Hiring VMS for Festivals and Events
Running an event without the correct equipment can be detrimental to its success. The backbone of an event is organisation; without it, there would be chaos. Variable Message Signs (VMS) are one of the many pieces of equipment that RPM Hire offer to help optimise the level of festival organisation. Whether you’re looking to fit equipment for a festival, market, sporting event, or concert you can guarantee that VMS sign hire should be at the top of your list.
What are Variable Message Signs (VMS)?
You’ve probably seen Variable Message Sign on the side of the road, directing the traffic, advertising or being used for public announcements.
RPM Hire offers VMS boards in two sizes; size A (small) and size C (large). They are environmentally friendly with solar power operation and have the clearest definition with the five colour LED and UV resistant non-glare feature giving people clear and concise instructions from great distances. RPM Hire’s Variable Message Boards have a number of different benefits including the ability to rotate 360 degrees, making it suitable in any location. RPM Hire can change the text instantly via remote programming; if the message needs to update throughout the day, RPM Hire can set you up with the power to change the text live and instantaneously.
Reasons for VMS Sign Hire for Festival Organisation
Regulating Traffic
What is one obvious issue that comes with an event? Well, you need people to go to the event to make it worthwhile, and that means traffic. Regulating the flow of traffic can be 50 % of an event manager’s stress.
Events require a lot of employees, and wage costs can lead to the financial downfall of an event. Hiring VMS signs can assist with streamlining the queuing time so you can save on wages and a whole lot of stress.
When people buy a ticket to an event, they aren’t expecting chaos and an hour-long wait in the line before they even get to the event! The success and organisation of a festival, sporting event or market rest heavily on the shoulders of using the right equipment to regulate the traffic. One of the great benefits of Variable Message Boards is the live update feature. The live update feature allows the traffic control manager to update speed limits, waiting times, and public announcements. This feature is great for customers who require full control of their messages, learn more from our customer success stories.
If the festival, market or sporting event is in a remote location using VMS boards to signal traffic to the site will help in achieving a smooth problematic free day. Keeping the patrons in the loop and updated will avoid frustration and dissatisfaction.
Avoiding Confusion
VMS sign hire is also incredibly useful for setting up a practical layout of the location. Event locations, like festivals, markets, and sporting events can have a wide surface area, and it’s relatively easy to get lost once you’re inside. For example, if you were using Variable Message Boards at a music festival, notifying patrons of the set times of the musicians and what stage they were playing at would save a lot of running around and confusion.
If you were using VMS boards at a sporting event, situating them outside the arena to direct patrons to their allocated section of the stadium would maximise the flow of foot traffic.
Using VMS boards at markets and other festivals would prove practical notifying patrons where the food stalls were, where the bathrooms were, and public announcements such as; chances of rain, closing times, and other general information.
Advertising
One of the many practical functions of Variable Message Boards is advertising. It’s common for festivals and sporting events to have sponsors. VMS boards offer a perfect opportunity to display and promote the branding behind the event.
Using VMS boards to promote the festival prior to its commencement will help sell tickets and generate momentum and hype.
Keeping Patrons Safe
When you host an event, you are ultimately in charge of looking after a large group of people. While public liability insurance is a financial safety net, it’s not something to depend on.
Providing the correct facilities including toilets, an ambulance tent, food, water, shade, rubbish bins etc. are crucial to the success of the event. Festival organisation is a major contributing factor to the success of the event and the safety of the patrons. Without the right equipment guiding and facilitating people to the event, and once they are inside the venue, there is disorganisation and danger.
Heat exhaustion, heatstroke and dehydration are some of the most significant hazards at festivals. The correct use of VMS boards will allow clear direction to the ambulance services. Alternatively having Visual Message Boards showing people where the food, drink and toilet areas are located will help prevent high numbers of heat exhaustion, heatstroke and dehydration.
Festivals and sporting events often require a lot of manual set up; stages, grandstands, food stalls, toilet facilities etc. At an event, there are a lot of areas that patrons aren’t allowed to enter, for safety reasons. Without the correct signage, people may stumble into no go zones jeopardising their safety. VMS signs and barriers offer concise direction and warning to the curious wanderers.
Why is Festival Organisation Important
Festival organisation is important for many reasons. Without festival organisation, there may not be a continuation the following year, due to customer dissatisfaction or even infringement on event legalities. In the past, the lack of organisation in festivals has cost events millions of dollars because of negligence and failure to meet standards. By using the correct equipment to regulate and facilitate car traffic and foot traffic, you are ticking one vital box on the event manager’s ever-growing to-do-list.
