The Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES) and SOS Global Express has signed a three year agreement for “Logistics and Transportation” under the AGES Industry Partnership Program. 

“SOS Global is honoured to team up with AGES as their Logistics Partner,” said Stephen O’Connell, Vice President of SOS Global.

“Since we started the company in 1986 we have consistently expanded our reach into Global Events and we believe this Partnership is a natural expansion that will benefit all involved.” 

With the expertise and support of SOS Global AGES will develop new standards, procedures and other tools to increase efficiency and reduce costs for event logistics.

“It is not just about reliability and costs. Through our partnership we want to explore and find smarter solutions for our industry”, said Daniel Cordey, chairman of AGES. 

The Industry Partnership Program is a program created by AGES for leading industrial companies who are directly connected with the business of its members and are willing to support the initiatives of AGES in specific thematic categories. Through knowledge transfer and active involvement by the partners, the IPP shall contribute to the elaboration of new standards and policies for the event suppliers industry. AGES and EY recently signed a partnership for the category “Assurance, Tax and Legal”. 

SOS Global Express has provided freight forwarding and logistics for global events from the 1987 NFL Super Bowl and 1988 Olympic Games to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. 

Daniel Cordey, who was an executive director of Nüssli Group from 1990 to 2014, is moderating the panel discussion on Innovations in Event Infrastructure at HOST CITY 2015, the leading EU-based meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events, which takes place in Glasgow on 9th to 10th November.

Attending HOST CITY 2015 in Glasgow on 9th and 10th of November is an attractive opportunity for cities to get ahead in the competitive international market of hosting major events, according to keynote speaker Sir Craig Reedie, IOC Vice President.

“From my point of view of being involved in HOST CITY 2015, I am delighted that the event is coming to Glasgow, because Glasgow has shown that it is a sporting city with the way it has developed its facilities, the way it ran a major multi-sport event, the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and what it’s been doing since then – not least a couple of hugely successful Davis Cup tennis ties,” said Sir Craig Reedie.

“So if you look at the excitement that generates locally, and the promotion that it gives the city on a worldwide basis, then I think this indicates that the market out there is a buoyant one.

“Cities should be very well prepared to become involved and therefore they should be thinking ahead; they should be innovative – and with a bit of luck they will reap the benefits that Glasgow has.”

Under the theme of “Creative Innovation Connecting Cities with Sports, Business and Culture Events”, HOST CITY 2015 is an opportunity to meet, influence and network with a unique collection of city leaders and cross-sector rights holders and gain intelligence on the challenges and benefits of event bidding and hosting.

Sir Craig Reedie was deeply engaged in the IOC’s own “Olympic Agenda 2020” process of creative innovation, one of the primary aims of which was to make bidding for the Olympic Games more appealing to cities.

“We came up with a coordinated and sensible view of how we wanted to run the Games but also to promote the Olympic movement for the future. 

“There were some fairly dramatic discussions on the bidding process of the Games. We wanted to make it more inclusive, we wanted to make it more cooperative, we wanted to make it cheaper, we wanted to make it encouraging to more cities to become involved. 

“In the process of bidding for sporting events, it’s a competitive field. The Olympic Games are the greatest show on earth; it’s important that they maintain this status. It’s important that the athletes regard them as the greatest show on earth and something they really want to take part in. 

“So therefore a process of change is a perfectly reasonable thing to undertake.”

More than 200 delegates have already confirmed their attendance at Host City 2015. Read the agenda and Register at www.bidtowin-hostcity.net to get involved and get ahead.

HOST CITY 2015 Conference and Exhibition continues to attract top experts and key decision makers to speak at its event with Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg, Baku 2015 European Games Chief Operating Officer Simon Clegg CBE and Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events for VisitScotland, the latest big names to join the lineup. 

In only its second year HOST CITY, which this year will take place at the Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow on 9 – 10 November, is set to bring together cities, rights holders, event owners and suppliers to explore the challenges and benefits of bidding for major global events. 

Under the theme “Creative Innovation Connecting Cities with Sports, Business and Culture Events”, David Grevemberg, Simon Clegg and Paul Bush will join other influential stakeholders such as Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Mike Lee OBE, Chairman, Vero Communications, and one of the world’s leading sports architects, Christopher Lee, Senior Principal at Populous to examine issues concerning the bidding for and hosting of large-scale, multi-sport and cultural events. 

