What can venues do from a technology standpoint to make fans feel comfortable about returning to live events? That’s one of the primary concerns right now for Jackie Slope, vice president of technology at the Honda Center, who joined us at the ALSD Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Slope, who joined the Honda Center staff in part to also be part of the developing OC Vibe project, said she oversees all kinds of technology deployments, “from infrastructure to apps,” and has an eye on testing out technologies at the Honda Center to see how they might also help at OC Vibe as that project develops.
Bringing fans back after Covid
At the time of this interview’s recording in August of 2021, Slope said that the biggest business concern the venue had was how to make fans feel safe coming back to full stadiums after the Covid shutdowns. Technologies like digital ticketing and touchless concessions are good ways to make that happen, she said, adding that the Honda Center was putting in a new concessions POS system to help enable such improvements.
“It’s all about how we make it feel like it used to be, and better,” Slope said.
While Slope talks about other ideas and improvements targeted for the Honda Center she is also careful to note that changes should be made at a measured process. To that end, Slope said that the plan at Honda Center is to circle back after new deployments by checking with fans to see how they react and if the new ways are working.
“You don’t need to change everything overnight,” Slope said.
On a longer horizon, Slope said, are possible additions of Wi-Fi 6 equipment, as well as CBRS networks both for fan access as well as back-of-house uses.
“More wireless just enables more and more frictionless features,” Slope said.
Thanks to Jackie and thanks to the folks at ALSD for having us at their conference. Stay tuned for more video interviews from Vegas!
