The Ricoh Arena is looking to Confex 2017
to help the venue break last year’s record growth.
The multi-purpose venue held a
record-breaking 777 events last year – including 583 conferences, 58
exhibitions, 60 sports events and 13 music concerts.
To help attract more events, investment in
the venue is underway as part of plans to make the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps
Rugby Club, one of the most digitally connected venues in the UK.
Work is currently ongoing with technology
company Ericsson to upgrade the venue’s Wi-Fi, which will allow thousands of
visitors to stream uninterrupted content at the same time.
Other recent investments include a new link
to Hall 3, giving event organisers connected access to an additional 1500sqm of
exhibition space, a ticketless car park system and state-of-the-art roof
lighting in the 6,000 square foot Ericsson Exhibition Hall where individual LED
lights can be controlled via smartphones and tablets.
Wasps first team player Guy Thompson – who
has helped the club to a 13 month unbeaten run at the Ricoh Arena - is also set
to make a special appearance on the Ricoh Arena’s stand to talk to guests about
the venue’s facilities and sign autographs.
Andy Gibb, managing director at the Ricoh
Arena, said: “
We have all of the essentials needed for an event onsite – a
modern hotel, car parking, train access, bars and restaurants – but we need to
ensure we are moving with the times and responding to what event organisers
want.
“Events aren’t just about talking to people
in the room anymore, they’re also about engaging with people around the world,
and we’re making some adjustments to our facilities to enable organisers to do
this.
“More event
organisers are becoming aware of our venue’s convenience and flexibility which
is reflected in the number of events staged last year, and we’re hoping to
spread that awareness even further at Confex.
“We even have
the added bonus this year of having Guy Thompson on our stand supporting our
events management team to provide insights on what the Ricoh Arena is like from
a sporting perspective.”
The Ricoh Arena’s management team will be
on
stand D38C at Confex, and will have gin and coffee tasting on offer. Top UK caricaturist Luisa Calvo will also be
offering digital iPad caricatures to stand visitors on both days.