Recently, event IT and event wifi providers have seen a sudden rise in demand for their services at exhibitions. In the past, event wifi was uncommon unless an item or campaign with distinct web requirements was being demonstrated. Nevertheless today, event wifi is a vital element for functions such as conferences, sport events, festivals, road shows and also experiential marketing events.

Why is event wifi required?

Many venue providers have found the growth in demand for event wifi a difficult task to overcome. Venue providers regularly believe they have got adequate broadband to supply a function - but this is usually not the case.

Many of these venues don’t have sufficient bandwidth and thus do require event wifi in order to cope with the heavy use of data (e.g. numerous web site demonstrations at IT events, elevated usage of smart phones as well as portable web devices). Likewise, events organizers also have been caught unawares, but through no fault of their own. Event wifi is often an after-thought and something that we do take for granted.

When can event wifi be used?

- Festivals - event wifi at festivals provides site wide wireless networks to enable mechanisms such as ticket devices.

- Indoor and outdoor networks - event wifi can be utilized at a huge marquee or across a number of rooms at a conference.

- Temporary Cloud - event wifi employed for data capture or as a thank you to your patrons.

- Server accessibility - utilize terminals to gain access to your main server with event wifi.

- Press rooms - support the bandwidth hungry journalists attending your function with either a hardwired or wifi network.

- Production offices: internet in a porta cabin or a fully networked extension of your office with VOIP and server access with event wifi.

Furthermore, with this growth of event wifi has come a whole new raft of innovative marketing and data acquisition concepts. A few of these include:

1. Blog spots - event wifi providers have had request for blog spots so delegates can report on the event as it is occurring. These devices are triggered by RFID devices worn by all the participants which means no log in is needed.

2. Data exchange - cost-free internet access at events (like festivals) is usually supplied via temporary clouds or wifi hot spots. Companies employ event wifi to provide people with free access to the internet in return for some of their basic data.

3. Website promotion - Public website demonstration is enabled through event wifi at events and exhibitions.

4. Promotional stands - event wifi gives the marketer a larger assortment of marketing resources to use. If wifi is being utilized at their promotional stand, it can keep potential clients looking for a longer period, and give that particular marketer an advantage over its other competitors.

What are the numerous event wifi options?

There is a wide range of event wifi options available:

- Quick and effective 3G bonded routers up to 7mbs.

- Satellite up to 10Mbs (per sat).

- Point to Point where onsite broadband is not possible. This too gives excellent bandwidth with almost no contention ratio.

- Temporary ADSL/ADSL2 Broadband. Up to 20Mbs 2:1 contention ratio. This is cost effective and typically possible anywhere with an address.

- Temporary wi-fi, clouds and site wide transmission with a variety of data capture and monetisation solutions.

With the ongoing progression of technology, it is almost certain that the demand for IT at an event, in particular event wifi, will continue to increase. With the increase of smartphones, portable computing devices, server based ticketing systems (as well as the move towards a cashless society) event coordinators along with venue providers should make event wifi more of a priority than it is at the moment. Event wifi is not only a basic requirement to cope with the numerous modern day internet- using devices, but it is also a powerful marketing tool, used for processes such as data acquisition or finding new ways to interact with potential customers.