Using Sensors to Optimize Visitor Flows at Outdoor Events
Improving Resource Allocations at Festivals
The frequency of outdoor events generally increases along with temperatures in the summer months, when more people want to be outside listening to music, enjoying an outdoor sporting event, or just checking out festival fashion. Because of the unique profile of many festivals, which may range from just a few hours to weeks, event managers have varying objectives.
For integrators working with event organizers—whatever the season—understanding the pain points surrounding visitor flows and explaining the opportunities and limitations of a sensor-based solution is usually the first step.
A common goal among many organizers is ensuring that queues don’t negatively impact the concert- or outdoor theater-going experience. Managing long lines at summer festivals can be a way to improve the visitor experience, which is particularly important for events with a strong merchandising component.
Ensuring the right staff or other resources are positioned to handle purchases of band T-shirts, food or drink can deliver financial results that can put recurring festivals on a solid footing for future editions. Accurate raw data from a 3D sensor can be connected to different communication systems that alert staff when certain queue length or wait time thresholds have been reached. This allows section managers to reposition resources in a way that limits abandonment.
Adapting Infrastructure Based on Visitor Usage
Understanding how visitors move in, on or around the temporary and permanent installations of outdoor events is too immense a task for manual counts or tech solutions that cannot deliver highly accurate counts. Entry and exit counts and detailed occupancy data are key for organizers that want to understand how installations are used by visitors.
As any organizer can tell you, even small changes in the placement of restroom facilities, covered areas, merchandizing, and concession areas can significantly impact an event's success. Decision-making about structuring the event area can be optimized using real-time and historical data about how visitors utilize different spaces.
With this data, organizers can make strategic decisions about security and safety protocols, priority number one at live events. Knowing real-time occupancy rates and visitor flows helps organizers make fact-based decisions about positioning security staff, improving the safety profile of an event.
Organizers can use the same data to make real-time adjustments or improve positioning and cost-management planning of future events.
Integrators Investing in Robust Tech Solutions
Unlike integrators in other industries, such as retail or building management, event management specialists usually work with hardware more sporadically, sometimes just for a few days—or less. Integrators working with events know that a robust, high-quality sensor is the only way to protect their investment for years to come.
Reusing sensors built to last helps integrators manage their costs in the long run, but the sensors must also be highly adaptable to cover a wide range of use cases. Just as design and product quality matter, the type of data a sensor can deliver can either open or close off opportunities for different events.
An integrator working in the event space may work with several sensor types. More are learning that investing in durable and versatile sensors, which can be used inside and outside in a wide range of positions, is smart planning.
In addition to robustness and versatility, all integrators are thinking more about whether a sensor can keep pace with evolving data privacy rules. A data capture solution that runs afoul of data privacy rules may either be disqualified or create a public relations issue for event planners.
Xovis and Smart Outdoor Events
Xovis works with partners across many different industries, including event management. By working closely with integrators on a wide range of cultural and sporting events, across all four seasons, on almost as many continents, we have a better sense of the challenges professionals in this fast-growing segment face.
Built with Swiss-quality standards, our award-winning 3D sensors are helping planners make better events that help visitors make even better memories. Our products continue to evolve along with the industries we serve, always in observance of data privacy rules, and we love working with event planners, whether they are planning their inaugural or 30th edition.
Tags: | retail | outdoor analytics | event management | KPI | visitor flows | integrators
