Case Study at a Glance
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The Customer’s Requirement
We were approached by a manager of a famous club in Kolkata to show a semi-final IPL match to an audience. On paper, the brief was simple enough, but in practice, it was challenging: it required a reliable premium hardware with the capacity to stream a live IPL match in high definition quality without any stutter or interruption, functioning flawlessly before the audience arrived.
Live event work has a major restriction that is not found in regular rentals. When the live event kicks off, it kicks off the next second. If the equipment is late, or not adjusted properly for the visual or audio, the audience are already disappointed immediately as they can’t miss a single second of the live action of their IPL team.
The purchase of an expensive projector for a screening to be used only for some major matches during an IPL season was not very cost effective as the club organiser did not want to have equipment that would remain idle after the end of the tournament.
What Went Wrong (The Risk We Had to Rule Out)
The kit was delivered before time as promised to the club, a signature was taken and the client was on his own to manage the projector cabling, the screen display & set up, proper Wi-FI connection, streaming the proper software for live broadcasting like a subscription of Hotstar and the audio speakers working and connected properly with the screen and projector and that too managing all these typically under a tight time pressure before the people enter the club. Live streaming is another major aspect, as a shaky, low-resolution or buffering stream during a live match can be frustrating and mood ruining for the audience.
The organiser required a supplier who would do more than just providing and delivering the projector, screen & audio machines but also setting them and connecting them all up to avoid the tech hassle. That was the catch we had to make up for before the first ball was bowled, not after it.
How We Responded
Once we got to know about this, we immediately assigned a technical engineer to reach the site 2 hours before the live event coverage with all the tools like the projector, screen, cables, speakers and subscription of hotstar and Wi-FI connection was provided from the club. He did the set-up, cabling, wiring, placement and connections and the most important part of all – he tested it to make sure it works. There was plenty of time to fix anything that was not working properly like the streaming quality, the display output, audio routing and network stability that were checked multiple times and confirmed before the live match.
What We Changed
Since then, we’ve made it a habit to always have a buffer window of 3-4 hours for all event related rentals. Equipment for an event is not only delivered but also set up before the client’s specified time, not just at the exact time of the event, so that if there are any minor disturbances or changes, that can be made without any issue. This exact business model of technical installation and workaround, which is the one that is used here, is becoming the gold standard for any event rental booking that includes an audience and a set start time.
The Positive Outcome
The system had been operating flawlessly already before the guests started to arrive. The screening was continuous without any hiccup during the live match coverage of RCB vs MI and later the club manager personally called and told us that the viewers appreciated the picture quality and smoothness of the playback and celebrated the match so much.
The Lesson Learned
To event clients, being present early is not a courtesy, it’s the service. The danger with event rentals is not that the equipment will break, it’s that you find out it has a problem when you have no time to fix it. Adding a buffer time and testing everything before the public is present can be the huge difference between delivering the equipment and the event going off without a hitch. That’s the standard that we now apply to all event bookings, not just those that have a season’s worth of cricket hanging on them.