Local AV industry figures Kgomotso “KG’ Malebye and Mitch Shuttleworth have
teamed up to launch a new concept company in the local live event space,
EventNet. The company is positioned cleverly to provide high-speed, robust and
scalable wireless network infrastructure for audiences and companies at live
events.

Malebye explains the company’s positioning: “We are the only temporary wireless
network company in the southern hemisphere to offer 802.11ac MiMo Wi-Fi. This is
state of the art technology, allowing wireless users download speeds of up to 1.3
Gbps. Our basic event infrastructure runs on a /20 network allowing over 4000
simultaneous network clients.’

Shuttleworth elaborates on the customer offering: “At most live event venues there
is an existing network infrastructure. We are able to break that up into VLANs to
separate user traffic from infrastructure and priority traffic. We also offer live
streaming over LTE, which has many benefits compared to traditional satellite
uplinks – primarily lower latency as well as significantly lower costs! We use the
RTMP streaming protocol which is a robust and globally accepted streaming
protocol. It also means we are able to stream to any of the major platforms out
there.’

A streaming service at most live events is a major benefit, since it offers enhanced
user experience, branding opportunities for sponsors and artists, as well as the
opportunity to market an event muc wider than just the venue at which it takes
place.

“We use YouTube Live as our streaming backbone as it is free, extremely stable,
globally known and streams can be easily integrated into any customer, sponsor or
event website,’ explains Malebye. “This reduces the cost even more for our
customers. In addition we are able to do full broadcast quality switching,
watermarks, overlays and lower thirds with advanced Chroma and Luma key
processing, which expands the branding and marketing opportunities.’

Finally, EventNet offers a cute value-add for live event organisers, which is a
moderated live Twitter feed screened at the event. “People love telling people where
they are!’ says Malebye.’ By using your hashtag, people create a buzz and raise the
profile of the event. New products and experiences can be shared virally, again
multiplying the event’s reach exponentially. We are able to offer custom designed
walls to fit the theme or brand of the event, with the highest quality full HD
designs.’