Phone Charging for Arenas and Other Music Venues

Classic question: what was the first gig you went to? Everyone knows their answer straight away. Not only which band were playing but which venue the gig was at and probably how old they were. 

Live music is so important to people. Regardless of the genre, a concert is an event that brings people together to share an experience that stays with them forever.

These days, it’s not just about picturing the gig in your mind but it’s also about recording the event in photos and videos that can be looked back on and shared.

Some people prefer those massive stadium gigs and others a more intimate ‘evening with’ an artist. All types of concerts are made better when the venue operators understand that attending a gig is made up of a number of critical experiential parts, not just who the band is.

The Live Event Experience

The parts can include the journey from home and the drinks and food before getting to or at the venue. They can include checking-in on social media and meeting up with friends in the foyer. They can even include forms of corporate entertainment whereby customers get to enjoy the hospitality put on by businesses in VIP boxes.

Common to all the parts that make up a great live music experience is the use of mobile phones:

·     Travel passes held within the handset along with the all-important gig tickets.

·     Phone calls to arrange meeting places and times.

·     Taking photos and videos all along the way to share with friends and family pre, during and post gig.

Our phones are essential to the overall event success. But phones require charging, and calls, photography and videoing are the most battery sapping of all activities. It’s therefore imperative that venue operators and designers make sure that charging facilities are provided throughout their premises.

Wireless charging is by far the most convenient method for topping up battery levels. No need for cables that can create trip hazards or, even worse, fire risks due to poor quality manufacturing or overuse.

Introducing Crable Wireless Charging Shelves

Crable is proud to supply the perfect live music charging station in the form of its eponymous charging shelves. Here are just a few reasons why Crables’ features are a perfect solution:

·     Wall-mounted directly to mains power – safe, secure and robust

·     Brandable with logos, calls to action and even QR codes

·     Available in a selection of colours to match interiors (or pick your own colour subject to a minimum order quantity)

·     Made in Britain, fully certified and already installed by some of the biggest names in hospitality, healthcare, sports and education    

Qi2 with Magnetic Power Profile

Even though almost all mobile phone handsets now come with in-built wireless receivers, lots of people haven’t switched onto using them yet. That’s likely to all change now that Qi2 is almost here. The Wireless Power Consortium will be testing and certifying Qi2 wireless chargers from November 2023. In a nutshell Qi2 will bring magnetic hold, known as Magnetic Power Profile (MPP),to wireless chargers.

Apple has for quite some time provided their version of MPP under the name MagSafe. Now all handset manufacturers can build in this simple technology to their phones. But what does it mean for the user? Well, it means that theMPP magnet in your phone will perfectly align with the MPP magnet in the charger and hold the phone in place while it charges. Much better for efficient electricity transfer and no more sliding your phone around waiting for the ‘ting’ from your phone to say it’s charging.

Some people will take time to switch over to wireless charging as their go-to method of charge. Indeed, people fall in love with their handsets and only change them when they are beyond reliable use. In these cases, your customers are still catered for with Crables as their underside shelf is configured with both USB ports (proper fast charging ones!) and plug sockets.

Location, Location, Location

So, where should you install your charging shelves so that they get maximum usage and provide true ease of use for everyone? Crable recommends installing their charging shelves in foyers, bars, corporate boxes, meeting rooms and definitely in green rooms.

Wall mounting Crables at a height of 1.1m from the ground meets DDA compliance standards and ensures that everyone can benefit from a free, fast charge regardless of their height. If you'd like to see how easy it is to install Crables, take a look at our Installation Guide.

Crable’s charging shelves can be configured with international plug sockets too. Your venue might cater for a truly multi-national crowd who all use different plug types. Obviously, wireless chargers and USB ports are universal in their usage but different countries use different plugs that require different sockets. The underside of a Crable can be configured with any of the four main socket types. Check out this world map of plug types by country.

Interactive Advertising Through Sponsorship

A further consideration for venue operators is getting a sponsor to fund the supply and installation of their charging stations. Crable will happily work with your chosen sponsor to accurately brand the charging shelves with their logo and call to action. It might be they need the Crables manufactured in a specific colour and this is no problem either. Crable simply performs an accurate colour match that will ensure the brand ID is perfectly represented throughout the venue.

It might be that the brand with pouring rights at your venue wants to have their most popular line promoted. Perhaps a local, national or international taxi company wants to promote their app direct to your customers.It’s very likely that the brand with main sponsor rights over your venue will want to further engage with their target market by also providing them with a free charge that cements brand warmth.

Keeping Crowds Entertained

Don’t forget that when your customers know their charging needs are catered for, they may well arrive at the venue earlier and spend more! The earlier people arrive for the gig the better the venue will perform in terms of those critical food and drink sales as well as taking the last-minute pressure off the entrance with later arrivals.

Live music events share many similarities with sporting events - big crowds all determined to have a good time and wanting to share their experiences all over social media. Have a read of Crable’s case study on their installations at Twickenham Stadium with Verve Live Events and Guinness.

Sample Crables are available to order over on Amazon.

Get in touch with Crable here and your local rep will be delighted to talk through the perfect phone charging solutions for your live music premises.