AWS exhibiting rules). Why conference WiFi fails on the floor covers the rest.
Organizer apps differ here too. CompuSystems' HIMSS guide: "If you don't have a Wi-Fi or Internet connection, partial data will be stored until a connection occurs." (CompuLEAD user guide)
Ask the vendor: for a desk test. Scan ten badges in airplane mode, add notes and tags, reconnect, and count what arrives.
Tendro: scanning works without signal. Badge and business-card photos wait on the phone and upload when the connection returns, then reading, enrichment and CRM sync run. Qualifying waits for that connection in the current app: tags, answers, notes, assignments and voice-note transcription all need signal.
How many people can scan, and what does the next one cost?
Check who can log in and what one more person costs. Extra activations on 12 big-show forms run $134 to $237; some shows include everyone.
The caps are specific. WIN Expo's $175 covers five users: the first buyer becomes admin and invites four more (WIN Expo kit). NDTA's $150 Fall Meeting service: "The number of admins allowed is unlimited and included in the cost," though every admin must be registered for the meeting (NDTA instructions). At Small Business Expo the scanner only appears if "you are registered under the Exhibitor level" (SBE help center).
Free seats have their own trap. The ptc 2026 manual gives every staffer the app, then warns that "duplicate leads may occur if multiple team members scan the same attendee (depending on the setting)" (ptc manual).
Ask the vendor: what the next login costs, what happens when two reps scan the same person, and who owns that lead afterwards.
Tendro: unlimited team members on every paid event. Scanning the same person twice at a show updates one lead instead of creating a duplicate, and the CRM owner is the teammate the lead is assigned to, or the rep who scanned it, when their email matches a CRM user.
When do you get the leads, and for how long?
Ideally during the show, for as long as you need them. One show's lead portal closes four weeks after; another withholds leads until fees clear.
MEDICA's Scan2Lead terms keep the lead portal open four weeks after the show, then close it for privacy; archive copies can be charged at cost (terms linked from the MEDICA order page; details on our MEDICA show page). AWS re:Invent: "Your leads generated at the AWS Event will not be shared until your Sponsorship fees are paid in full." (AWS exhibiting terms)
Timing can differ inside one form: ATD's 2026 CMR form offers a .csv download "during and after" the meeting on some lines and only "after the meeting" on another (ATD 2026 form).
Ask the vendor: when the first download opens, when access ends, what format it comes in, and whether the file carries the rep's notes and answers.
Tendro: every show's leads sit in one team list you can filter by event, and CSV export works on the free trial too.
What lands in your CRM, and when?
Ask which record it writes, whether notes and the owner come along, and what triggers the write. On organizer forms, CRM access is usually a paid API.
Organizer products mostly export a file. Direct sync usually means a developer line on the form, and AHA's 2025 XPress Leads form names it plainly: "YOUR developers integrate OUR API with YOUR lead system," $910 to $1,330 (AHA 2025 form). ATD 2026 sells a "Real-Time API" kit at $990 and a "Post-Show Data Merge" kit at $440 to $490. X-CD lists a "Lead API" at $650 for ISPD 2025 exhibitors (ISPD exhibitor resources). Your developers still do the wiring.
Ask the vendor: Lead or Contact, matched on email or new per scan? Do notes and answers land on the record? Who becomes the owner? What starts the write? The CRM sync comparison answers these app by app.
Tendro: HubSpot and Salesforce sync natively. HubSpot gets a Contact matched on email plus one Note with the answers, notes, tag and capturing rep, updated in place; Salesforce gets the Lead with the same email, a Lead Rating from the tag and the answers in a completed Task. Any answer can also be mapped to a CRM property, per team or per event. A badge scan syncs once enrichment finishes, usually within a couple of minutes, starting with your first paid event. Other CRMs are built on request.
Can it capture people who have no scannable badge?
It should read business cards as well as badges. Check the show's terms too: MEDICA's scanner terms bar scanning anyone outside your stand.
Some organizer apps read cards too. Scan2Lead's MEDICA app will "scan the barcode on a visitor badge or a business card" (MEDICA order page), and the KBIS 2027 form lists business card scanning among the SWAP app's features.
The MEDICA terms also bar scanning any visitor who objects. Rules like that bind the exhibitor, whatever app the rep holds, so read them before the booth dinner. Badge scanner vs business card scanner covers which one your booth should optimize for.
Ask the vendor: to photograph a business card and a badge with its code covered, and show you what comes back from each and which list it lands in.
Tendro: reads business cards the same way it reads printed badges, and both land in the same lead list for the show.
Can reps qualify a lead at the booth?
Yes, if the app takes your own questions, a tag and a note per lead. On organizer order forms, custom questions are often a separate paid line.
Custom qualifiers cost $99 on PRI's 2026 form and $150 to $170 on FABTECH's when not bundled, and ATD 2026 sells "Customized Follow-Up Action Codes" at $110 to $160. CEIR, citing lead retrieval vendors Experient and CompuSystems, found that "less than 10 percent of exhibitors use customer qualifiers" (CEIR report). Ask whether questions cost extra and whether the answers reach your CRM.
