With the closing ceremony and the opening one
for that matter, still fresh in our minds, we would like to reflect on how
successful the event has been.
From a games perspective it seems this has
proved to be one of the best Commonwealth Games ever and especially for
Scotland and more importantly the people of Glasgow.
Glasgow and the rest of
Scotland place their people right up there with Whiskey and Golf as their key
exports and few would disagree
However over the years the whiskey and golf
is sampled regularly however to sample the collective spirit of the Scottish
only comes around every now and then! Normally the 'Scots' qualifying for a FIFA
World Cup or European Championship.
These games provided the audience of the
whole Commonwealth and beyond through all the usual communication channels, TV.
Internet, Mobile etc… like they have never previously experienced.
The scrutiny
was even more enhanced due to London’s successful hosting of the recent Olympic
Games in 2012.
We are sure most who attended or watched on TV
saw a different type of games but certainly not an inferior one.
Also well done to England who topped the leader board for their incredible medal haul, the
first time for 24 years. Well done Team England!
From a skignz point of view, the games afforded our CMO the opportunity to go back up to Glasgow for the first time in over 20
years.
With an full agenda for the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Business Conference, Royal Reception and a number of client meetings and live demos of the skignz technology.
The route up took him back up on the same journey he tread as a wide eyed 16 year
old, making his way in the world of Football... (Soccer to our friends in the USA).
Si Brown said:
"Glasgow as a whole has changed
significantly, even the drive up from the NE England, taking the same route as
over two decades ago has been transformed, certainly North of the Border by the
vast numbers of ‘Wind Turbines’ covering the horizon, from the hills/mountains
to the east, across to the western seaboard, where more appear offshore.
Once in Glasgow the development and
transformation has been immense, from a heavy industrialised city to one of
culture, awesome modern and contemporary architecture mixed in with the
heritage sites across the city, to the infrastructure projects in and around the
key urban areas.
One thing that had hardly changed if at all
was when I visited Fir Park, the home of the wonderful Motherwell F.C.
It was
like going back in time as I turned the corner to face the ground. Very little
had changed in my mind although I’m sure a lot has.
The ground is still ‘a ground’ in the old
school term and not either morphed or relocated in to a new shiny stadium.
There
was two nice a touches that meant a lot to me personally was remembrance of two
former great MFC (Scotland Internationals) players (who sadly died very young
in their mid to late 30’s) both left wingers as well, by naming two of the grounds main stands after them.
The wizard that was Davy Cooper (Scottish
Juninho) and the lovely guy that was Phil O’Donnell both of which were at the
club back in the early 1990’s when I was there."
Back to the reason for skignz being in Scotland
after that trip down memory lane.
One of the ways skignz aims to become a
market leader in providing real time information regardless of your location is
by engaging with various sectors and prominent companies and market leaders in
those specific sectors to work in partnership to help develop the skignz
offering.
One of those partnerships that is currently
being developed is in the global major sporting events sector. So FIFA World
Cups, UEFA Championships, Champions League, Europa Cup, the Olympics/Paralympics,
Formula E, Cricket, Tennis, Horse Racing Golf etc…and of course the
Commonwealth Games.
Billions of people attend these live events
all over the world from the annually and biannually run events to the global greats
such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup coming every 4 years.
skignz is
working to become the ‘default’ way of helping people find their way around
these global events, to access relevant real time information when and where
they need it, through their mobile device.
As an armchair supporter the quality of
information that you can access through your TV, website etc.. is phenomenal,
however the real time live experience lacks ‘replays’, in game betting/gaming,
fan/broadcaster commentary.
skignz provides the answer to this and as the
skignz technology is more widely used the scope of information will increase.
For those of you in the UK that can remember football on the terrestrial
channels and how it changed when Sky Sports arrived! Now think 20 odd years
ahead to Sky's offering now compared to those early days – it has transformed
how we watch live sport with uber finite analysis, stats, replays, simulations,
different camera angles, fan zones etc…
It’s been mooted that the reason for the
decline in live attendances (apart from
the increase in price) has been the comparison with the experience you get by
watching the same game in your own home, pub/bar or on the internet versus the
live experience cost etc…
skignz will not only help the live audience
access more information and data whilst being present but will help them in and
around the area with additional content – help them find their way about new
stadia, tracks, etc..
So it acts not only as a Way-Finder/Map but then becomes
your source of relevant content about that specific event.
Bringing you back to the games in Glasgow,
skignz ran a number of demo’s and tests in order to showcase to a number of
audiences the capability of skignz, it was brand related to the current games,
with a few extras showing the possibilities in taking skignz to different
levels and also about how content can be audience specific – Adults, Children, Teenagers or even Staff, Security, VIP’s, Sponsors, Partners, Trainers, Coaches and
even the Athletes themselves.
This content was broken up into various
channels and placed at a number of the key locations the games were centred
around. The audiences that got to experience skignz comments included:
- “blown me away”
- “does what it says on the tin”
- “offers so many possibilities”
- “fits perfectly with the branding”
- “reaches and engages anyone and everyone who comes to the games”
- “you can easily see how skignz can work, at any event anywhere in the
world"
The extra work also seemed to ‘hit the spot’
show casing how skignz can
be expanded on
to not just be signs in the sky but using the
official games
mascot ‘Clyde’ the skignz team
placed a few of this little guy in his different
sports across the venues! This
created a
different way to interact with the skignz and
for a different
purpose.
All of this support and feedback has been
very encouraging for the whole skignz team and the few bits that made it onto
Social Media also seemed to be very well received.
So where are we now?
The skignz team are
working on a number of fronts with interested parties to see how best to
integrate skignz into the future global events, we anticipate that a number of
slightly smaller and more annual events will get the ‘skignz treatment’ first with a view to developing a model ready to
be rolled out for the next major events from 2016.
In the meantime, please keep an eye out for
skignz coming to a sport near you, or even you near that sport! Using skignz to
find your way around and access content in a whole new way!
All on a free app that you can not only use
to access this content, but you can also help contribute towards by creating an
account (also free!) and place your own content!
Happy Live Sports skignzing….
If you want to read more about the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Motherwell FC, FIFA, UEFA then please take a look at the following links:
- http://www.glasgow2014.com/
- http://www.rio2016.org/en
- http://www.motherwellfc.co.uk/
- http://www.uefa.com/
- http://www.fifa.com/
or more about skignz then:
skignz website:
http://www.skignz.com
discover skignz website:
http://www.skignz.com/discover
Si was invited to speak after a number of the 'WIRED' events team saw him present and pitch at various events and the articles written about skignz in 'WIRED Magazine' throughout 2015 
