The superlatives are many: the Big Game in the Big Easy is touted as both the greenest and most technological on record. And with over 100,000 fans descended on the Crescent City - a nearly 33% increase in population over one weekend - there are plenty of technological deployments of interest to the techno-geeky.
Corning deploys WiFi technology around the Quarter and Convention Center
In order to meet the needs of thousands of device-bearing sports fans, the city has deployed massive amounts of additional wireless infrastructure In partnership with Corning, the wireless technologies have been placed at 6 hotels in the French Quarter, in addition to the Superdome, and covers over 450,000 square feet of exhibition space and 5,500 hotel rooms.
Paul O'Connell, director of technology services for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center:
“The Corning MobileAccess DAS is powerful enough to help us support and enhance wireless services for our visitors, not only during the Super Bowl but at several other large events we will be hosting this year.
In fact, the National Football League hired a third party to survey the cellular network in and around our location and determined the DAS can handle the massive amount of wireless traffic expected, eliminating the need for carriers to deploy temporary cellular solutions. The flexibility of the system will also allow us to easily expand the DAS to support our preparations to add a new hall to our ever-growing facility.”
This is the 6th time that Corning Mobile Access DAS has been deployed in a Super Bowl host city, providing wireless coverage and fast, reliable voice and data services to meet the increase in demand.
Go NOLA app
New Orleans has been tweaking the Go NOLA app in anticipation of the impending visitor surge. Launched in mid-2012, the app features a robust collection of things to do, places to dine, walking tours, and nightlife options.
The app also allows visitors to create their own itineraries as part of their trip planning, and then use their smartphone's GPS locator to direct them through their custom-built trip.
One big obstacle with this app, however, is that the download size is too large to be downloaded over cell networks. So regardless of the fact that the city is promoting the app's existence on taxis around town, visitors will only be able to download it if they are near a WiFi source. DMOs should take note of this adoption hurdle: takes the spontaneous action of downloading the app and makes it much more of a chore!
Social media "command center"
This is the first time a host city has had a social media command center. It's an impressive undertaking, one that other cities will most certainly take note of. Perhaps one day each city will have their own social media center on an everyday basis, rather than just for special events.
A command center is fully stocked in Hall H of the Convention Center, where they provide answers to any Super Bowl-related question that pops up on screen. For example, if someone sends a tweet to @nolasuperbowl asking where to grab a coffee, the tweet will appear at the Command Center, where one of the volunteers on shift will respond.
This is a direct form of customer service that is surprisingly in short supply for the visitor to an average city.
With hundreds of tweets per minute coming in, Super Bowl Host Committee Technology Chair Jeremy Cooker says that even some well-known folks are asking for information.
"When the San Francisco 49ers players came in on Monday night they were like, hey, we're on Bourbon Street or hey, we're on Canal Street looking for some food, where should we go?
Tnooz took some time to visit the command center and speak with the team running the show. This is most definitely something that all DMOs should do - customer service via Twitter and other social media channels is a seamless and effective way to boost visitor satisfaction and make the best possible experience possible for guests.
NB: New Orleans image courtesy of Shutterstock.