Working with venues can be challenging; there is a lot to arrange in a short amount of time. Services like catering and staffing are critical; but have you asked the right questions about the IT services to avoid issues on the day?

Our top 5 things to check with venues prior to signing or live

Bandwidth – it’s always a good idea to ask what the bandwidth is when you’re trying to decide on a venue but you could go one step further and test the bandwidth during a site visit. Sites like www.speedtest.net are easy to use and give a quick indication. Try and be clear about how much bandwidth you’ll need for your event or meeting, if you’re likely to be streaming or downloading you may need a higher bandwidth capability. Ask if the bandwidth you have access to during the site visit is dedicated to your event or shared (perhaps with rooms? Or the corporate side of the hotel)

Support – to be effective for your event, bandwidth should be managed so that everyone gets a similar experience. It’s also useful to know who will be on hand to support your Wi-Fi on the day and in the run up to the event.

Dedicated Wi-Fi – does the venue have dedicated Wi-Fi for meetings and events which will fit your requirements? Some venues may share the incoming internet with guest rooms, public you need to ensure the service for your event will not be impacted by their demands.

Security – this is an increasingly important issue when considering a venue for an event. Wi-Fi networks should be password protected, ideally with a strong password. Always check this beforehand.

Consistent coverage – depending on your event or venue, you may have a number of break out rooms or separate rooms which all need the same Wi-Fi capabilities. Make sure you check if the coverage is consistent over all these areas to suit your requirements.

We continue to strengthen our engineering team with the appointment of Sebastian Adamski as technical lead. In his role he will be responsible for helping the Etherlive crew deliver for our event clients.

Sebastian comes to us with a wealth of experience in the live events sector, having most recently worked on major music events such as Creamfields, British Summer Time and London Calling.

Commenting on his appointment, Sebastian said: “I am really looking forward to working with the Etherlive team on current and future projects. The company has an excellent reputation for both implementation and on-site engineering support. It will be a great opportunity to work with their high profile list of clients and demonstrate my technical expertise and passion for live experiences.”

Tom McInerney, our director also added: “Sebastian’s appointment is part of our continued focus on expanding our engineering team as we continually strive to offer the highest level of service and support to our clients. Sebastian’s knowledge of the festival and live events scene will be invaluable as we look to expand further into this market.”

In the modern, globalised world it can be the case that some events evolve in little more than a ‘New York Minute’ and networking needs to be procured on an ad hoc basis either to provide or boost existing capacity.

Fortunately, there are now a number of solutions available on the market which can be used to provide bandwidth for network and at the shortest notice. Here’s our pick of the best:

1. 4G – The platform’s main advantage is its high speed in comparison to 3G. Users experience much better performance when sending emails or using business systems, videos and other content can be streamed at a much faster rate than possible before. A couple of limitations of 4G is that the footprint is current limited to major cities and towns.
2. Satellite, ground mounted – This is a cost effective and powerful system, offering country wide coverage and high-performance throughput even in remote locations. Latency (the measurement of how quickly the internet ‘responds’) is a limitation of the technology due to the way satellite works. This can be minimised through a well-managed network. Weather can also be an issue, and for optimum performance the sky needs to be 100% clear to the south.
3. Satellites, vehicular – Quick to deploy systems mounted on vehicle roofs offer similar advantages of their ground-mounted counterparts but are deployed and packed down very quickly. They provide a quick deploy solution for event organisers but have the same limitations in terms of clear line of sight and latency.
4. Point-to-point links – This refers to finding a location within the local area which already has high speed internet connectivity. A wireless point to point link can be temporarily installed (typically up to 15km) both ends require line of sight (sometimes near line of sight might work) which can sometimes be achieved by ‘hopping’ in-between. Services can be fast however typically logistics mean installation can take several days.

For the sixth year Etherlive was responsible for deployed public Wi-Fi for WOMAD Festival enabling free internet access for those camping and enjoying the main arena. Attendees were able to share images and use the WOMAD app to plan their event. The network was responsible for supporting 4.6 terabytes of data (almost 1,000 DVDs worth)

The festival was held at Charlton Park, Wilts from 23^rd – 26^th July 2014. Highlights from this year included a show-stopping performance from Sinead O’Connor (dedicated to the late Bobby Womack, who was meant to headline originally) and number one soul singer Alice Russell.

As a key partner for the event, a relationship now in its sixth year, Etherlive has worked with WOMAD for over five years. In 2014, in addition to the public Wi-Fi, Etherlive also deployed a site wide CCTV system, phone systems, people counting and teenager registration.

Following another successful year for the internationally renowned event, we will continue to work with WOMAD to find new opportunities for cost saving and innovative technology. 

Between 16 -20 June we took part in London Technology Week where we ran a breakfast seminar: ‘Mind the technology gap’ at One Great George Street. The morning focused on what to consider about technology at events. Gareth Dimelow from George P. Johnson was the guest speaker and offered attendees best practice advice on ensuring their Wi-Fi networks work as well as how much internet might be needed on an event biases. Some of his top tips from the day included:

• Knowing your venue: It’s absolutely essential that you have a comprehensive understanding of the space that is being used. Whether a greenfield site or permanent exhibition centre, all venues have their positive and negative points. To avoid disappointment on the day, think in advance about how much connectivity is already in place and if they can increase it or augment it if required.
• Manage customer expectations: Budgeting for connectivity and event IT related services are often overlooked when organising an event. Ensure that you appraise the client or the exact cost of set-up and implementation (usually 10% of the overall budget).
• Ensure all requirements have been collected and validated: Think about all potential guests who will be using the network and what they will be using it for. It would be disastrous if attendees found themselves trying to send vital emails or communicate with CRM systems which don’t work due to limited bandwidth or poor Wifi reception.

Always have a ‘Plan B’: A contingency plan should always be discussed, tested and on stand-by should the main technology fail. When looking at wireless logistics for events, organisers should think about back-up connectivity and on-site engineering support.