Closed-loop vs Open-loop payments for festivals

There is no doubt that implementing a fast and secure payment solution is essential for the success of your festival. The existing payment alternatives in today’s world can create long-standing debates among event professionals. To avoid contradictions, the available resources enable festival organizers to identify the solution that most suits their needs.

Adopting a closed-loop payment system for you festival gives you access to live reports, after-event data, faster transaction processing, pre-event revenue, offline transactions, lower payments processing fees and tailored experiences (rewarding your loyal customers).

Let’s understand the big picture and identify general characteristics of closed-loop and open-loop payments for now.

General characteristics of closed-loop and open-loop models

Closed-loop payments – think of closed-loop payments as a solution that works in a defined economy. Gift cards provided by companies have a payment mechanism that allows clients to use them solely at participating locations. That’s an example of a closed-loop economy. As the administrator of such economy, you can establish to a certain extent who is using it and where it is used. It allows users to pre-load funds into a digital wallet, linked to a payment device such as a card or wristband. Although, remaining funds can’t be spent outside the defined economy, consumers can withdraw the remaining balance. In a closed-loop environment, banks or other institutions are not part of the transaction process. As an administrator, you have access to customer information and purchase behavior.

Open-loop payments – the open-loop system is connected to banks or other similar institutions that act as intermediaries. It can’t be controlled by a single entity and it allows consumers to pay at different locations approved by the card issuer. This payment model allows clients to withdraw funds from an ATM (extra fee involved) and to make purchases at stores or online. Businesses that use the open-loop model don’t have access to customer information, because intermediaries (banks or other institutions) own it.

Now that you better understand how these models work, the focus will shift towards the closed-loop model and its applicability for a festival or event.

Pre-event revenue

To maximize the efficiency of a closed-loop system and increase your festival revenue, choose a solution that allows participants to add funds in advance. This way, attendees can buy their favorite beverage and food from the moment of entry, eliminating the need of visiting a top-up station on site. As an organizer, this enables you to cover your festival costs by using the pre-top-up funds strategically. Participants that choose to top-up their virtual accounts online won’t have to worry if their balance has fallen under a certain amount. The ‘Auto top-up’ feature takes care of that. The end user App developed by Oveit can easily achieve that.

Reward your loyal attendees

In the open-loop environment, rewarding your loyal customers based on purchase behavior is very unlikely. As previously mentioned, banks or other institutions are the absolute owners of transaction history and customer information.

On the contrary, a closed-loop model doesn’t involve any intermediaries in the payment process. As a festival organizer, you can be the administrator of a closed-loop economy and create multiple sub-economies with Oveit. On top of that, you can collect information from your attendees and use it to offer better experiences. For a festival, attendees can redeem rewards using an NFC wristband or card. By doing that, you can identify individual preferences and surprise your clients with personalized rewards and experiences.

Transaction speed

For a large festival, the transaction speed is vital. The open-loop system requires the bank to approve every transaction and it can take about 7-8 seconds to process. Imagine how would that work for a festival with 100,000 attendees.

On the other side, transactions take 1-2 seconds to complete in a closed loop environment. Without any intermediaries involved in the payment process, waiting time is reduced, resulting in more sales and satisfied customers.

Offline transactions

Processing offline transactions in the open-loop environment is risky and often not possible. Festivals usually take place in fields or other remote locations. Setting up a stable internet connection is definitely not an easy task to accomplish.

The closed-loop payment alternative enables organizers to process sales on-site without an internet connection. Participants can top-up their digital wallets and vendors can charge for food, drinks and merchandise. The only downside of operating offline is that reports won’t update in real time. Oveit is a hybrid solution and if internet goes down, the party goes on!

Insights into vendor sales

The closed-loop payment solution available on Oveit is much appreciated by festival vendors. Each vendor has a dedicated account with access to detailed reports. Applying different filters enables them to see all products sold within a date and time range.

Running out of the most requested products is a thing of the past with Oveit!

OveitPay product report
March 4, 2020 Event management, Event professionals, Event tech, Festivals, Uncategorized No comments yet

5 Tips to reduce and recycle waste at your event

Events tend to have a positive impact on the local economy and community. Smaller businesses might generate large proportions of their annual income during an event. However, besides the positive impact on the overall economy, events can also generate large amounts of waste. Therefore, organizers should start the planning process by creating a recycling and waste prevention plan to protect the local environment.

Here are 5 tips that can help event organizers recycle and reduce the amount of waste that is generated during an event:

1. Understand your waste

Identify the most common waste streams and prepare accordingly. A food carnival will certainly have different waste compared to a special event featuring livestock. Therefore, as an organizer, you should inform competent authorities and provide them with details about your upcoming event. They are the ones making sure that recyclables end up in the right place after the event. Examples of common types of waste are: plastic bottles; paper; cardboard; glass; food waste and general waste.

2. Educate your team and attendees

You should inform your participants on the where, what and whys of recycling. Train your volunteer staff and give them insights into effective recycling practices. Create a fun and challenging competition and reward your volunteers accordingly.

