77: The Magic Number

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By George Sirius, CEO, Eventsforce

Whether it’s the odds on the next Royal baby’s name (Alexandra is the favourite according to many bookmakers), the number of hotdogs one man can eat in ten minutes (the new world record is 69 in case you were wondering), or the chances of a white Christmas this year (the Met Office say its better than 50/50), the world likes numbers and statistics.

Of course, the main number recently is 77, and that refers to Andy Murray winning his first Wimbledon title and ending Britain’s 77 year wait for a men’s champion with a hard-fought victory over world number one Novak Djokovic. Congratulations to Andy Murray on this great achievement!

Now Wimbledon is one event that has truly embraced statistics. Every year we hear about how many glasses of Pimm’s are drunk (approximately 200,00 this year) the number of spectators around the world (378,800,000 in 182 countries) and even the fact that 25,000 Championship towels were sold in the Wimbledon shop during the fortnight last year, along with 15,000 mini tennis ball keyrings, 7,000 cans of four tennis balls, 14,000 rubber wristbands and 10,000 umbrellas.

The point is, Wimbledon is a massive event! Events of this size are not easy to organise and take many people and a large amount of resources. Technology is at the heart of this, and not just in the form of Hawk-Eye. Whether it’s managing bookings and ticketing for hospitality events, booking flights or accommodation, or running post event analysis and surveys, the organisers of Wimbledon will use technology and a range of event management software to produce the successful event that we see every year.

However, many event professionals will be reading this and thinking, “My events are not on the same scale as Wimbledon. Why do I need event management software?” My answer to them would be that a good solution will take all of this into account and still manage to offer real commercial benefits to organisations of all sizes. When considering if your business could benefit in the same way as Wimbledon consider a modular approach whereby you only pay for what you use, a supplier that is interested in the needs of your business and not just the sale, and a company with a full portfolio of support services to help you achieve the ultimate successful event or series of events, no matter how big or small your business is.  When all that is done, sit back with a glass of Pimm’s and enjoy the rest of the summer.