Travel Blog

29 Jun

Tech Tails: Believing in the Believe Website – Part 1

From July 11th until the 15th, music lovers from around the world will gather to gyrate the rhythm of life and the beats of many talented musicians for the first ever Believe Freedom Festival. Us techies like to rely on our smart phones for everything so the first questions I had when I heard about this festival was, “Is there an app?” Festival apps help organize one’s day and allows for an almost flawless festering fester* experience.  So, I emailed “them” and Jane responded with,  “We have debated having an app this year extensively, we have been offered one at a price of $5,000.00 which may not be in our budget this year…” Knowing that putting a festival on in Whistler is can be pricey, we only have their website to go by, for now. Hopefully, the festival grounds have adequate cell service so we use their mobile website.

Believe Freedom Festival homepage

Believe Freedom Festival homepage

The two most important features on any festival website/app are the festival map and the lineup so let’s focus on those functions. So, to see this festival map on your mobile device, you need to go to you web browser and visit www.believefreedomfestival.com. Once on the home page you can see a map as the background but I suggest going to the “Festival” tab and selecting “Festival Map.” The next thing you should do is save the map (take a screen shot) just incase you don’t have any reception or Wi-Fi while festing. The map looks simple and colourful. There are no interactive features in on the map and the best way to view it is by turning your phone (iPhone) sideways. It looks like there is one main stage, a drum café, markets, camps and more. If this map is to scale (which I’m sure it is not) the stage will be HUGE! Party on. The only real way to see how the festival is laid out is by being there, I guess. Good thing that I’ll be checking out the festival and can update you.

Sideways enlarged map

Sideways enlarged map

People go to music festivals for many reasons and one of the largest reasons is the music. The lineup is crucial in planning your party route and it’s helpful to know who’s playing when/where, ahead of time. If you go to the home page and select the “Line Up” tab at the top of the screen, you will be taken to a page of musicians organized by genres. It looks funky and each musician is featured as a Polaroid. When selecting the artist you will be taken to a page where you learn more about them (with videos). The downfall is that the lineup is not released yet with only 2 weeks out. I have faith the lineup will be out soon and will be easy to use on a mobile device. You will want to either take a screen shot of the lineup or write down what shows you want to see and when/where they are on just incase there is no service/ Wi-Fi. I’ll be trying out these functions and tips at the festival and part two of this post will tell you how the festival’s digital component unfolds and their reliability.

The Lineup (musicians)

The “Lineup” (musicians)

Note: I will provide a rating after the lineup is out and I check out Believe Freedom Festival. In the meantime, the cheesecake is being made.

*Festing Fester – Those who travel from festival to festival festering in the festival’s magic.

Do you have a website, app or something techy you want Blair to review? Tweet her: @blairkaplanprBlair Kaplan is a Pemberton/Whistler based Communications Professional who loves cats, travelling and all things techie.

Article source: http://www.whistlerisawesome.com/2013/06/28/tech-tails-believing-in-the-believe-website-part-1/