Melvin Benn Back As Director

[Leyrulion]

26 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Correct. And a few years ago I remember peeps going potty over the suggestion that Glasto might be going for it as well. But it never transpired thankfully.

The only redeeming feature is the technology itself worked fantastically. I think its come on a lot and it was seamless and easy to check what was left at the bar.

[whitehorses]

1 hour ago, stuie said:

I said the same and my friends said I was being dramatic but I feel strongly against this level of control of both punters and traders. 

I guess they might not have cash machines as there’s no genuine need for cash in their new city. Apart from for the dealers! 

The dealers have card readers too. 
 

Edit: Apparently 

Edited January 10, 2022 by whitehorses
Whatever

[stuartbert two hats]

I think I remember this cropping up and Michael saying he'd never do the top up thing because it's just a rip off and about making money, not his thing at all.  I'm not expecting this to be a thing at Worthy, even if the infrastructure is around to support it.

 

[Neil]

14 hours ago, MrHew said:

Can anyone explain to me what RFID is/means? 

its a wristband with a unique rfid*  chip on it, that can be usexcd to track  when the wearer of that qristbAND COMES ON SITE AND OFF SITE, CAN ALSO BEUSED FOR PAYMENT AT STALLS.

[quote]#*RFID (radio frequency identification) is a form of wireless communication that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal or person.[/quote]

[Neil]

11 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

The only redeeming feature is the technology itself worked fantastically. I think its come on a lot and it was seamless and easy to check what was left at the bar.

THE PROBLEMS ARE NOT WHEN IT WORKS BUT WHEN IT DOESN'T,  a failure could mjean no one can get on site and no traders can operate.

[Zoo Music Girl]

They had a system like this at Camp Kin last summer for payment. I actually thought it worked well and we got refunds of leftover balance at the end too. Mind you, the capacity for that was tiny in comparison!

[Leyrulion]

2 hours ago, Neil said:

THE PROBLEMS ARE NOT WHEN IT WORKS BUT WHEN IT DOESN'T,  a failure could mjean no one can get on site and no traders can operate.

The main difference with current technology is that there is no need for a constant WiFi/5g. As long as the devices at the till have power (and battery technology has improved) then the transaction will go through.

So one of the main points of failure is gone. But I completely agree that it is when it fails and no one on site can get a beer that the problems begin.

[Havors]

On 1/8/2022 at 6:26 PM, incident said:

Eh?

No chance they exclude a portion of the attendees like that unless they have to.

I'm expecting the exact same criteria as near enough every festival in 2021 used - Negative Lateral Flow the same day or day before, or Proof of Vaccination, or a positive PCR test more than 10 but less than 180 days before. Maybe there'll be a minor tweak to that like tightening up the timeframes a bit (ie Lateral Flow the same day). If it's any stricter than that, then it'll likely be due to government guidance.

Personally I think by the end of June there will likely only be an LFT needed if anything at all. As the push for it to be endemic goes forward there will be less and less restrictions or requirements. 

Melvin has come in to facilitate any requirements that may be needed, as we all know this Virus can throw curveballs and Glastonbury would cease to exist if it was cancelled this year. Their Equity was 6m pre pandemic and they lost 3m of that so far.

I also think hes been brought in to try make them some money after that 3.1m loss... I just hope it doesnt mean more commercialisation. We could see a couple of Co-Ops pop up and a couple of sponsorships... 

[Havors]

2 hours ago, Neil said:

its a wristband with a unique rfid*  chip on it, that can be usexcd to track  when the wearer of that qristbAND COMES ON SITE AND OFF SITE, CAN ALSO BEUSED FOR PAYMENT AT STALLS.

[quote]#*RFID (radio frequency identification) is a form of wireless communication that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal or person.[/quote]

Is it just me or will that encourage some horrible sorts to try and rob peoples wristbands?? Little pair of scissors in a crowds and its gone... 

[gfa]

I think its way way too early to attack Boomtown for introducing it. If anyone is going to get it right, i'd say they are up there - as I said I had no issue with it at Sziget and they will 100% have cash points incase it goes down + back up options.

