SEPTEMBER | SECTOR FOCUS
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Good WiFi is like oxygen:
you only notice it when
it isn’t there. The ability
to post videos on social media,
connect quickly to PDQs for
paying at the bar, and check
the lineup online are all things
we take for granted at modern
events. You might not think
twice about being able to
connect to the internet in a field
that is miles from the nearest
city, but you’ll certainly notice if
you can’t.
Event WiFi, then, is a lucrative
business. Or at least, it was
until Covid-19 wiped out an
entire summer’s worth of
events from the calendar. The
suppliers which provide the
digital backbone to our events
have had to adapt, shifting their
focus to the growing number of
hybrid and virtual events that
have taken place in the last six
months.
Thankfully, this is a pivot
many of them were already
prepared for: companies such as
Hertfordshire-based Attend2IT
were already providing
virtual event services before
Covid-19 struck. “Like most
live event companies, we have
seen our live work all but dry
up,” says managing director
Dominic Hampton. “It’s a
pretty bleak landscape for that
sector, however we have been
streaming for years and have
seen massive growth in this
area.”
Hampton says that his
company, which also provides
WiFi and ticketing services,
has actually expanded in 2020:
“We have expanded our virtual
offering to cater for this [rise in]
demand, and actually increased
our staff numbers this year.
That said, it is hard work as
everybody tries to work out how
best to turn their event online -
or even if they should.”
Rob Watson, business
development executive at
Max WiFi, says that a good
connection is top of the
WI-FI
In an era when digital and hybrid events are on the rise,
the importance of events being connected is greater than
ever. Access meets some of the industry’s leading event
WiFi suppliers, and finds out how they’re adapting to the
challenges of Covid-19.
Words: Stuart Wood
shopping list of any virtual
or hybrid event, for obvious
reasons: “Hybrid events rely
on strong connectivity as they
require high upload speeds –
without it your stream will lag
and be unreliable. Your virtual
guests may not experience
anything if the stream cannot be
broadcast.”
High quality video isn’t the
only reason a good connection
is important. Nick Taylor, MD
of Noba Event Wi-Fi, adds: “Live
streaming will also ensure
that attendees have the ability
to interact live with the event,
improving overall engagement.”
In a time when many events
are lacking the crucial face-toface
interaction prohibited by
social distancing, this becomes
essential.
While the rise in virtual
events has certainly provided
the event WiFi sector with
some crucial business during
a difficult period for suppliers,
Watson says the change won’t
be a permanent one. “We don’t
believe digital or hybrid events
will ever replace live events,” he
says. “The experience of being
physically present at an event
is so much more engaging than
being sat behind a computer
screen, unable to properly
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