Other notable names already announced include:

- Sir Craig Reedie, CBE, Vice-President, International Olympic Committee;

- Louise Martin CBE, President, Commonwealth Games Federation;

- Marisol Casado, IOC Member and President, International Triathlon Union;

- Dimitri Kerkentzes, Chief of Staff, Bureau International des Expositions (World Expos);

- Mário Andrada, Director of Communications, Rio 2016;

David Grevemberg, Chief Executive, Commonwealth Games Federation, who attended the inaugural HOST CITY event in 2014, said:

“I found HOST CITY: Bid to Win enlightening. The calibre of people that attended and spoke was excellent; it was excellent to meet so many experts with a shared perspective and passion and belief that the hosting of major events is a force for good.”

Matthew Astill, Chief Executive of Cavendish Group, owner of HOST CITY 2015, said: “In an increasingly competitive and highly scrutinised global market, cities are hosting a wider range of events to attract a greater share of global trade and investment from mega events such as the Olympic Games and World Expos to major business, scientific and cultural events. 

“HOST CITY 2015 aims to provide the platform for them to work together to attract, build and host the greatest events in the world, which is why we are delighted to be able to announce speakers of such a high standing in the world of major event hosting. We look forward to the expert insight and unique perspective they will add to the debate.”

HOST CITY 2015

Host City 2015 is the leading EU-based meeting of Cities and Sports, Business and Cultural Events. Under the theme of “Creative Innovation connecting Cities with Sports, Business and Culture Events” the conference is attracting the world’s leading cities, rights holders and suppliers.

Topics to be covered include:

• How Events and Cities Innovate to Thrive

• The Changing Face of Sports Governance

• Creative Marketing through Events, Brands and Media

• Tokyo 2020: Olympic and Paralympic Games Update

• Live Entertainment in the City

• The Strategic Influence of Business Events

• The Power of People: Engaging Citizens in Events

• Multi-City Events: Solution to the Sustainability Problem

• Transport and Security Strategies for Long Term Gains

• Innovations in Event Infrastructure

For further information on the panel sessions and other top class speakers confirmed for Host City 2015, please visit: http://www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

Join the conversation on social media by using the #HostCity2015 hashtag.

Since the original Olympics Games in Ancient Greece, tournament format has remained the same: Round-Robin Groups and Direct Elimination (play-offs). The usage of these formats has caused several issues that organisers have failed to solve. 

One major issue is flexibility in the number of participants and matches. Then there is the existence of low-value or “dead” matches, where teams have nothing to play for because they've already qualified for the next round or have been eliminated. 

Match-fixing is another problem. In London 2012 for instance, eight female badminton players were disqualified from the tournament due to their attempts to lose their matches on purpose to get an "easier" rival in the next round.

Losing or drawing a match on purpose for the benefit of both sides is something that we see in almost every big tournament. In an attempt to address this issue, matches on the last day of group stages are played simultaneously in many big tournaments, such as the UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup. This precautionary move, which followed the "Disgrace of Gijon" in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, can be devastating for fans, sponsors and broadcasters and creates further problems.

Having the last two matches of a group played simultaneously means that two stadiums must be used for each group, so teams must travel from one city to another. In a group of four teams the only way to make teams have the same amount of travels, to ensure fairness, is by making all teams travel twice – that is, playing the first match in one stadium, the second in another and a third stadium for the third match. Having all teams travel once is impossible mathematically, and zero travel is not an option when staging matches simultaneously. 

Travelling twice during the group stage can involve a large amount of air travel. For instance, In 2014 FIFA World Cup the United States national team had to travel from Natal to Manaus and then to Recife, a total distance of nearly 6,000 miles.

MatchVision, a company based in Chile, has the solution for this and the associated issue of flexibility in the number of participants in a tournament. In 2003, FIFA expressed an interest in raising the number of participants in the World Cup to 36, but declared it impossible as they couldn't find a fair and simple way to select 16 teams advancing to the Round of 16.

After hearing that declaration, Leandro Shara, MatchVision President and founder, knew he had the solution for it – the POT System ©. Under the POT System © there are no groups; instead, the teams are divided into POTs, depending on the number of matches of the first round. 

For instance, a FIFA World Cup with 36 teams would have three POTs, each one containing 12 teams, based on ranking – POT A would have the strongest teams, POT B the medium teams, and POT C the emerging teams. Each team, no matter which POT it is placed in, would play three matches, one against a team from POT A, one against a team from POT B, and one against a team from POT C. For instance, Germany would meet Argentina from POT A, Croatia from POT B and Jordan from POT C. On the other hand, Jordan from POT C would meet Germany (A), as well as Uruguay (B) and Costa-Rica (C).

