Technology

Etherlive launches ‘smart bITes’

• 
• 

Details

Category: Technology

Created on Wednesday, 30 May 2012 10:42

Technophobe bubble to be burst for corporate and agency planners

Etherlive, award winning IT specialist dedicated to the live event sector, is releasing a series of guides designed to help planners negotiate their way through the growing reliance on technology for events. 
Etherlive’s ‘smart bITes’ will give corporates and agents a concise explanation of how to make the most of IT at their events via the use of simplified technology terminology and avoid the pitfalls. 

The growing reliance on high quality internet access for streaming media, audience responses plus delegates’ need to keep pace with their workload while out of the office, means that IT is now ranked of equal importance to more traditional conference requests such as seating layouts and back projection.  However, the knowledge gap between ‘delegates needs’ and ‘organisers knows &  don’t knows’ often means that infrastructure and IT are left to the last minute or to  chance. 

Etherlive’s ‘smart bITes’ will look across the live events sector, from corporate conferences, trade and consumer exhibitions to festivals and public events.  The inaugural ‘corporate smart bITes’ gives a snapshot for venue finding agents and HBAs on five simple areas to ensure their corporate clients IT expectations are realised at the hotel or venue of choice.  

Support of IT infrastructure (the responsibility for networks and computer hardware) 
Who supports the IT infrastructure at the hotel or venue?
Is the conference and event IT infrastructure the same as the rest of the hotel or is it a separate entity?

Bandwidth (the measure of data communication – measured in bit-rate)
How much bandwidth is available specifically for conference and events?
What IT does the corporate client require?
Will the client want access to the web for online demonstrations?
Is a link with another regional or global office planned?
How many delegates will be present, always bear in mind that delegates will require constant access to emails so ensure that the bandwidth is sufficient.

Security encryption (transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable)
How secure is the network?
Does each connection require unique encryption instead of sharing passwords.
What speed is the internet connection?
Ask for a dedicated connectivity for the meeting space  to ensure the best attendee experience.  

Research carried out in April 2012 by Etherlive highlights that 46% of hotels and venues are confident with the changing technology landscape compared with just 27% of agents who felt comfortable that they were abreast of Wi-Fi and streaming media demands.  

Tom McInerney, Director for Etherlive, said: “We are at a tipping point whereby IT will become an integral part of planning an event; we want to help organisations understand the ramifications of poor planning and weak IT infrastructure.”