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common use of the venue, 200
people seated for dinner will not
have the same needs that a 500
person strong tech conference,
we know that venues can’t spend
that investment on once or twice
a year bookings which is why we
are there to fill the void.
“With today’s utilisation of
social media it’s feasible to say
that without the access of Wi-Fi
an event could not work. Wi-Fi
could take a small event global
in a matter of minutes but that
comes with a cost.”
“Just ten years ago event
Wi-Fi simply didn’t exist,
both the technology and the
requirement wasn’t there. now
we have cloud-based office
services meaning organisers
can’t access documents unless
there’s an internet connection.
Visitors don’t carry wads of cash
anymore and thus expect to pay
electronically for entrance tickets
as well as for products, services
and merchandise onsite.
“Event Wi-Fi is one of the most
important services to the events
industry today up there along
with power and structures. as
most if not all the revenue that
pays for the events transits
through it. There’s no such thing
as free Wi-Fi, you may have free
Wi-Fi but somewhere somebody
is paying for it.”
As well as the obvious benefits,
event Wi-Fi can also expose
how unsecure visitors’ data
potentially is, according to
the CEO of event technology
supplier Eventscase. Jose
Bort’s company has released a
White Paper on data security,
available for download, which
44
aims to highlight the risk event
professionals face from being
hacked.
A hacker is able to access a
device in less than a minute, and
once inside can wreak havoc
with data, applications, and files.
Users are urged to ensure when
they are using a website, that
they check the certification, by
clicking on the padlock symbol to
the left of the web address in the
search bar.
Bort says: “Event professionals,
as well as everyone, maybe do
not realise the risk. A lot of us are
unaware of how unsecure we are
online. It’s not to scare anyone,
and this threat is certainly
nothing new. People will learn
some basic things, which affect
not only us, but our delegates and
our events. Included is a checklist,
which event professionals should
absorb and talk through with
their suppliers to assess their
current risk.”
Since GDPR legislation came
into force in 2018, the need to
secure data has never been more
ATTEND2IT.CO.UK
urgent. Companies can face fines
of up to £20m in the result of a
data breach. “The organiser [data
owner] is ultimately responsible,”
Bort adds. “But the duty is shared
between them, the venue, and
the event technology supplier.
Everyone must be clear on their
role.”
So Wi-Fi is getting cheaper, but
people are asking more of it, and
developers are only adding to
this demand. And, as Bort makes
clear, security is also paramount.
Something to consider next time
you call up your usual supplier.
“Event Wi-Fi is one of the
most important services to
the events industry today
up there along with power
and structures”