attend2IT, an IT service provider for events, supplied internet and Wi-Fi connectivity to all the vendors and EPOS systems, during the three-day Black Deer festival (21st-23rd June 2019). Having supplied at last year’s inaugural event, attend2IT were invited back to provide internet for the brand-new cashless system.
Project manager, Morgan Denton, spoke to Event Industry News about the project, giving us insight into the planning and execution of the event.
Providing internet to a site in which there is no infrastructure proved an exciting challenge for the team. Not only because there was no power source on site, but because the specifications for the event had got more complex with the introduction of the cashless system.
The team sourced a leased line delivered by fibre which was presented at a nearby business park which is around four kilometres away from site. They then transmitted the connectivity across the festival using multiple high-capacity microwave radio links. This guaranteed bandwidth more than if they had used satellites.
“Satellites were our back up plan,” Morgan said, explaining that he and his team never supply an event without implementing a standby system in case of failures. “We also segregate the networks. For example, PlayPass” – the company that provided the cashless devices – “was given priority because it was essential its systems didn’t go down.
“We supplied connection to approximately 400 PlayPass devices. Every vendor on site needed connectivity all the way through the weekend.”
The UK project manager for PlayPass, Ben Wild-Hirons, had high praise for the team when we spoke to him on site: “attend2IT worked really, really hard on here, getting all the infrastructure in… They’ve worked tirelessly and everything is working.”
attend2IT stayed on site for an overall of 10 days, with two team members on site in the first few days, five on site during the main build and two remaining behind during the event.
Though Black Deer was not in need for them this year, Morgan explained that CCTV, event apps, ticketing and streaming services are also among attend2IT’s range of services.
For more information on attend2IT’s services, call the team 01763 877 477 or visit their contact page.
This content is sponsored by attend2IT.
Author: Molly Hookings
Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com
