Managed Event Technology

A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MANAGED EVENT TECHNOLOGY FOR 2024

The right managed event technology is the difference between a blockbuster event and a lackluster meeting. Learn more.

What are managed event technologies?
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What are managed event technologies?

Managed Event Technologies (MET) are best understood as the critical foundation that facilitates your live events and allows them to run smoothly. These technologies are expansive and can range all the way from eye-catching audio/visual productions to robust marketing tools. In this guide, we will be focusing on the foundational event technologies: Internet, data networks, WiFi and network infrastructure.

Because every event venue is different, building and managing the network foundation of your event will face its own unique set of challenges. Given these complexities, companies face the decision of whether to work with a technology supplier or a MET partner to provide both technology oversight and live event assistance. With a dedicated partner, you can avoid being forced into incumbent Internet vendors and instead work with experts who will design a purpose-built network for the needs of your event (often for a much lesser cost).

Memorable events rely on reliable managed event technology

Live events offer an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to solidify and grow their brands. Whether you are providing training and information sessions or offering unique networking opportunities, live events help attendees put faces to names and make lasting connections in their industries. However, live events are complicated ecosystems that require managed event network technologies that can meet both your technical and business requirements. Because technology suppliers lack an understanding of these requirements, they are unable to help businesses navigate the live event landscape. This has made the importance of working with a managed event network technology partner even more critical than it was before.

Successful events will prioritize these partners and technologies prior to making critical decisions about eye-catching additives like lighting or visuals. The fact of the matter is that, without reliable network access and a stable WiFi connection, your attendees will be repeatedly hitting “refresh” on their Internet search pages instead of carefully watching your keynote address. Managed event technologies are the foundation of the event experience.

However, for these technologies to run effectively, they must be built on a solid network infrastructure. This includes the engagement platforms and location wayfinding that help attendees navigate from session to session as well as the digital signage that catches their eyes from the moment they walk through the door. It also includes the platform for your event analytics: this allows the team overseeing your network to watch for fluctuations in performance and uptime. Monitoring these metrics helps your network to achieve peak performance, ensuring that your event technology applications run smoothly.

Critical METs

Critical METs:

Technology Advisory Services

Internet Access/Bandwidth

Wired and Wireless Data Networks

Network Security

WiFi

Attendee Engagement Platforms

Digital Signage & Wayfinding

CCTV solutions

Advanced monitoring, reporting, alerting and analytics

Who Benefits from Managed Event Technology?

Who Benefits from Managed Event Technology?

Event Producers

As an event producer, you most likely already know the ways in which these technologies can be the difference between an unforgettable night and an event no one ever mentions again. What you may not be aware of are the benefits that a MET partner can provide you, especially when you routinely work with them.

Corporate Events

If your business is running internal or external events, you have seen firsthand how impactful managed event technology can be for your event and stakeholders. Any company that does not routinely run live events can also benefit from an experienced managed event technology partner that can advise on the network infrastructure for their events.

Hotel & Convention Centers

Given the large number of events these centers host, an up-to-date network infrastructure paired with the right MET partner is critical to ensuring each event run efficiently and without delay. This requires technological solutions that can accommodate diverse needs across the same network.

Sports & Entertainment Events & Venues

These venues experience an immense volume of attendees, which puts an enormous strain on the performance of your network. To meet this demand, experienced MET partners are essential to providing venues with a robust network infrastructure.

Festival Producers

Festivals are perhaps the most visible beneficiary of managed event technology. From locating upcoming performances to posting about their experiences, reliable and high-performance WiFi transforms attendees’ festival experience and gives them multiple ways to engage.

Brand Activations

Curating a brand activation to leave a significant impression on your audience is largely determined by how effectively you can leverage the right technologies. When success is measured and determined by attendee experience, reliable network performance makes all the difference.

Strategies

Strategies for Choosing the Right Managed Event Technologies

Events do not simply happen: they are the product of an intense process of planning that, when executed correctly, creates a memorable experience for attendees and stakeholders. Dependable technologies are the best tools available for achieving this experience—and this means that the process of choosing these technologies can make or break your event.

The process of choosing the right managed event network technology can be summarized in two questions:

  • What are the technology needs of your audience?
  • How prepared are you to meet these needs?

Working with a reputable MET partner will not only help you to determine the answers to these questions, but they can also provide guidance on which technologies best fit your live event.

