The Waitrose Garden Party is a one-day charity fundraising event, bringing 1,500 local suppliers together for dinner and networking on the banks of the River Thames at Henley. Kat Deeley, the event’s key presenter, led the proceedings and charity auction.
It’s a beautiful location, but it came with a challenge. The riverside site has no internet, no infrastructure and no WiFi.
Connectivity from a previous supplier hadn’t worked, leading to frustration, so the stakes were high, and the client nervous. The event needed to go off without a hitch, with production, talent, VIPs and guests all online, and media streaming running throughout.
Wireless Solutions was brought in to turn an empty riverside site into a fully online event.
The brief was to build everything from scratch: internet, network and WiFi, for an event with no existing connectivity at all.
We designed the solution around the different groups on site, each with their own needs:
We brought the site to life with an enterprise-grade network core, the foundation for a WiFi network that let traffic flow cleanly between every media department.
Because it was a one-day event, there was no room for error. We planned, built and tested the network in advance, so everything was ready to go live when the first guests arrived.
This time, it worked like a dream.
From the first arrival to the final dinner service, the network ran without a single issue. Guests stayed connected, production ran smoothly, and the talent and VIP areas had the dedicated WiFi they needed. Media streaming went ahead as planned, so the event reached beyond the riverbank.
With 1,500 key suppliers on site and a charity fundraiser at the heart of the day, there was no margin for error. The technology did its job quietly in the background, leaving everyone to enjoy the evening.
The Waitrose Garden Party proves what’s possible when connectivity is designed properly from the start. Even a riverside field with no infrastructure can become a fully online event.
The production team was delighted. After the headaches of the previous year, the site now worked exactly as it should.
If you’re planning an event in a location with no connectivity, we’d love to help. Get in touch to find out how we can bring it online.
