Russell-Fish says the technology worked brilliantly and , Covid-19 or not , the contactless tech will be used again this year . Should extra functionality such as ‘ track and trace ’ be required , it can be integrated into the RFID system .
“ RFID brings substantial benefits to our event : simplicity and security for our festival attendees , ease of accreditation across crew and artists , seamless engagement between merchant , vendor and the public , and clear transparency in real time , across the whole festival footprint – whether that ’ s gate ingress , sales behavioural activities , incentivisation programmes or simply revenue interpretation ,” he says .
Tee , whose wealth of experience in the events industry includes working on the Hop Farm Festival with Vince
Power , says the team is working with long-term trusted suppliers that have proven willing to be flexible in unprecedented circumstances .
“ We have been able to talk to our suppliers and push the payments a little to help cash flow ,” says Tee . “ It ’ s a matter of working together as a team of people who really want this to happen .”
Supply chain challenges NW Live director Joe Nichols has been with the event since the outset and oversees all the site design , infrastructure management and operational delivery .
He says this year will be very challenging due to supply chain issues with infrastructure and some staff taking a break from the festival season , but the event benefits from the wealth of experience and expertise among the team .
“ This year is very much about finetuning our site design and improving on the experience in 2019 ,” he says . “ Our campsite , live-in vehicles field and fancy camping fields are all considerably larger . Although some of the changes might look small , we have reviewed and tweaked everything from waste management to water provision .”
Trust Events Stages MD Spike Brookes has known Tee for close to 20 years and has worked on Black Deer since the outset , providing 10 stages and platforms .
“ We are providing three bridges as well this year , with one going over some water , so that ’ s going to be interesting to build – I can almost guarantee it will be me building that ,” he laughs .
Brookes says the Black Deer team is a joy to work with and , like all the suppliers , he is hugely appreciative of the work : “ My last project for the firm was on 8 September 2019 – we have had 18 months of nothing and zero help from the Government .
Spike Brookes Bev Burton Joe Nichols
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