Understanding HSIA for Meeting Planners

The Ultimate Guide to Event Internet2013 PSAV Presentation Services. All Rights Reserved.

Introduce yourself as the speaker.

Explain background / CIC workgroup1

Nice to haveMission critical

Friend sent me this the other day..For those that didnt do sociology Maslow was a psychologist in the 1940s who said that before humans can me motivated to any higher levels they had to have food, water, shelter and warmth

This is how Maslow might have written it today.. Im sure we have all experienced attendees who feel like this.

Where is Wi-Fi on your meeting hierarchy? A nice to have or more important than Air and Water?? Different meetings place Wi-Fi at different places on the hierarchy. Today well mostly be focusing on events where wi-fi is mission critical.

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TerminologyHow to prevent failureHow to negotiate

4 sections today.

Terminology will help you understand if the venue has what you need and have a better conversation during venue sourcing or detailing. Look at why things go wrong and how we can stop that happening to usHow to buy / sellThe future (if we have time)

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RealityCheck(1981)

Before we look at todays reality I thought it would be fun to look back at what life was like 30 years ago

Video from 19814

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4 sections today.

Terminology will help you understand if the venue has what you need and have a better conversation during venue sourcing or detailing. Look at why things go wrong and how we can stop that happening to usHow to buy / sellThe future (if we have time)

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2005 funeral of John Paul 2nd

2013 announcement of the election of Pope Francis7

1 GB/hr3 GB/hr

Heres a real life example of why bandwidth use grows;

Whats the difference between these 2 devices?

iPad 2 2011the new iPad 3 20123x more bandwidth because of the HD screen.

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Terminology

Want you to leave here with 3 terms9

BandwidthInfrastructureSupport

Only want you to understand 3 terms all are important.

You already know what bandwidth is take a look at this.10

50:11:1

Incoming Bandwidth

Shared DedicatedIncoming Bandwidth

So bandwidth is just more people doing more stuff at the same time.

Shared vs dedicated outside the building11

Guest RoomsMeeting Space

BandwidthEveryone Elses MeetingsYour MeetingShared

Public SpaceBack OfficeDedicated

Network Infrastructure

Home network12

Infrastructure

Network Infrastructure Most people think of this when they think Wi-Fi infrastructure. But these only handle 15 devices. If anyones had a big group of people over at home and the Wi-Fi slows downits probably this and not the bandwidth. 13

Access Points

Network infrastructure

In hotels 15 devices doesnt cut it so we need more access points wireless networks arent wireless they require miles of cable!

AP layout diagram - USEFUL TO ASK FOR THIS. Well see why later. 14

Support

N.O.C. or Network Operations Center. Can the NOC provide the level of attention required for your event? Who is expected to call the offsite NOC is there is a problem? You or the local hotel team?

Support is always arranged in tiers and some of it will always be offsite. Offsite is not bad, you just need to understand where it will come from and feel comfortable it would address any problems should they arise.

Ask how much support is available onsite, what are their qualifications, when will they be available throughout your meeting, at what point is it moved offsite?Ask if the venue has executed similar events to yours? Can you provide a reference?Do you feel confident in the answers provided for you by the IT representative about bandwidth and infrastructure?

In PSAV youll only ever have to talk to our onsite team.

Support is about more than Techncial Help its also about the discuvery and sales process tha gets you to the right technical solution.

NOC highly skilled engineers you cant afford these guys at events.

ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS??? - Ken to ask - Are there any guidelines to help me gauge the number of devices the network can support based on its age??

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Top 5 ways to prevent a Wi-Fi failure

Top reasons HSIA is a problem at your event

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Whos had a bad Internet experience?

Ask the audience to share a bad Wi-Fi experience youll be able to relate it back to one of the reasons later..

Heres my favorite clip of internet going badly for someone you all know. 17

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Inadequate BandwidthInadequate InfrastructureInadequate SupportExternal FactorsLack of Planning

OK. the 5th one isnt a technical reason things go wrong but I needed a 5th thing for my top 5 list.

But hopefully youll see that proper planning can dramatically lower the risk of 1-4 causing a problem.

Anyone want to guess which of these Steve Jobs experienced? Ill set the scene 500 tech journalists all trying to blog and post pictures in real time to their websites about the latest Apple product being revealed.

Trick question really the network performed as designed and there was adequate bandwidth and infrastructure. The problem was these things Causing interference.

Anyone want to suggest a way that planning could have prevented this issue? Apple should have purchased wifi for the attendees The network in the building is more than capable and by not purchasing it the attendees found a work around and crashed the show.

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Inadequate Bandwidth

Heres how to break a show down to figure out bandwidth.