The POTs are not groups, instead we will have one General Standing of the 36 teams, and after three match days the best 16 would qualify to the next round, fair and simple. Moreover, in the Round of 16 the 1st would face the 16th, the 2nd would face the 15th, etc. That means that teams would want to finish as high as possible to have an "easier" rival in the next match. 

This will bring a revolution in the strategy of winning tournaments:  the best way would always be, for the first time, to win all matches. It also kills the chances of score manipulations, as teams would not depend just on their match and one additional match (in a four-team group), but on their match and results from the other 17 matches.

Eliminating the possibility of score manipulation would allow all matches in the first round to be played at different times, so spectators around the world could watch all matches live. Additionally, we can ensure that all teams travel exactly once in the first stage and travel the shortest distance from their “home" base. This means that if each host city has another host city within 500 miles or less, than maximum travel for a team would be 500 miles, even if host cities are spread over an entire continent.

The opportunities don't stop there. MatchVision has developed more than 30 solutions giving flexibility to tournaments. So for instance, the Olympic Volleyball competition could have 10 teams instead of 12, with teams still playing five matches in the first round, or to increase the number of teams in the Badminton tournament from 16 to 18, a 12 per cent increase, instead of the usual 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase caused by the rigidity of Groups and Play-Offs formats.

The inflexibility of the traditional tournament formats has created absurd situations, like the ATP World Tour Finals, which is played by eight players, even though the entire world of tennis, including the ATP website itself, talks always about TOP-10. To have a clearer picture of things, the phrase TOP-10 is googled 25 times more than TOP-8. The only reason just 8 players enter the O2 Arena is due to format restrictions, and thus we adjust the reality to the format.

It is time to turn that upside down and adjust format to reality, using tournament formats developed in the 21st century. The format revolution is coming.

The IOC Executive Board on Tuesday suspended the honorary IOC membership of Lamine Diack, former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following the publication of a World Anti-Doping Report on Monday.

“The Independent Commission’s Report contains a series of findings that will shock and appal athletes and sports fans worldwide, and indeed many issues that highlight very current deficiencies with the anti-doping system in Russia,” said WADA President and IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie on Monday, during Host City 2015 conference in Glasgow.

Following the publication of the report, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and expects the IAAF and WADA to “consider all necessary action to be taken to protect the clean athletes and rebuild trust”.

The IOC’s Executive Board on Tuesday confirmed the proposal of the IOC Ethics Commission to provisionally suspend Mr. Lamine Diack, the former President of IAAF, from his honorary membership of the IOC.

In a statement, the IOC said it has asked the IAAF to initiate disciplinary procedures against all athletes, coaches and officials who have participated in the Olympic Games and are accused of doping in the report of the Independent Commission. 

“With its zero-tolerance policy against doping, following the conclusion of this procedure, the IOC will take all the necessary measures and sanctions with regard to the withdrawal and reallocation of medals and as the case may be exclusion of coaches and officials from future Olympic Games,” the statement said. 

The news follows WADA’s suspension of its accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center. The laboratory is now restricted from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities including all analyses of urine and blood samples. 

The IOC said it has no reason to question the credibility of the results of the anti-doping tests carried out at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, but will retain all the doping samples for ten years and retest samples “in an appropriate way should substantial doubts arise. In any case, the IOC may retest samples once new scientific techniques become available”.

“While the contents of the Report are deeply disturbing, the investigation is hugely positive for the clean athlete as it contains significant recommendations for how WADA and its partners in the anti-doping community can, and must, take swift corrective action to ensure anti-doping programs of the highest order are in place across the board,” said Sir Craig Reedie.

“WADA is fully committed in its role of leading the charge to protect the rights of clean athletes worldwide.”

Eurosport has secured the renewal of the exclusive digital and TV rights for the Australian Open, ensuring the Australian Open remains on Eurosport across more than 50 European markets until 2021.

The renewed partnership with Tennis Australia, which begins from 2017, also includes new additional exclusive live rights to two Australian Open warm-up ATP tournaments, the World Tennis Challenge along with rights to the Hopman Cup. 

”The Australian Open is much more than just the first Grand Slam of the year,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said. 

“It marks the start of the global annual sporting calendar through four weeks of world class events during Australia’s summer of tennis. As such, we are delighted to have taken our relationship with Eurosport and the Discovery Group to a new level.”

