Etherlive – Event Technology Experts

25 May 2015

Event Technology, The event of things

The ‘internet of things’ continues to be one of the buzz words within the technology world. What does it mean? Essentially it is the next step in the level of communication capability within our daily lives. This is the fridge talking to the supermarket, your car warning the garage you have a part that might need replacing and the dishwasher politely reminding you it will do a self-cleaning cycle overnight when energy rates are cheaper. Depending on your perspective that might all feel a little big brother but for most people it makes things simpler and of course provides new levels of opportunity for business, the same as 5 years ago having your phone know where you are seemed dangerous but now most people use it to find the nearest restaurant which is well reviewed or a car park with spaces.

Great. So what does this mean to events?

Events are unique in the way they deal with a huge amount of information on a site within a very short time. The information recorded can have two fundamental impacts; firstly that during the live there may be an opportunity to make some changes very quickly and address an issue but perhaps even more importantly the information can drive decisions for the next event, be that a couple of weeks, months or a year away.

Etherlive the event of things

From discussions with customers the key areas that timely information could be supplied with group into key areas;

Environmental Monitoring – Temperatures, sound levels and potential fire detection. Helping record trends and proactively monitoring increases which are not expected. Sound monitoring, for example, would not replace the current monitoring points required by licence but provide greater granularity over site.

Audience – Monitoring of social media systems to identify trend topics on site or specific issues. A running social media feed may identify issues which are being reported (perhaps even encouraging a specific hash tag) and can be used for archiving purposes

Ticketing – Gate counts and volume per minute. Working with ticketing providers to collect and report their data to show gates which may need additional resource.

Power management – Fuel level monitoring, power load etc allowing the power teams to evaluate load over areas for site and where capacity is required.

Whatever happens with the ‘Internet of things’ certainly events can benefit from increased levels of monitoring and post event reporting.

Why Wi-Fi Calling is Big News for Events

Chris Green

07 Apr 2015

Festival, VoIP, Wi-Fi, WiFi, Wireless

EE have launched their Wi-Fi Calling service and Vodafone are expected to follow shortly along with other operators. With the prevalence of other VoIP based calling such as Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, etc. you could be excused for thinking what all the fuss is about.

There are two big things about Wi-Fi Calling, the first is that it uses your normal mobile number so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a mobile signal you can still receive and make calls on your normal number.

The second aspect of true Wi-Fi Calling is that it is seamless – you don’t have to launch an app and make a conscious decision to switch, it is handled directly by the phone. Here though lies an issue in that only newer generation phones support this aspect today, however, it is expected that all future phones will adopt it. Seamless is also not truly seamless yet in that active calls at this point cannot roam from the mobile operator network to Wi-Fi or vice versa but this is expected to be introduced in the future.

The other cheeky point to note is that operators are still likely to charge (or deduct from bundled minutes) for a call made over Wi-Fi even though they are not providing the network.

For event organisers Wi-Fi Calling sounds like a great development as requests to improve mobile coverage and capacity is up at the top of the list of the things we get asked to fix most frequently, yet generally we are fairly powerless to address as the current system has been a closed environment controlled by the mobile operators.

At a high level this is a great development for event organisers, especially for production staff who can be offered an alternative to the mobile network very easily but it throws up some challenges which need to be considered very carefully if it is to be used beyond production staff. Any event providing a Wi-Fi network for its attendees is now potentially going to see extra demand on that network, not so much in terms of capacity as voice traffic is fairly small, more in terms of quality of service.

Voice traffic is not tolerant of congested networks, previously an attendee just downloading some email might see the network as being a bit slow but it still works, with voice it is a different story with stuttering audio rendering the call unworkable and frustrating the user far more than slow email.

Event organisers will need to make conscious decisions about the use of Wi-Fi Calling and ensuring any network is capable of delivering it at a quality that is acceptable to users. This may mean high density design and increased internet capacity – both of which can push up costs.

