EPO bands

[TommyDrama]

On 6/11/2019 at 4:31 PM, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Just heard that people on site are saying that EPOs are going to be electronic this year.

Any update on this pal? As in people physically on site now?

[westholtschic]

6 hours ago, TommyDrama said:

Any update on this pal? As in people physically on site now?

I have been told this too, I’m on site from Sunday 

[Giraffe Man]

My letters from 2017 & this year. Says bands will be checked in & out so guess they will be electronic 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2019 by eFestivals
removed images containing some personal (staff) info

[hurdy]

3 hours ago, Giraffe Man said:

My letters from 2017 & this year. Says bands will be checked in & out so guess they will be electronic 

Should put paid to some scammers. 

Hope the system works OK - don't fancy the potential delay of being checked by security on my way to work a shift if I haven't been checked out successfully when I left site previously 

[czuk]

3 hours ago, Giraffe Man said:

My letters from 2017 & this year. Says bands will be checked in & out so guess they will be electronic 

 

 

Not sure it's a good idea to post people's mobile numbers.

[LeeHC]

13 minutes ago, czuk said:

Not sure it's a good idea to post people's mobile numbers.

Agreed, you should crop that bit out @Giraffe Man, Fiona wont want that posted!!!

[Sawdusty surfer]

At the mo all crew are wearing orange H&S inducted wristbands.

Word is that EPOs are going to be issued on Sunday and they'll be electronic. If this is the case there'll be rather a lot of unhappy people left outside I suspect.

[Splatt]

Think the interest in the new approach shows the extent the previous EPO system has been used for purposes other than intended! 

[LeeHC]

7 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

At the mo all crew are wearing orange H&S inducted wristbands.

Word is that EPOs are going to be issued on Sunday and they'll be electronic. If this is the case there'll be rather a lot of unhappy people left outside I suspect.

I admit I don't understand how this will work but if it cuts down on liggers then thumbs-up from me!

[Splatt]

Just now, LeeHC said:

I admit I don't understand how this will work but if it cuts down on liggers then thumbs-up from me!

If they go the RFID approach it’ll likely be a tap in and tap out at the gate (bit like the tube). That way allows confirmation that EPO is a) genuine and b) hasn’t been passed back (as wristband won’t have been scanned on exit). Works well at lots of events, assuming the tech stands up.

[Giraffe Man]

24 minutes ago, LeeHC said:

Agreed, you should crop that bit out @Giraffe Man, Fiona wont want that posted!!!

Apologies all, came on to remove it but Neils done it, thanks.

[jackarmy]

Understand both arguments here. Yes, some people abuse the system and if everyone did it then it could put the licence in jeopardy.

On the other hand, the festival doesn't pay massive money, and a lot of highly-skilled people working the festival do it for not much more than covering of their costs. Without these people the show wouldn't be able to go ahead to the high standard it does currently, if one of the perks of the job is that they've been able to get a couple of mates through the gates then I don't think that's unfair.

Tickets for performers seem to be reducing year-on-year, for some this can be the difference in members of their band playing the festival or not.

FWIW I've always attended as a punter, and will be doing so this year. But just thought I'd throw my tuppence in. 

[LeeHC]

1 minute ago, jackarmy said:

currently, if one of the perks of the job is that they've been able to get a couple of mates through the gates then I don't think that's unfair.

But it isn't a perk of the job- it's a blag. 

[LeeHC]

2 minutes ago, jackarmy said:

the festival doesn't pay massive money,

They pay the going rate, in fact more than in some cases, for this kind of work.

[Sku]

1 hour ago, Splatt said:

assuming the tech stands up.

The pass in pass out scanners were a disaster at Boomtown 2018. The readers kept going down on Thursday morning when everyone was turning up, so they abandoned scanning the tags in/out to clear the queues waiting outside on Thursday morning.

That meant that the data was out of sync for the rest of the weekend, not knowing exactly who was in or out of the festival.

Granted, Glastonbury is only potentially using this system for EPO bands, and not for every person on site like at Boomtown. So the system might hold up better.

[BambooShanks]

Just now, Sku said:

The pass in pass out scanners were a disaster at Boomtown 2018. The readers kept going down on Thursday morning when everyone was turning up, so they abandoned scanning the tags in/out to clear the queues waiting outside on Thursday morning.

That meant that the data was out of sync for the rest of the weekend, not knowing exactly who was in or out of the festival.

Granted, Glastonbury is only potentially using this system for EPO bands, and not for every person on site like at Boomtown. So the system might hold up better.