“Fans will now be able to follow in one place the exciting journey we take every year – from Brisbane and Perth, Sydney to Adelaide and culminating in Melbourne at the Australian Open. 

Eurosport will broadcast 300 hours of live coverage on Eurosport’s TV channels and, for the first time, live online coverage of available matches from each event as produced by Tennis Australia.

“As viewing habits consolidate through multiple screens, compelling engagement through online platforms is at the heart of this new deal,” said Tilley.

“We’ll deliver fans more and better content than ever before, both on and off the court, when and where they want it.” 

All Australian Open matches in 2016 will be available live on Eurosport Player, the online broadcast platform that achieved record-breaking viewing figures for the French Open and the US Open.

Peter Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, Eurosport said: “The Australian Open is a lynchpin in Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of leading tennis properties and has been so for over 20 years. 

“Eurosport is dedicated to securing exclusive must-have sports and also building and amplifying key existing partnerships, as we are doing with Tennis Australia by securing additional live rights that give the channel a whole month of exclusive top class tennis. 

“This helps Eurosport tell a compelling story and, along with planned enhancements in our on-site production, will result in an exciting viewing experience for tennis fans across the continent.”

The Commonwealth Games Federation’s Chief Executive Officer, and former Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014 Ltd., David Grevemberg, has been appointed by Her Majesty The Queen as an honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).

The announcement was made by the Commonwealth Games Federation on Monday morning, just before Grevemberg spoke on the opening panel discussion of Host City 2015 conference in Glasgow. 

The honour is conferred in recognition of services to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. 

In a statement issued on Monday morning – just before his arrival at Host City 2015 – Grevemberg said: “The XX Commonwealth Games were a defining moment for Glasgow, Scotland and the Commonwealth Games Movement. 

“Whilst it is incredibly humbling to be recognised for my contribution, the successes and impacts of the Games were only made possible by the hard work and support of our partners, participants, staff and citizens. 

“I would like to thank Her Majesty for this honour, and look forward to an inspiring, impactful future for the Commonwealth Games Movement, a powerful symbol of the flourishing, modern Commonwealth and its citizens”.

David Grevemberg CBE spoke on the opening panel discussion of Host City 2015 conference on the subject of “How Events and Cities Innovate to Thrive”.

Commonwealth Games Federation President, Louise Martin CBE also spoke at Host City 2015. 

“This special honour is testimony to the success and continued legacy of the Best Games Ever, as Glasgow and its people delivered one of the standout performances in Commonwealth sporting history,” she said in the CGF statement. 

“I congratulate David on this honour, as we reflect on many happy memories of the Games and move forward with our ambitious plans to deliver Transformation 2022 with our members and stakeholders”.

Born in 1972 in Louisiana, USA, David was a former wrestler, coach and administrator, before taking up post in 1999 as Executive Director of Sport and International Federation Relations at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), headquartered in Bonn, Germany. 

He moved to Scotland to lead the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee in 2009 and still lives near Glasgow with his family. He joined the Commonwealth Games Federation as Chief Executive in November 2014.

The honour is a recognition of the transformational power of Commonwealth sport and its recent positive impact on Glasgow.

Speaking about last year’s HOST CITY conference, Grevemberg said: “I found it enlightening. The calibre of people that attended and spoke was excellent; it was excellent to meet so many experts with a shared perspective and passion and belief that the hosting of major events is a force for good.” 

WADA president and IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie CBE on Wednesday asserted he is taking quick and strong action in response to evidence of widespread doping in athletics.

In an editorial published in the Independent, he said “There have been critics of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and critics of me, and first and foremost I don’t want people to think I’m too political or too soft.

“I can categorically state I have not been soft on Russia. It was me as president of WADA that agreed with several national anti-doping organisations to create an independent commission to look into the subject of doping in Russia, the results of which we saw in all its damning detail in Geneva on Monday.”

Speaking to press at Host City 2015 on Monday, Reedie said WADA was responding to calls to be tougher.

"I think the world will want us to be much stricter and aggressive in saying whether people are compliant or not.”

The independent report revealed that officials at a WADA accredited drug testing laboratory in Moscow destroyed 1,417 samples and accepted bribes to cover up positive tests. 

“It’s quite clear that that was organised between a laboratory, a national anti-doping association, almost certainly a national athletics association – three different organisations combining to beat the system.”

WADA reacted immediately by provisionally suspending the laboratory’s accreditation.

"We have responsibility for the Russian anti-doping agency and its state of compliance – quite clearly it is not compliant at the moment – we can deal with that.