Tendro: you set up the questions once on the web and they appear on every rep's phone, as text, number, date, a dropdown or multi-select options with an optional Other box. Each lead takes a tag, and with signal, a recorded voice note is transcribed into a summary in the lead's notes. The booth qualification guide has four questions, the answer options and the tag rules.
Does it fill in missing emails, and say which ones it verified?
A printed badge rarely shows an email. Ask which fields enrichment fills, from which providers, and how it marks emails it verified.
The organizer's system starts from what the attendee typed at registration. NDTA's app captures "first name, last name, organization name, job title, email address, and phone number if provided by the attendee" (NDTA instructions). An independent app starts from the printed face, so its emails come from enrichment, and weak enrichment shows up later as bounces.
Ask the vendor: which fields it fills, whether it ever overwrites what the rep typed, and how it flags an email it found but didn't verify. Then run last year's badge stack through a trial and count the bounces.
Tendro: after the scan, fills in missing email, title, company and LinkedIn from enrichment providers.
Where is Tendro the wrong pick?
At one small show where the organizer's app is cheap or included, at a show that bans outside apps, and anywhere you need a numeric lead score.
- One small show. In the mid-size sample, 11 shows bundle the app, and 13 of the 14 documents that print a dollar price put a two-person booth under $499 at the earliest rate. NASW sold two devices for $200; WIN Expo sells five users for $175. For one small show a year, buy the organizer's. Across a season, add up those show-by-show fees and the export cleanup each one leaves you, then compare that with one list and one price per event. The free lead capture apps roundup covers the $0 options.
- A show that bans outside apps. At AWS re:Invent, use the provided device.
- Registration answers. Tendro doesn't resolve the organizer's badge ID, so the answers attendees gave at sign-up only come through the organizer's product.
- A numeric lead score. Tendro has none. The tag is the score.
- A CRM other than HubSpot or Salesforce, at your first show. Those two sync natively; others are built on request, so ask before you book.
The lead retrieval app comparison prices 14 options and has its own section on where Tendro loses.
Can someone check my next show against this list?
Yes, free, for any show you're weighing. You get that show's official scanner price and the math for your booth, whichever option wins.
Send the show name, your headcount and your CRM through the contact form and get that show's official scanner price and the math for your booth.
Or start the free trial: 25 captures and CSV export, no credit card. CRM sync turns on with your first paid event.
How was this checklist built?
72 show documents: 53 mid-size show pages captured September 30, 2026, 12 big-show order forms, and 7 show rule pages and guides.
What was counted. Each mid-size document was classified by the pricing unit it states and by phone, rental or both, counted on the captured spreadsheet rather than by eye. A document naming a vendor but no unit counts as "not stated"; nothing was guessed. The 12 big-show forms (SEMA, FABTECH and AAOS 2026; AHA 2025; PRI 2025 and 2026; NAB 2025; National Restaurant Association Show 2025; Atlanta Market January 2025; ATD 2026; NEI Spring Congress 2025; Central Plains Dairy Expo 2026) are linked row by row in the organizer price comparison. The 7 rule pages and guides are linked where quoted.
What the sample is. Mid-size association and industry shows that hire smaller vendors (Bravura, eShow, Expo Pass, Nunify, pretix, X-CD and five others), mostly 2025 to 2027 editions, US-heavy with a few UK, Canadian and German shows. It is not a market price list. One document is an organizer press release and one a vendor's tutorial video for a show's exhibitors. A few rows rest on a search snippet where the page blocked our fetch; none of the quotes above does.
What was left out. Currency conversion. The two euro prices and one pound price stay out of the dollar comparisons, which use the earliest printed rate.
The 53 mid-size documents, by pricing unit:
- Per device (7): NASW 2025, AAOMS 2026, AIFD 2025, Women in Aviation 2026, ASBO 2026, COTS 2026, ISPD 2025
- Per user license (3): AGD 2025, Illinois Parks 2026, SACUBO 2025
- Per company (8): IDUG EMEA 2025, IFEBP Trustees 2025, SEAAIS 2026, WIN Expo, NDTA GovTravels, NDTA Fall Meeting 2025, ITCS Frankfurt, ITCS München
- Bundled (11): Event Planner Expo, Houston BOMA 2026, WCOWMA-BC 2026, APMA Region Three 2026, CMSC, NTOA 2026, BAMAN 2025, PMO Conference, Small Business Expo, ptc 2026, Tonmeistertagung
- Unit not stated (24): Flow Expo, Groundwater Week, SOHO Expo 2025, AREMA 2026, JETC 2026, AAOMS Dental Implant 2025, ATSSA 2027, Dealer Week, Eastern Analytical Symposium 2026, IAEE Expo Expo 2025, IFMA Facility Fusion, IFMA World Workplace 2026, Rocky Mountain Dental 2027, SIIA 2025, Sunshine Expo 2026, TribalNet 2026, EMS Region III 2025, GAWP 2026, IFEBP Benefits Conference 2025, IFEBP Wellness Summit 2025, IOCP 2026, PHCC San Diego 2027, APA 2026, NABE