What Are Your Goals?

Start by asking yourself what action items would mark a successful event:

  • What should your attendees be thinking about when they arrive?
  • What do you want them to do the moment they leave?

While you might throw an event that is well-reviewed, if it does not support your larger selling strategy, the event will have failed your business.

Some considerations for developing goals include:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Audience education
  • Generating new leads
  • Cultivating existing customer relations
  • Driving new opportunities for future sales in key target demographics
Strategies

Prioritize Reliability

It is important to remember that live events reflect your company’s reputation as well as the brand you have cultivated. One reason live events are so stressful to run is because mistakes and disruptions do not only affect the event itself: they can also have a major impact on your attendees’ perception of your company.

When choosing a managed event technology solution, it is important to consider the reliability of both the technology and your partner. Ideally, your partner will be a well-established name in the industry that has a decades-long reputation of supporting live events. That way, when they recommend managed event network technology solutions, you can be confident in their recommendation. At the end of the day, you need a solution you know you can trust.

How to Choose

How to Choose Your Next MET Partner

Cost Considerations

When putting together an event budget, managed event technology pricing can take some by surprise. The most successful events balance benefit with cost, which is why outsourcing the planning and oversight of your event network is more cost-effective than you may think. Bringing in an outside technology partner allows you to avoid paying capital expenses, such as over-priced WiFi packages that skimp on capacity and throughput, while also increasing your network reliability. Ultimately, working with a trusted partner is a relatively cost-effective solution that provides additional technological advantages in-house teams are unable to match.

How to Choose

Working with a Purpose-Built Partner

Just as great live events are built around your attendees’ needs, a quality MET partner will design and customize solutions around the technological needs of your event. For example, although many carriers do not provide day-to-day internet broadband, the right partner can secure high-speed Internet with no term commitments for your event. Knowledgeable partners offer services ranging from program management and network design services all the way up to installation, validation, and management of your event’s network.

How to Choose

Navigating Network Requirements On-Site

Depending on your choice of venue, the logistical challenges of that location will affect the network requirements of your event. However, with the assistance of an expert MET partner, you can address many of these challenges. One issue is aging infrastructure: your venue may not come equipped with a network capable of supporting attendee volume or the needs of the event. When this occurs, you can lean on your partner to determine a solution—or in some cases, build you a new network that can meet your needs.

How to Choose

Technical Support Needs

No matter how well your company can plan for contingencies, it is rare for any event to run smoothly 100% of the time. This means it is most likely that your company and your attendees will have support requests that require assistance. More than likely, you will also face technological issues that demand immediate and comprehensive support.

For this reason, successful companies ask the following questions before selecting an MET partner:

  • What is the availability and bandwidth of my potential partner?
  • How many years of experience do they have?
  • Are they proposing solutions that meet my event’s needs or are they using cookie-cutter templates?
  • Do they plan to assign technical support to my event alone, or will they be assigning someone to work multiple events at the same time?
  • To that end, how do the schedules of the support staff align with our event: will they work our event hours, or will they keep to an 8-5 schedule that leaves the event vulnerable.
  • If they are providing end-to-end management, do they have a documented history of mitigating larger issues and concerns in the planning stages?
  • If we contract a vendor solely for technical support, what are the odds that we regret not having a reputable partner who can walk us through challenges as they arise?

Partner with Backstage Networks

For more than 25 years, Backstage Networks has been providing comprehensive managed event network technology solutions to events of every size. We are proud to say we have a 99% customer retention rate—and that is because we put our clients at the center of everything we do. Through early process consultation, we deliver a hassle-free experience with consistent communication before, during, and after your event by experts who have supported thousands of events.

Reliability and dependability are the cornerstones of our partnerships: no matter whether you are running an outdoor festival or a multi-venue conference, we provide reliable connections for your event. Working with Backstage Networks means network and application monitoring that quickly detects network issues and experienced technical support.

Planning and designing robust internet infrastructure for live events is no small task. For the best results, you require a partner who knows how to customize your network, navigate unexpected issues and adapt to new environments. Backstage Networks’ reputation has been built on our ability to collaborate with our clients and constantly deliver on their needs.

IMPROVE CONNECTIVITY. ELIMINATE UNCERTAINTY.

If you want to take the guesswork out of event planning, it is time to choose a partner who can deliver the best managed event technology with the most reliable support team in the industry.

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