Inform your attendees about designated recycling areas in advance. You can send out newsletters and give brief instructions. Besides that, you can assign volunteers to offer assistance and assure that waste is sorted properly.

3. Vendors should use recyclable or compostable materials

It is important to assure that vendors use recyclable materials. They will be responsible for a large amount of the venue’s waste. Make it mandatory and include in the contract that adequate packaging and materials must be used by event vendors.

  • Recyclable materials – these materials are reused and some examples include: aluminium and steel cans, cardboard, glass, newspapers and plastic bottles.
  • Composting materials – it is a process that involves organic waste which can be used for different purposes. It gives back to the earth the materials that initially came from it. Examples of compostable materials include: fruits, vegetables, leaves, old wine and any biodegradable waste.

4. Print only necessary materials

Instead of printing out promotional materials and tickets, try to do that electronically. There are many platforms that provide solutions for that, Oveit being among them. For promotional materials, you can send out newsletters instead of brochures and flyers. However, in some situations, brochures and flyers prove to be more effective. If you decide to print, do that strategically. Do it on both sides and avoid blank spaces.

5. Clearly mark all containers for recyclables

Clear signage is essential to differentiate which materials can be recycled and where to put them. It would be a good idea to place signs high, so that your attendees can see them from distance. Use self-explanatory photos with universal symbols to assure that foreigners will have no trouble understanding the message. Besides that, provide written instructions in English and other relevant languages.

Communicate in advance with the local recycling service provider and request color-coded bins. Avoid placing recycling bins in separate areas, because it’s not convenient for your participants. Instead, place a recycle bin next to every trash can and use clear signage to differentiate them.

February 27, 2020 Concerts, Event management, Event professionals, Events, Festivals, Uncategorized No comments yet

Your event: Successful or not?

Recently, you’ve hosted an event and you feel like your hard work finally paid off. Ticket sales were above expectations and you managed to reach your goals. However, with so many stakeholders involved, it is important to evaluate the success of your event in an objective manner. Obviously, feeling good about its outcome is a great sign, but in the events industry, there is always room for improvement.  

In this article, I will go over different methods that can help organizers measure if their event was successful or if they need to make changes for future editions.

Pay attention to social media activity

In these days, it’s a given that you should be active on social media, especially if you want to promote an event. Post-event reactions coming from your attendees is the most valuable and rewarding feedback. In the end, all your hard work is centred around them with the purpose of creating memorable experiences. If you identify positive comments to your posts, such as: reactions, likes, comments or retweets, you will know for sure that your participants had a blast. Keep in mind that you should create social media content after the event to measure reactions more precisely.

Post-event surveys

Surveys are also a great method to find out opinions related to the success of your event. For relevant and truthful answers, try to keep them anonymous and don’t ask for personal details. Create questions strategically and don’t expect your participants to reply with long answers, because they won’t. Before conducting the survey, you should clearly define what you expect to get in return. For instance, dichotomous scales (‘yes’ or ‘no’) won’t help you find out if a customer was happy with an experience or not. In our case, a Likert Scale will prove to be more efficient. It is a good way to measure attitudes or feelings, therefore providing you with valuable insights.

Examples of questions that can measure the success of your event:

  • How do you rate the event location?
  • How do you rate the content that was presented?
  • What is the likelihood to recommend this event to your friends?

If attendees respond with ‘less likely’ or ‘very unlikely’, you can insert a box that allows them to elaborate on their answers.

Event ROI

ROI (return on investment) = (benefits of the investment – cost of investment) / cost of the investment. Depending on your event theme and purpose, the benefits of the investment may vary. For instance, if you aim to turn a profit from ticket and registration sales, finding the ROI is simple. However, for a company that launches a product and therefore decides to host an event, the ROI will most likely be negative. The purpose of a product launch event is to generate as many leads as possible. You should look at it as a long-term investment that will generate a return in the future and not immediately after the event.

Sponsors Satisfaction

As previously mentioned, it’s not only about your attendees. Sponsors have a great contribution to your event and their feedback can add value to future editions. On top of that, they are the ones funding your event and they can’t be neglected. It might be relatively easy to bring them in for a first edition, but more importantly is to establish a long-term relationship that results in mutual benefits. Their level of satisfaction and willingness to return is measured slightly different. Listen carefully to their constructive feedback and prove that you fully understand what needs to be different for the next event.

Define your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

A key performance indicator is a performance measurement tool designed to evaluate the success of a business and its particular activities. The KPIs for measuring event success will be different based on your pre-defined goals and objectives.

The KPIs covered in this article apply for most events. However, for specific objectives, you might have to establish additional indicators.

February 21, 2020 Event management, Event professionals, Events, Uncategorized No comments yet

How to efficiently secure your festival line-up

A good line-up is a key element that can establish the success of a music festival. Its release date is when attendees become interested, especially if their favorite artist is performing. For older festivals that have a good reputation, it is important to be creative when booking performers. Therefore, try to secure new artists for every edition to avoid monotony and complaints. However, for festivals celebrating the first edition, organizers must be extremely careful in this process. This article will go over some tips & tricks that contribute to securing the perfect line-up.