For smaller events this is not likely to be that much of a problem but as you scale up to large outdoor events with thousands of people the challenge is a lot more significant. Wi-Fi Calling has the potential to help solve one of the big frustrations at festivals, arenas and sports events but without a good public Wi-Fi network it could make the frustration worse.

The interesting question is that if Wi-Fi Calling is adopted by users and becomes the norm when in a public Wi-Fi hotspot will attendees increasingly expect it at events? And if so, who pays?

Etherlive forms strategic partnership with aap³

04 Mar 2015

Etherlive, one of the UK’s leading providers of IT and communications technology for the live event sector has formed a strategic partnership with global IT services and recruitment company, aap³.

The strategic partnership, which includes aap³ becoming an investor in Etherlive, will see both companies maintaining their individual brands, businesses and operational management structure, with Etherlive continuing to be led by Chris Green and Tom McInerney, and aap³ by Rod Jackson.

As a result of the partnership the global footprint of each organisation has substantially increased, with a collective UK presence in Southampton, London, Glasgow and Brinkworth, Wiltshire – the latter soon to be relocating to a new, larger facility in Royal Wootton Bassett which will provide facilities to both Etherlive and aap³. This is alongside aap³’s existing US offices in North Carolina and California, with a third US office due to open later this year in Dallas, each of which will provide a springboard for Etherlive’s entrance into the US market.

The strategic partnership produces a combined turnover of over £32m ($50m) with over 650 staff worldwide, and will provide each business with access to a broader range of technical services and resources, engineering expertise and knowledge; with the wireless capabilities and expertise of both companies complimenting each other.

This footprint, combined with aap³’s strategic hubs of engineers and contractors spread across the US and EMEA, will provide both businesses with a huge pool of talent and resources, and enable both companies to provide additional services to their customers.

Moving forward, both companies will be working together on new technical solutions that will appeal to their respective customer bases, whilst further developing opportunities within their individual vertical markets.

Chris Green, Managing Director of Etherlive commented: “Technology continues to play an ever critical role at events and this strategic partnership enables Etherlive to not only meet this growing demand in the UK but also to address the increasingly global nature of events. The extensive technical knowledge and resource between the two companies will also facilitate a program of innovation for the events market.”

Rod Jackson, Chairman and CEO of aap³ commented on the strategic partnership: “We chose to invest in Etherlive due to the rapid growth the business has seen since its inception in 2007, and also the clear synergies between the two businesses. We’re very excited for what the future has to offer for this partnership.”

If publications would like to arrange interviews with Chris Green or Rod Jackson, or request further details please contact Sam Nickerson S.Nickerson@aap3.com

About Etherlive

Etherlive is one of the UK’s leading providers of IT and communications technology for the live event sector.
Etherlive is a specialist in large-scale indoor & outdoor events with multi-faceted communications needs, as well as being a major supplier to the corporate, conference, exhibition and general events market.
Etherlive partners to provide services for events such as G8 Summit, T in the Park, Green Man Festival, Goodwood Festival of Speed, Southampton Boat Show, London World Triathlon, Nokia, Amazon and Sony.
Website: www.etherlive.co.uk
Blog: www.etherlive.co.uk/blog
Twitter: www.twitter.com/etherlive
Head Office: Etherlive Limited, Brinkworth House, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5DF
Tel: 01666 800129

2015: Election Year – Are You Ready?

12 Jan 2015

Conference, Event IT, Event Wi-Fi

Etherlive is working with several customers who are preparing their venues and various production organisations to support the UK General Election happening on May 7^th 2015. Many of the event teams are working on similar aspects and issues; here are our top tips

Audit Venues (first and early!) – Many venues are level setting customers’ expectations on how many concurrent wireless connections they can support and what internet access is available but site visits to confirm this data is critical. The earlier the site visit the more opportunity both the venue and the production team have time to address any issues; for example arranging more capacity on the core internet access temporarily or increasing Wi-Fi density & capacity in certain areas.