“As far as the national athletics federation in Russia is concerned, that is the responsibility of the IAAF and their responsibility under the code is to make sure that the national federations are code-compliant. We will clearly work with the IAAF as closely as they want us to and as we are able to resolve this issue.”

Asked by press at Host City 2015 whether the IAAF leadership was able to handle the crisis, he said “I think the allegations of people at the top end of the IAAF are intensely regrettable. They have done the sport in my view great damage. 

“This is a newly elected council, a new president. And yes I think the new leadership can do it. It’s not going to be easy and it’s going to involve a great deal of effort, but we will help them as best we can.”

Responding to a question from Host City magazine about whether athletes are in some cases victims, he said: “My experience is that very few drug cheats do it themselves; they almost always have somebody else. So I am very happy with the principle that we deal with the athlete’s entourage; the rules also say that we deal with the athlete. 

“But I agree with you; if you coaches and people who are administering drugs to athletes then they are in many ways more guilty than the athletes themselves.” 

Reedie told Host City how WADA has become stronger under his leadership. 

“We greatly strengthened the new 2015 code by specifically targeting the athletes’ entourage. Secondly we created an offence called ‘prohibited association’, so if an athlete is associating with a known member of the entourage who has been convicted of a doping offence then the athlete shouldn’t be there. 

“We have produced a list and that’s now current. If any of the officials mentioned in the Pound report are sanctioned they will immediately be put on that list.”

The next phase of the WADA-commissioned report will investigate allegations beyond Russia. 

“Is there a sense that things could get worse before they get better? Quite possibly. We still await further revelations from the commission and, because of its independence, I genuinely have no idea what those revelations will be,” Reedie wrote in the Independent. 

“At the end of the day, I think good will come out of evil," he told press at Host City 2015.

Dear friends of football, 

FIFA has faced unprecedented difficulties this year in a crisis that has shaken global football governance to its core. We are now moving through a period of necessary change to protect the future of our organisation. 

We maintain that the majority of those working in football governance do so in the right way and for the right reasons, but it has become clear that root-and-branch reform is the only way to deter future wrongdoing and to restore faith in FIFA. For these reasons, this year and the immediate years to come will be among the most important for FIFA since it was founded in 1904. 

A new FIFA President will be elected at the Congress in February, offering the opportunity to start a new chapter. It is vital to recognise that this will be only the beginning. We will need to work hard together over the coming years to win back the trust and respect of fans, players, commercial affiliates and all the many millions of participants who make football the world’s most popular sport. 

We are confident that the new reform measures approved by the FIFA Executive Committee in December, alongside the separate actions of the Swiss and US authorities, will lay the foundations for a stronger, more transparent and more accountable and more ethical governing body of football. 

We call on all of FIFA’s member associations to fully support, implement and abide by the new reforms. The future of FIFA and the global development of football depend on our full commitment to embracing a change in culture from top to bottom, through the following key reform points: 

• A clear separation of powers between the political side of global football and the day-to-day financial and business operations of FIFA, such as organising competitions and football development investments, will help to protect our integrity and avoid conflicts of interest. All financial transactions will be monitored by a fully independent body. 

• Member associations must mirror the above structure and comply with principles of good governance, such as establishing independent judicial bodies. They will also be accountable for the conduct of their entire team and any third parties that they work with. 

• Strict term limits for senior positions within FIFA of three four-year terms will ensure that no single person can wield too much power or influence. 

• An explicit commitment in the FIFA Statutes to develop women’s football and to promote the full participation of women at all levels of football governance, including a minimum of one female representative from each region in the new FIFA Council. 

• Central integrity checks by an independent body for all appointments to FIFA bodies and senior management. 

• Members of the new FIFA Council must be elected by the member associations from each respective region under new FIFA governance regulations and monitored by the new, independent FIFA Review Committee. 

• More independent and properly qualified members of key committees such as finance, development, governance and compliance to provide a stronger layer of neutrality and scrutiny. 

• More involvement from the football community (players, clubs, leagues, member associations, etc.) in decision making. 

• A statutory commitment by FIFA to uphold and protect internationally recognised human rights in all its activities. 

There may be further challenges ahead, and it will take time for these reforms to take effect, but our resolve to rebuild FIFA for the better remains steadfast. Our aim is to establish a secure, professional and fully accountable sports organisation by the time of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia. 

We are confident that this is a realistic target, and we look forward to returning our full focus to FIFA’s primary mission of promoting and developing football everywhere, and for all. 

