Guest Experience

Most festival attendees approach their big weekend expecting a perfect utopia of music, friends, food, and absolutely no hassle whatsoever. Rarely does it quite pan out quite so perfectly! As a festival organizer, there are many factors you can control that will influence the mood of your attendees. While it might be more fun to focus on the big items—artists and food, for example—you don’t want to ignore some seemingly “less important” things that can have major consequences later on. Here are some of the top things that everyone hates about festivals, and how you can avoid them at your ...

Whether you’re streaming music festivals, conventions, sporting events, or other types of events, streams have become a popular add-on at events in recent years. Why? For starters, live streaming apps eliminate FOMO (fear of missing out) among attendees who couldn’t attend your event by giving them the option to attend your event virtually from anywhere in the world. But even more importantly, in the age of Covid they have become integral to running hybrid events. In combination with robust health screening, these services will be a core element of the return to live events, while letting you connect with fans ...

As we noted in our 2020 event trend roundup, event sustainability will continue to have a bigger influence in how events are organized and promoted in the coming years. A core reason behind this trend millennial and Gen Z attitudes and responses to businesses that take stances on broad issues. Below, we take a look at some of the data behind why focusing on sustainability may be good for the festival business. Millennial Spending Habits vs. Company Stances Recent studies consistently show that millennials spending habits are heavily influenced by companies they consider to have strong moral compasses. Forbes reported ...

When it comes to raising awareness about the broad conversation around festival harm reduction and drug safety, few people are as well versed as the Drug Policy Alliance’s (DPA) director of audience development Stefanie Jones. Known for bringing the frank and pragmatic perspectives of Europe to the North American festival scene, Stefanie has been a vanguard of progressive festival harm reduction methods and has brought her pioneering Project #OpenTalk and #SaferPartying initiatives to major events across the United States. Being such an important conversation in the festival community, we asked Stefanie to outline the most important changes that event producers ...

The global live event industry is continually growing and event producers are always on the lookout for new ways to improve the fan experience. Sometimes it's vital to not only look for what fans like but also what they dislike and what really frustrates them. In our State of Live Report, that's exactly what we looked at. The report has everything you're looking for. Below are some insights from the data we collected so you really know what gets your fans' blood boiling. The Biggest Frustrations Fans get frustrated with a lot of things at events, but there's one thing ...

As the global live event industry continues to evolve exponentially, event producers are looking for innovative ways to deliver a better guest experience and grow their attendance. The key to this is knowing who your fans are and what motivates them to come to your event. Lucky for you, our State of Live Report has the answers you're looking for. Here are some of the insights we were able to find from our data so let's get to it, who really are your fans? Demographics The report found that the fans are between the ages of 19 and 25 years ...

Love it or loathe it, VIP is a vital and enduring aspect of the festival experience. Some more egalitarian promoters scoff at the notion that some fans are more "important" than others and focus their attention on elevating the whole experience. Others recognize that some fans want to have a more comfortable experience and are happy to fork out significantly more money for it. But it can be tough to know what your fans consider to be "worth it". Is it simply enough to give people a better vantage point of the stage? Or do they require freebies, like food ...

Alongside awakening giants India, China and Southeast Asia, Brazil is the next major territory for globally inclined festival brands. With a burgeoning homegrown market and audience traveling more and more, the demand for world-class lineups, production and experiences is increasing every year, and a handful of bold international festival brands conquering Brazil. But as with any major new venture into a fresh territory, knowing the nuance of the audience and business landscape is key. “It is extremely important that festival producers do their research before coming here,” said André Bertolucci, Intellitix’s Director of Business Development in Brazil. “The fans here ...

Intellitix partnered with the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games to integrate an effective RFID technology solution into their operation. "CrossFit came to us really with one primary goal—enhancing the spectator experience. They wanted to make everything about their experience easy, seamless, integrated, secure, and memorable,” explains Brennan Kerr, Intellitix’s Head of Sports. “The move from LA to Madison, WI was a big change for the fans, and the organizers really seized the opportunity to take the experience to the next level.” Shrinking lines with RFID Technology “The lines looked really long as we were getting up to it. But as soon ...

-- By Ross Gardiner, Contributor -- Now in its 31st year, Dragon Con in Atlanta is one of the premiere geek, sci-fi and fantasy culture cons in the world. With a focus more honed on the fan experience than its counterpart in San Diego, Dragon Con has developed a beloved and evangelical following in the con world.  Housed in a cluster of hotels and convention centers in Atlanta’s downtown district, Dragon Con completely takes over the city center with its 80,000+ attendees showcasing their outlandish costumes and good-natured vibes to the tune of around $70 million over the weekend. We ...