Consider Demand – In 2010 when the poles closed the first generation iPad had just been launched with many people still considering it a fad. Now most people, and certainly press, carry multiple devices which need high speed connectivity – their phone, tablet, laptop and potentially even watch! Twitter users (around 70,000 then) were sending around 50 million tweets per day, now it’s ten times that. Facebook, just becoming main stream in 2010, now includes video streaming and people routinely use Skype and FaceTime for their calls whilst cloud based data services such as Dropbox, Office 365 and Google Docs are commonplace.

Delivering event Wi-Fi to the debates

Consider Security – A little discussed element of Wi-Fi is how there are many ways of deploying it with (or without) security & encryption. Recent press on the Sony hack and others should mean that organisers check what level of security is being provided. At worse this should at least be a number of individual networks for organisers, candidates, media and attendees. The preference should be for authentication and encryption with suitable logging and monitoring.

Have a Backup Plan – Consider what happens if the internet connection breaks. Is there a second connection that can be used if required? Could desperate users be taken to a different area at least to upload their photos and emails?

Engage Attendees – Similar to the needs of the media, organisers and those attending events will be keen to remain connected to social media and their own commitments. Providing news feeds, twitter walls and video screens relaying up the minute information all help to create a buzz and promote interaction.

Regardless if you are supporting the election through hosting an event at your venue, or responsible for organising one, successful technology delivery will be a key factor.

Apple’s Latest Launch and What it means to Events

10 Sep 2014

Apple, Cashless, Event IT, Event Technology, NFC

Announcements from Apple always have a certain sparkle; their PR is the slickest, their presentation is faultless (although in this case it showed even the best can have technology problems as the video stream faltered frequently) and, most importantly, they have a knack of defining a market.

Apple were not the first with a portable mp3 player, yet the others are long forgotten as the iPod defined the genre. Before the iPad was launched in 2010 many, many tablets had come and gone. Arguably technology had finally caught up and the introduction of the iPad has allowed a generation to enjoy lightweight computing without overheating laptops on laps, creaking screens and tapping keyboards.

The announcement today of the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 plus and the Apple Watch are exciting in themselves. The phone models are the extension of the brand we all know well; though this time with an increase in screen size (4.7” and 5.5” respectively vs the typical iPhone 4”). The Apple Watch is an extension of the handset with a screen that allows access to apps, information, maps and much more.

However, there is one absolutely critical technology included in all three products which the market has demanded for some time; Near Field Communications (NFC).

Can a push from Apple get cashless moving and vanish those queues?

The inclusion of NFC facilitates payment for goods directly from the device. A swipe of the phone, or now watch, against an NFC reader allows the transaction to complete. Again other manufacturers have offered this for some time, but it takes an influencer like Apple to really drive customer awareness.

One thing Apple are experts at is understanding that it takes more than just technology to go from niche interest to mainstream – it’s about the complete package. The iPod owes much of its success to iTunes which in turn was successful because Apple had lined up a huge catalogue from all the record labels.

In this case it’s not just about the inclusion of NFC, it’s as much about the launch of Apple Pay where they have already lined up Mastercard and Visa as launch partners in the US, along with retailers such as Subway and McDonalds. In a smart move Apple has also said that with Apple Pay they have no access or visibility to the transaction data, quelling fears over data protection which could have been a hindrance.

How powerful will it be to use something on your wrist to process payment? Very.

What does this mean for events? So far open-loop and closed-loop contact less payment systems at events have seen slow adoption, partly due to implementation cost and lack of agreed standards, and partly due to customer resistance due to privacy concerns.

Although it will still take time for suitable penetration of the new devices this long awaited inclusion will accelerate and change the landscape for mobile/contactless payment and associated services.

Those without a strategy for contactless payment systems need to start working out how best to take advantage of a system which allows immediate transactions without the need to top up cash (and then bank it the other side).

It also puts into doubt the longer term viability of proprietary closed loop systems as users are more likely to trust well known established names which have a broader acceptance.

For event organisers it also means more consideration for the ancillary services like charging and, of course, connectivity which all of this relies on.

Whatever happens, if anything was going to highlight NFC technology to the wider world (whether what they buy has an Apple logo on it or not) this is it.

Top 5 tips for using tech at events

12 Aug 2014