The hundreds of millions of fans, players, coaches and others dedicated to football around the world deserve nothing less from those of us with the incredible responsibility and privilege of governing and guiding global football. 

Yours faithfully, 

Issa Hayatou Acting FIFA President

Markus Kattner Acting FIFA Secretary General 

The fact is that events themselves are getting bigger. The Olympics, for example, continues to increase the number of sports contested and this year’s Rugby World Cup was the largest ever staged – official fan zone attendance alone broke the one million mark.

The conference industry, too, is booming – many attract tens of thousands of people and require the kind of infrastructure you might normally associate with a football match. 

As events get more ambitious, the sporting and entertainment industries are constantly evolving to meet consumers’ expectations: larger screens, faster Wi-Fi connections, brighter or more interactive lighting and, more recently, the convenience of electronic ticketing. 

The power needs of events, and therefore energy strategies, have to adapt to meet these challenges. A reliable power source (or several) has become a critical factor in event planning and there has also never been greater emphasis on organisers to meet energy efficiencies in this process. 

Power Pillars

There has been significant investment in energy strategies across the events industry in recent years and typically we see that investment across three "power pillars": reliability, cost & sustainability.

The show must go on. Every event planner works to this mantra and power reliability is usually first on the list of influencing factors. Unplanned disruptions can be catastrophic, especially if the issue is not resolved instantly. Losing broadcast or stadium power even for a minute could cost the event millions – and decimate its reputation. The effects spread across spectators and viewers to the experience of corporate partners, the exposure received by advertisers and, worst of all, the performance of the events’ protagonists themselves – sportsmen and women, artists and actors.

A large amount of our strategic preparation with event organisers is therefore spent on contingency planning, and rightly so. The earlier a power provider is involved in the planning process, the easier it will be to identify issues and create solutions. When we plan an event, we focus on pre-empting possible issues and creating flexibility in the way we deliver power. 

Both mobile and grid-connected energy can be advantageous for the event organiser, with the latter particularly popular when the host expects to stage its event repeatedly over several years. Modern, modular power technology also brings great benefits – from having the flexibility to operate in different environments to reducing waste by managing redundancy more effectively. And while no two events are the same, each one requires a back-up power plan. 

What does this mean in practice? Early stage reliability planning would include ensuring steps can be taken to synchronise and switch over from grid power to mobile power stations as well as verifying connection points for electrical distribution.

Of course, guaranteeing reliable power is only half the battle. Once an event is confident in its energy supply, it needs to deliver efficiencies both to reduce carbon emissions and manage its cost base.

This is where mobile, modular power comes into its own as it tends to be preferred for its relatively low capital cost. By virtue of being temporary, the host does not have long-term financial or environmental commitments in place either. 

The scalability of modular power systems can also help event organisers to flex power levels to suit changing needs. This already happens across many industries – in mining, for example, developers will front-load power resource to construct the mine and its surrounding infrastructure, but then downgrade power resources and focus on fuel efficiencies when operational. 

The events industry faces similar challenges: from the construction of permanent and temporary sites to the creation of supporting infrastructure, preparation for major events is a long-term process. However, once operational, events’ power needs fluctuate dramatically. Modular power is the ideal solution in this instance – for example, we can just as easily install fifty 1 MW generators across many sites as we can fewer, more powerful generators in a smaller area.

But it’s not just how many generators you install, and where. Power technology has made great strides and our technicians at our manufacturing plant in Scotland have made advancements in efficiencies and smart monitoring, too. 

We can monitor power and fuel use of any of our power stations remotely, and can very easily synchronise our generators back to the grid without affecting the supply of power to the events themselves. These advancements can all dramatically reduce energy costs. Of course, individual generators can also be turned on and off as needed, reducing emissions and saving energy.

A final component to delivering a sustainable event is minimising noise emissions. Either the organizer can adopt technology specifically designed to operate quietly; or it can improve the event’s energy efficiency in order to reduce the number and size of generators or coolers in situ.

For instance, we provided temporary power to The 2014 Ryder Cup, where tournament golf requires a discreet audience and an even quieter built environment. We used a new set of innovative “Super Silent” generators that produce very low noise emissions (48-55 dBA at 50 feet). 

However, noise levels also cause a significant challenge for city centre events and sometimes innovative ideas need to be explored in order to minimise disruption to residents. In planning for The 2012 London Olympics, we took this challenge on and placed generators on floating platforms on the River Lea, moving the noise out of the built-up area.

The events industry is growing, evolving and modernising. Power suppliers have to follow suit.