[tarw]

1 hour ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

They had a system like this at Camp Kin last summer for payment. I actually thought it worked well and we got refunds of leftover balance at the end too. Mind you, the capacity for that was tiny in comparison!

It didn’t work well for me!  It was a nightmare getting the band loaded with money before the event.

once it was loaded there were no issues but it was a big hassle involving several emails over 2 days to get it loaded.

[incident]

2 minutes ago, gfa said:

I think its way way too early to attack Boomtown for introducing it. If anyone is going to get it right, i'd say they are up there - as I said I had no issue with it at Sziget and they will 100% have cash points incase it goes down + back up options.

History suggests that if anyone's going to get it wrong, then there's a good chance it's Boomtown given the issues they've had scanning QR codes at gates.

[gfa]

4 minutes ago, incident said:

History suggests that if anyone's going to get it wrong, then there's a good chance it's Boomtown given the issues they've had scanning QR codes at gates.

I guess we'll see - hopefully it works well for them

[fred quimby]

27 minutes ago, Havors said:

 

I also think hes been brought in to try make them some money after that 3.1m loss... I just hope it doesnt mean more commercialisation. We could see a couple of Co-Ops pop up and a couple of sponsorships... 

Is this in relation to losing Money or Melvin?

If Melvin then he was in this position for years and nothing changed so not sure why it would this time

[Zoo Music Girl]

15 minutes ago, tarw said:

It didn’t work well for me!  It was a nightmare getting the band loaded with money before the event.

once it was loaded there were no issues but it was a big hassle involving several emails over 2 days to get it loaded.

Sorry to hear that! I did have a small issue ahead of time in that I didn't yet my bonus added properly but they sorted very swiftly on site. No one else in my group had any problems.

[incident]

3 minutes ago, gfa said:

I guess we'll see - hopefully it works well for them

I disagree entirely.

Even if it "works" then it's still a very unpleasant data grab which will ultimately be to the detriment of Traders and Customers - that's literally the only reason to make it a mandatory and closed system with no option for Traders or Customers to use their regular and more consumer friendly cards, or Phones with Google/Apple/Samsung Pay.

I'm not the first to point out that it goes 100% against the story they've been telling the past few years.

Hopefully it never happens, and if it does it's a dismal failure and acts as a warning to other festivals.

[Havors]

5 minutes ago, fred quimby said:

Is this in relation to losing Money or Melvin?

If Melvin then he was in this position for years and nothing changed so not sure why it would this time

A lot has changed since he left. He now has countless connections, musical, commercial and ministerial. 

I think he can help them in all aspects. I would not be surprised to see some sponsorship creep in in some form or fashion after the loses suffered. Just speculation and my thinking of course.

[efcfanwirral]

20 minutes ago, Havors said:

A lot has changed since he left. He now has countless connections, musical, commercial and ministerial. 

I think he can help them in all aspects. I would not be surprised to see some sponsorship creep in in some form or fashion after the loses suffered. Just speculation and my thinking of course.

I'd see that as an acceptable compromise as long as they're the right type of businesses for the core attendees, done in less intrusive way than other festivals and on a sort of fixed contract to retrieve the money lost over the next few festivals. Especially with things being uncertain for the foreseeable future now this particular lockdown/restrictions bag of tricks has been opened.

Thats easy for me to say though, Im not one of the core attendees and commercial stuff doesn't bother me that much! 

Edited January 11, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[blutarsky]

15 hours ago, whitehorses said:

The dealers have card readers too. 
 

Edit: Apparently 

Easy as anything to do it - we have an iZettle device (bought for £30) which we use to collect the fines at rugby. Quick tap of the card and done. 
However, I'd imagine smarter dealers would be concerned about the paper trail that would be establishing. I definitely wouldn't want to create an electronic link between myself and a dealer. 

5 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'd see that as an acceptable compromise as long as they're the right type of businesses for the core attendees, done in less intrusive way than other festivals and on a sort of fixed contract to retrieve the money lost over the next few festivals. Especially with things being uncertain for the foreseeable future now this particular lockdown/restrictions bag of tricks has been opened.

