A couple months ago I attended my first International Music Festival Conference (IMFCON), a conference that brings music festival professionals and other industry executives together to learn, teach and provide a critical understanding of how music festivals play a crucial role in the music industry. I met a lot of industry professionals, from talent buyers, tour managers, technology professionals, artists, festival goers (such as myself), and everywhere in between. One of the many connections made was with Kim Owens, owner and editor of Kaffeine Buzz, a media and news website that covers music, culture, film, art and all the things and people from around the world that make life interesting!

Kim for the past year has been conducting research throughout the UK and USA on the role technology has at music festivals. This could be anything from cashless paying systems, Wi-Fi and connectivity, iBeacons and next-generation mobile apps on smart phones, social media and data intelligence,  and how these technologies play an important role for festival goers and organizers. I had the pleasure of catching up with Kim the other day and got to share with her the pros and cons I feel work or maybe don’t work as our society advances with technology, as an avid festival attendee. Recently she contributed her groundwork to an article featured in Festival Insights, a digital publication focused on the festival industry, created by the founders of the prestigious UK and European Festival Awards. The article focuses on the past, present, and future of festival connectivity and features a small part of the interview I had with her.

One of the questions Kim had for me was, “How do I stay connected with friends once at a festival?” I had mentioned to her how at one of my favorite events, The Groove Cruise, many attendees turned to FireChat, an app that connects users to one another via bluetooth or WiFi without internet or phone connection. In the case of this particular festival, when you’re in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship, or a private island beach party, this technology definitely benefits attendees to find one another and stay connected. I also stated how totems, perhaps an old school way to find people, are still a big useful (and fun) way to find friends at festivals.

Some of you may know that in 2012, I started bringing a giant inflatable dinosaur to festivals so my friends could find me. The idea came about when I attended Ultra Music Festival 2012 and my friend from Australia had a inflatable kangaroo with him. At the time, he was the ONLY person at the festival with an inflatable, it was an easy thing to spot in a large crowd, and we always found our group of friends because of it.

kangaroogang

I said to myself, “Wow, I need to get something like this,” which is how Roland Festival Dinosaur came about. With everyone having a cell phone now a days, and before FireChat was created, connection at festivals can be very limited, with so many people in one area trying to make calls, texts, or “stay connected”. I personally prefer not to be on my phone at festivals and knew the inflatable would work, plus it’s hilariously fun to see how people at festivals interact with it! I even started a series on youtube called Dino Cam Adventures, where I strap a GoPro on to Roland and show what a festival is like from his point a view.

Although the idea a few years ago was fresh, I do think more people are starting to catch on to how well the idea works. That being said, almost every festival I have gone to in the past year or two, someone else has the same dinosaur as me, which now defeats the purpose of my friends “finding me.” I’ve even had people at festivals I’m not at, ask if I was there again or tag me in pictures. If you check out the interview I had with Liquid Todd at Ultra 2013, we discuss this issue and how we don’t like people that don’t have “original dinosaurs.” Just to clear things up, when Skrillex gave the shout out to the “dinosaur girl” at Ultra 2014, that was not me! Only time will tell if I will continue to bring Roland with me, but I know that a lot of people know who the “original dinosaur girl” is! Damn, those unoriginal people!

“So we’re somewhere between the age of the dinosaur and a future that holds amazing and exciting promise for festival connectivity, with no rules or exact processes set in stone. Yet.” Kim says. You can read the full article here, and learn about her full research for The Connected Festival™ Report, which will be presented at the panel, “The Future of Event Tech” at SXSW Music Conference, Wednesday March 18th, 5pm CST.

Personally, for me, I think what works and doesn’t work is always changing or at least improving. That’s the beauty of the technology and our society growing. Do I think carrying around a dinosaur forever will work? No. It’s already proven that with multiple T-Rex’s running around people might not find the right one (I’ve basically retired).  Do I think the technology will advance and bring amazing things for a festival attendee in the future? Of course! These topics can be mind blowing and it’s pretty interesting to see where we were a few years ago and where we are going in the years to come.  I want to thank Kim for interviewing me and including me in her research! Please be sure to check out her panel if you’ll be attending SXSW next month in Austin! Also, make sure you follow Roland on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Or if you’re more interested in, you know, important stuff like technology and the future it holds with music festivals follow Kim on Instagram, Twitter,  and Facebook too! What do you think of all of these tech-topics and ideas being brought to music festivals?