Allocate a budget for your line-up

Clearly define the budget intended for the line-up of your festival. Do your homework and find relevant data coming from previous editions of similar festivals. This area requires a high willingness to spend because it is the main way to attract and convince people to attend your festival. Don’t forget to include accommodation expenses and transport costs for the artists. It is important to make them feel good and pay attention to small details, especially if you want to bring them back for future editions.

Communicate with your prospective audience

With the help of social media, you can find out which artists are most expected by your prospective audience. Most likely, they will ask for big names. Although their expectations will exceed the allocated budget, it is important to allow them to express their preferences. To satisfy their requests, you can focus on booking in the top two mentioned artists. It is a good way to assure that your festival-goers will be satisfied with the festival line-up.

DJ’s between acts

Artists love to be waited on before performing on stage. To keep the vibe lively between bands, you can hire a local DJ to take care of that. Unexpected delays, technical difficulties or even cancellations must be foreseen. As for the local DJ, this can be a unique experience. Keeping the audience entertained before a famous artist is about to perform can be a great opportunity for a local DJ that needs more exposure.

Book your line-up well in advance

Usually, larger acts (especially international ones) need to be booked at least one year in advance. Those will be your headliners, the ones most expected by your participants. Once you manage to secure them in, the rest should be relatively easy. However, make sure that you are covered by a strict agreement with your artists in case something goes wrong.

All in all, booking your festival line-up can be challenging at times. As previously mentioned, festivals with first editions can take advantage and avoid common mistakes by doing some research and finding out the best way to tackle this key element. With a well-established plan and a dedicated team in place, you won’t have to deal with major obstacles.

February 19, 2020 Event management, Event professionals, Festivals, Uncategorized No comments yet

Including the local community into your event economy

Summer is around the corner and all the festival heads are getting excited for the amazing line-up which is coming up. You, as an event organizer are caught up with planning and making sure that your event will leave a great impression for those attending. It is an ongoing process that can be exhausting at times, but the final reward is something that makes it truly worthy. Finding the right sponsors, booking your line-up, promoting the event, taking care of logistics and the location itself are just a few examples of what festival and event organizers need to take care of. Besides that, contributing to the local community and being supported by the local community is very important to deliver a successful event.

Behavior at events located in cities

Popular events attract many participants from all over the world. During the course of an event, local vendors, artisans, craftspeople, hoteliers and other similar businesses make a large proportion of their annual income. As an event organizer, it is important to keep that in mind and contribute to their success.

Festival fans get extremely excited and impatient when the long-awaited moment of attending a music festival finally comes. Some of them will live the full experience and decide to camp within the event’s premises rather than booking a room in the city. However, those that were late in booking their camp spot or simply preferred to be accommodated somewhere else will have a slightly different experience.

This difference mainly lies in the actual experience with the local community and environment. Those camping are less likely to leave the festival surroundings, while those accommodated in the city might choose to experience the local culture and traditions besides attending the festival.

Impact on the local community

Expanding the event economy into the local community results in a mutual benefit for both parties. Therefore, attendees can purchase goods and services from local vendors with the events NFC wristband.

  • Benefits for the event organizer

You can see this as an opportunity and as an additional source of revenue. Enabling local vendors to use your event economy increases their sales and exposure. Therefore, you can agree with local vendors to receive a percentage coming from their sales. In exchange, you are promoting their business and bringing in new clientele.

At the end of a festival, participants will have unspent credit on their virtual accounts (NFC wristbands). They decide not to withdraw that credit for various reasons. However, allowing them to spend that remaining credit outside your festival will have a positive impact on their overall experience.

  • Benefits for the local vendors

For a local vendor, this can be a great opportunity. First, you can agree with the organizer to get your business exposed on the event App, if there is one, or on any promotional materials. This way, attendees become aware that your business accepts the event’s NFC wristband as a payment alternative, increasing your sales and exposure with minimal effort.

On top of that, you will gain access to sales reports following transactions. It enables you to market your product based on demographics and it also gives insights related to purchasing behavior. In other words, you will know exactly how to stock up for the next event.

Impact on smaller businesses

For a smaller shop that deals with handcrafted souvenirs, this solution can be ideal. During a large event, foreigners will certainly want to buy souvenirs for their beloved ones. What if cash is the only payment method accepted by that small shop? Integrating the event economy and allowing these shops to use it solves the problem. In addition, you can support these type of businesses without asking for a percentage in return. It will surely count towards a good reputation.

Enabling your attendees to buy goods and services using the event economy can bring many benefits. Therefore, event organizers and local vendors can add an additional source of revenue and contribute to a safe and fun payment alternative.

To expand your event economy with Oveit is straight-forward. There is no need for sophisticated and expensive hardware. A simple Android device with NFC capabilities integrated does the job. From your account, you can simply create multiple sub-economies with predefined credentials and allow local vendors to sell products in a matter of seconds.

February 13, 2020 Event management, Event professionals, Event tech, Oveit Features No comments yet