That's easy for me to say though, I'm not one of the core attendees and commercial stuff doesn't bother me that much! 

I could live with it if the companies involved are ethical and fit the ethos of the festival. I can't imagine they would bring in ardently capitalist companies, unless there is a net benefit to the festival, i.e. EE providing infrastructure. 

Question is, how many ethical businesses have the clout to be involved, would benefit from it and would benefit the festival? I'm struggling to think of many. Anyone got any suggestions? 

I googled "most ethical companies" and very few of the companies suggested seem feasible. Here they are: 
Patagonia - fashion brand, ethical, would do good business, fits the ethos, but how beneficial would it be to them? 
IBM - Apparently fits the ethos, but no obvious link. 
Boden - fashion brand, sustainable practices but reputation for dressing tories.

Here's a list of ethical companies from the Ethisphere institute. The fact is, with very few exceptions, all companies do net harm to the environment just through executing their core business. 

 

[gfa]

17 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

Easy as anything to do it - we have an iZettle device (bought for £30) which we use to collect the fines at rugby. Quick tap of the card and done. 
However, I'd imagine smarter dealers would be concerned about the paper trail that would be establishing. I definitely wouldn't want to create an electronic link between myself and a dealer. 

I could live with it if the companies involved are ethical and fit the ethos of the festival. I can't imagine they would bring in ardently capitalist companies, unless there is a net benefit to the festival, i.e. EE providing infrastructure. 

Question is, how many ethical businesses have the clout to be involved, would benefit from it and would benefit the festival? I'm struggling to think of many. Anyone got any suggestions? 

I googled "most ethical companies" and very few of the companies suggested seem feasible. Here they are: 
Patagonia - fashion brand, ethical, would do good business, fits the ethos, but how beneficial would it be to them? 
IBM - Apparently fits the ethos, but no obvious link. 
Boden - fashion brand, sustainable practices but reputation for dressing tories.

Here's a list of ethical companies from the Ethisphere institute. The fact is, with very few exceptions, all companies do net harm to the environment just through executing their core business. 

 

Patagonia don't do collaborative stuff in genera

[gooner1990]

1 hour ago, Leyrulion said:

The main difference with current technology is that there is no need for a constant WiFi/5g. As long as the devices at the till have power (and battery technology has improved) then the transaction will go through.

So one of the main points of failure is gone. But I completely agree that it is when it fails and no one on site can get a beer that the problems begin.

When I worked on the Stonebridge bar in 2019 we had issues with signal and transactions taking a while to process, has it improved since then?

[Leyrulion]

5 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

When I worked on the Stonebridge bar in 2019 we had issues with signal and transactions taking a while to process, has it improved since then?

The RFID transactions happen between the wristband and device instantly even if there's no WiFi/5g.

Then when the terminal gets signal again it communicates back to the cloud and updates all the balance information. 

[Leyrulion]

32 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

I can't imagine they would bring in ardently capitalist companies

Don't they have a concession with coca cola providing soft drinks on site?

Can't remember seeing Pepsi Max in the co-op or behind the bars.

[blutarsky]

21 minutes ago, gfa said:

Patagonia don't do collaborative stuff in genera

Another obstacle to commercialisation with companies that fit the ethos. 

6 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Don't they have a concession with coca cola providing soft drinks on site?

Can't remember seeing Pepsi Max in the co-op or behind the bars.

That's not operated *by* Coca-Cola though. Traders decide what products to bring on site, and as long as it's not in single use plastic bottles, all good. 

[efcfanwirral]

15 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

The RFID transactions happen between the wristband and device instantly even if there's no WiFi/5g.

Then when the terminal gets signal again it communicates back to the cloud and updates all the balance information. 

Leeds festival put themselves forward as cashless (the normal way) for "safety", but you could see the potential problems with that when Ticketmaster did their massive push to make sure you transfer your tickets to your group and download them to your wallet because there'd be no signal at the gates...

Predictably to go to the cashpoint to pay for the (terrible) food..

Edited January 11, 2022 by efcfanwirral