A different way to connect festival sponsors with attendees

During a festival, sponsors contribute to the attendee experience and entertainment. It’s very unlikely to attend a large festival without noticing heavy signs of branding across the grounds. Ranging from exclusive vendor booths to branded stage names and traditional banners, sponsors have become an integral part of a festival’s success.

Sponsors aim to build genuine connections with participants through innovation. According to a recent study, millennial attendees perceive brands that sponsor festivals as more authentic and trustworthy. As we live in a world where data is the new gold, being able to follow up and form a lasting relationship with your prospective clients is essential. As expected, festival-goers don’t like to lose their precious time with providing personal details, especially in this environment.

What if sponsors could collect valuable data from attendees with a simple tap of the hand?

Great news! Oveit Interact is the game changer in this case.

Sponsors using Oveit Interact

To collect data as a festival sponsor with our solution, the process is straight forward and user friendly. There is no need to ask individual attendees for personal information and manually input it. Instead, the NFC chip placed inside the branded wristband does the magic. Sponsors can create unique accounts and personalize the interaction screen as they wish. After each interaction, participants give their consent and agree to share their information with sponsors (GDPR compliant).

At the end of the festival, you can simply export the collected information from your account by pressing a button. If there are no add-ons attached to a particular ticket category, the interaction can only take place once. In other words, if someone tries to connect with a sponsor for the second time, the App will notify that an interaction has already occurred.

Austrian Airlines using Oveit Interact to connect with participants

Attendees using Oveit Interact

Recently, I attended a festival with a variety of brand activations (sponsors) on site. All of those activations were completely unique and truly inspiring. I found it annoying to participate in their campaigns, because I had to repeat myself every time to provide relevant details, such as my e-mail address or phone number . But guess what … I still did it because their freebies were quite amazing and worth claiming.

With Oveit Interact, providing those details in an environment where music is banging in your ears is not necessary. You can simply enjoy those cool freebies with a tap of your wrist.

Oveit Interact interface (it can be fully customized to represent your brand)

Main takeaways

As previously mentioned, data is the new gold. Oveit Interact enables festival sponsors to step up their game and collect valuable information in a matter of seconds. As for keeping in touch with the ones who passed by your booth, you can customize the follow-up email and the App takes care of sending it out after each interaction.

As for the attendees, it is important to mention that sponsors don’t have access to sensitive information. The information collected comes strictly from the registration form, included in the ticket purchase process. With that being said, don’t hesitate to contact us for additional information!

March 11, 2020 Event professionals, Festivals, Oveit Features, Technology, Uncategorized No comments yet

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

Confex 2020. Introducing our Economy as a Service Software

For the last 37 years, event professionals from all over the world meet up in London for International Confex, Each February brands, agencies, event planners, and suppliers share their ideas on how to transform events into unforgettable experiences, making it UK’s leading attraction for event profs. In 2020 we will be back at Confex to discuss with event planners and entertainment venues managers how to kickstart their local economy. Yes, the event or venue can (and should) be seen as a local economy…inside a local community. Better said…the Economy as a Service software.

The economic impact festival and events have over small communities is critical – but so it’s the way event professionals manage payments inside (and outside!) of the site of the event. Because it’s time to push the event economy outside it’s geographical “borders”.

We’ll be over at L24C stand. We have some great gifts but also some new ideas on how to:

  • Increase your revenue.
  • Speed-up transactions.
  • Onboard new vendors.
  • Have detailed live reports. Data is the new oil and we believe that event industry professionals are not using this to its full potential.
  • Decrease fraud. And losses. And bad experiences.
  • Better use your staff. Team members should concentrate on what really matters, technology can take care of the repetitive tasks.

But most of all we want to talk about how the event’s economy can exceed the event’s area. How can the community benefit from it more, all while the event itself benefits from the community’s involvement? All using a mobile-first app that allows you to set up your own local economy.

February 18, 2020 Festivals, Uncategorized No comments yet

Dear event planners, Volunteers are part of your team

If volunteering can change the world than I think it’s safe to say that volunteers can change your event. My colleagues and I saw many events were volunteers’ contribution was so important that I don’t really know if those events could have been possible without their help. And this is perfectly normal – large events (especially festivals, exhibitions, and conferences) mean large crowds so any extra help is greatly cherished. There are many reasons for which people volunteer at events and there are many reasons for event planners to reach out to volunteers. But for this to work you, the event planner, should:

picture of 4 volunteers holding fists together

Find out where you need help

Before you contact volunteers you must know what you actually need them for, meaning you will need to evaluate your needs for personnel. Find out which departments would need some extra help: marketing and communications, sales, technic department etc. so you know who to look for. People like volunteering but they also like to know what they are volunteering for and it wouldn’t do you any good to look for someone to help with registration when you actually lack a sound technician.