Attendees are the hardest bit to figure out

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Free to use and found at;

http://www.conventionindustry.org/StandardsPractices/APEX/bandwidthconnectivity/bwidthestimator.aspxor Google CIC Bandwidth

Introducing the Bandwidth Estimator

Bandwidth calculatorLow / LightMediumHigh / Heavy

Know early. Additional bandwidth takes a long time to be delivered (90-120 biz days) or is very expensive.

Realize that for this reason, good venues build for their biggest event build the church for Easter Sunday. That bandwidth is available all day every day. Is a cost driver. But still cheaper than bringing in your own which often required multi year contracts.

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CoverageDensity

Inadequate Infrastructure

Access Points Models are important, but moreover, the quantity installed and placement is key. Reference the diagrams on the screen. Diagram 1 looks like great coverage but what about density? The average commercial grade access point can effectively handle about 75 devices per band (there can be 2 bands on an access point for 150 devices). What happens when more than 300 devices are in the space?Diagram 2 is built for coverage and density. 8 dual band radios = 1200 devices.

The only way to know if a facility is adequate for your needs is to obtain a network diagram and access point layout this will give you an idea of when the network was last updated.

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Inadequate Support

Especially for bigger shows. Involve your own IT trusted advisor at the sourcing stage to work . Can also be traced back to a failure to recognize the correct use case / needs during the sales process. 23

External Factors

External Factors

This was actually Amazons fault.

The other end of the connection is important too. Online training can the connection you are going to handle all those devices at one? Skype in a remote presenter. Video 24

PlanningHow much bandwidth can you dedicate solely to my group?Do you have an AP layout map to send me?Who provides your on and offsite support?

The good news is that 95% of problems can be fixed by proper planning!

Trusted advisor. DETAIL IN A HAND OUT25

How to Negotiate Internet Services

I deliberately struck out sell and wrote buy we give this same talk to hotel sellers and meeting planners its the same message. Talk about Internet earlier.26

I smell money

Sometimes buying internet feels like going to the mechanic. When the mechanic tells you the fix is going to be expensive and he doesnt even know whats wrong yet you get defensive because the price / value relationship is wrong.

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No Support5 days call out5 minutes on the phoneImmediate response

So I hear you all ask why is it free at Starbucks but not free in a hotel meeting space.

Service level build up example in escalating order of cost;Retail / coffee shops etc. mostly free but no support. If it breaks you just leave. Free is a price point. Not a product. You must determine the product is acceptable before deciding if the price (including Free) is worth it.Home cable company - On hold a long time? 5 days to fix. Often no real expectation of a refund. Hotel Guest Room expect remote telephone support. Full refund expected. Hotel Meeting Room right now in person. Fix immediately. Full refund expected. To meet this service expectation we need the highest level of bandwidth, infrastructure and support structure. 28

I need food

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What meal period?For how many?Buffet, plated or grab and go?Hot or cold?Whats your budget?

I need Internet

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For how many people?How many devices?What will they be using Internet for?How much bandwidth? How critical is it to the success of the meeting?

How critical is it to the success of the meeting is an interesting question I might as well ask do you mind if it breaks? But thats not why Im asking. Im asking to try and uncover if backup systems or extra onsite support is necessary to meet your service level expectation. 32

Pricing: The Discussion

in the beginning there was dial up and hotels LOEVED it. It was charged just like phone callsThen there was wired and the per minute calls went away but the basic idea of charging per connection / drop / line was still sound.Then wifi showed up and broke that model and what emerged is the wild west of internet pricing no uniformity in the way the product is sold Lack of scalability which produces what looks like big discounts - which produces misconception of value.

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By Connection / Device / User

Bandwidth per connection?Scalable? Sufficient?By Bandwidth

VerifiableScalableInform future event planningPricing ModelAnimate the progression2001 space oddesy in the beginning there was dial up and hotels LOEVED it. Then wiredThen wifi?Bandwidth is the future!!!

ASKED FOR DEDICATED BANDWIDTHGOT IT

Just like the wild west is gone so are the days of buying by connection / room / drop / etc. Bandwidth is the future. Verifiable / Scalable / Helps plan for the future.

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Reporting

Ask for it before handMake sure you get it before you leaveLots get deleted after a certain timeNot all venues but the more you ask the more its available.

Goal to make as common as F&B, room blocks etc.

Device utilizationBandwidth reporting

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Info to the Venue

Meeting profileInternet use / needsPrior event reportingInfo from the Venue

Bandwidth InfrastructureSupportRFPs

RFPs

QUESTIONS FOR RFP CHECKLIST AS A HANDOUT

Discovery Effective Pricing Adding Value

KEN;Is there anything I can add to my contracts around performance if Internet is super critical to the success of the event? For example, clauses to protect, penalize for under performance or control. Pricing why does it vary so much?

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