 

Ask early

My biggest problem when growing up was that I always waited until the last minute when I wanted/needed something. And, as life taught me (the hard way, how else?!), things tend to get rough when time isn’t on your side.

Spread the news that you are looking for volunteers early on otherwise you can you can find yourself in the unpleasant situation of not having enough personnel on site.

 

Define your expectations 

If you don’t know where you’re going how will you know when you get to the destination? Things aren’t very different if we speak of a new task or project: if you don’t know what you want to achieve how will you know if you did a good job? Things are even more unclear for volunteers, so you will need to explain to them what should be the end result of their work. It’s easier to evaluate your work when you have some clear goals.

P.s. this doesn’t mean that you must micromanage your volunteers, don’t get me wrong

 

Don’t “save” obnoxious tasks for volunteers 

You and your team should act like leaders and don’t use volunteers for the jobs that nobody wants, instead offer them the chance to do something meaningful. This way you can count on their help for your next events (and will be able to add some experienced people to your team).

 

Form groups and offer training 

After everybody has chosen a role it’s time for you to host a training for the whole team.

I saw that, generally, things work great when you create mixed workgroups (volunteers + team members) and offer the same “training” for all. Encourage socialization between your team and volunteers because, after all, you are all in the same boat, so you need to act like one big team.

Before your event starts “walk” everybody through the whole process at least once, so they all get the big picture. Seeing how a rather tiny role in the process actually helps things move forward will make everyone more enthusiastic about their role in the event.

 

Praise volunteers for their hard work

“How you feel is often more important than what you earn”. We tend to value words of appreciation more than we value financial rewards, studies reveal. But if you think that words of appreciation are so used so often that they start to lose their value…think again.Genuine words of appreciation are rare and hard to forget, so are able to make you really known and appreciated within the community of volunteers.

 

…and don’t forget that VOLUNTEERS ARE PART OF YOUR TEAM.

October 13, 2017 Business events, Event management, Event professionals No comments yet

Top 6 Weirdest Festivals in the World

People from around the world celebrate the weirdest and funniest things. For example, Mexicans have an entire festival dedicated to radishes, Americans organize an event dedicated to duct tape, and Finns carry their wives, in order to test marital bonds. Here are some of the most unusual festivals that take place around the globe. 

1. Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme – Las Nives, Spain

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Photo by Jose-Moreno Maria Garcia

During this strange festival, people are carried around the village in coffins, because they’ve just had a near death experience in the past 12 months and are now showing their gratitude. Once the bizarre coffin-carrying part of the festivities comes to an end, the almost-dead rise and start telling people about their extraordinary near-death experiences. Then, everyone dances and celebrates life. 

2. World Toe Wrestling Championships – UK

Toe wrestling involves two opponents sitting opposite each other and placing their feet on a ‘toedium’. Toes interlocked, they wrestle with both feet until one contender’s foot is forced to touch the side of the frame. The revenues go to charity every year. 

3. Night of the Radishes – Oaxaca, Mexico

Night of the Radishes

Photo by Travis

The legendary Night of the Radishes is celebrated the night before Christmas Eve, on December 23.  Locals present their most elaborate and inventive radish carvings and the best pieces of art receive cash prizes. The events took place every year for the last 117 years, since 1897. 

4. Wife Carrying World Championships –Sonkajärvi, Finland

Wife Carrying World Championships

Photo by Visit Lakeland

This annual celebration requires Finnish husbands to carry their wives along a 253.5 meter long course, with one of the rules stating that “All the participants must have fun”. One of the obstacles of the race is an icy pool, but the prize is worthy: the winner gets the wife’s weight in beer. 

5. Duct Tape Festival — Ohio, USA

The Duck Tape Festival 2014 Theme: Out

This three-day event celebrates duct tape, its enthusiasts and its wacky and fun uses. The festival also honors the history and heritage of the city that is proclaimed the “Duck Tape Capital” of the world—Avon, Ohio—the home of Duck brand duct tape.The festival includes a duct tape fashion show, duct tape statues, and a parade with duct tape floats.

6. World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship – Dorset, UK

Contestants are given one hour to eat as many spiky leaves as they can. They are served two-foot-long stalks of nettles from which they must pluck and eat the leaves. The bare stalks are then measured and the winner is the one with the greatest accumulated length. The championship has separate men’s and women’s sections and even began to attract competitors from Canada or Australia.

August 12, 2016 Events, Festivals No comments yet