If it works effectively or not, at the very least it's a deterrent for what happened in 2017 with the guy who made thousands of the bands.  If people are aware that there is that system in place, they'd be less likely to buy a wristband that would not work.

While it is a shame (for some) that various EPO band blags are now effectively over, you've got to respect that GFL has to respect the licencing conditions, the safety of the revellers and the future of the festival.

[Sku]

19 minutes ago, Kinkyinuit said:

If it works effectively or not, at the very least it's a deterrent for what happened in 2017 with the guy who made thousands of the bands.  If people are aware that there is that system in place, they'd be less likely to buy a wristband that would not work.

While it is a shame (for some) that various EPO band blags are now effectively over, you've got to respect that GFL has to respect the licencing conditions, the safety of the revellers and the future of the festival.

Oh I totally respect the decision to do it, and I think it's the right decision. Just was highlighting that I've seen it work badly at a system last year. I'll be wearing an EPO band myself, so I'll be sure to report back on how smoothly it went.

[BambooShanks]

1 minute ago, Sku said:

Oh I totally respect the decision to do it, and I think it's the right decision. Just was highlighting that I've seen it work badly at a system last year. I'll be wearing an EPO band myself, so I'll be sure to report back on how smoothly it went.

I hope it works smoothly for you!

I have no idea how many EPO bands are given out, it must be solidly in the 10s of thousands  (or at least less than boomtown) but I can definitely see more workers going in and out compared to the punters in Boomtown.  It's certainly going to be a robust test of the system!

[jfaragher]

13 minutes ago, Kinkyinuit said:

I hope it works smoothly for you!

I have no idea how many EPO bands are given out, it must be solidly in the 10s of thousands  (or at least less than boomtown) but I can definitely see more workers going in and out compared to the punters in Boomtown.  It's certainly going to be a robust test of the system!

Not all workers get EPO - I'd say it's <10k probably, compared to ~60k punters and crew at Boomtown who were all scanned in and out.

[czuk]

45 minutes ago, Kinkyinuit said:

If it works effectively or not, at the very least it's a deterrent for what happened in 2017 with the guy who made thousands of the bands.  If people are aware that there is that system in place, they'd be less likely to buy a wristband that would not work.

I got told that someone made £45k one year. That's taking the piss.

[BambooShanks]

1 minute ago, czuk said:

I got told that someone made £45k one year. That's taking the piss.

Fuck me sideways.  I mean, you gotta respect the blag but that is just excessive. Does anybody know if anything happened to the guy who sold all of the bands?

 

27 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

Not all workers get EPO - I'd say it's <10k probably, compared to ~60k punters and crew at Boomtown who were all scanned in and out.

True, but a lot of workers that are camped outside of the festival do and there's a lot of them (DC site services, Avalon Beer Company, Oxfam off the top of my head), then there's worthy view as well.  Either way there's going to be a lot of people  consistently entering and exiting the site.  

[Penrhos]

The guys in the tent next to me in 2017 had fake EPO wristbands and said all their mates had got in with them too so it's been a well exploited loophole that needed closing "For the sake of the festival's license". 

If they are RFID and it works well then hopefully all the 2020 wristbands will be RFID as I'm so paranoid about losing my pass-out ticket and it'd be one less thing to worry about.

[LeeHC]

17 minutes ago, Penrhos said:

The guys in the tent next to me in 2017 had fake EPO wristbands and said all their mates had got in with them too so it's been a well exploited loophole that needed closing "For the sake of the festival's license". 

If they are RFID and it works well then hopefully all the 2020 wristbands will be RFID as I'm so paranoid about losing my pass-out ticket and it'd be one less thing to worry about.

True, they might be using it as a test before full roll out.

Amazed this loophole has lasted so long if its been so badly exploited. Every year they've said that we'll need laminates as well as EPO (I'm recycling crew) but they've never issued them- guess they've gone this way instead!

[juuceman]

Assuming they've gone RFID, the tech works well here in the US at Coachella, Lollapalooza, and any number of other festivals with 100,000+ people coming and going per day. The scanners need consistent network access to work and so long as that's there it takes 5-10 seconds/person to tap and have the reader come back with a red or green light. I'm surprised they haven't gone to thus system yet at Glastonbury, but assume the investment wasn't worth it due to the vast majority of people staying on site throughout the entire event.

[jow95]

7 minutes ago, juuceman said:

5-10 seconds/person to tap and have the reader come back with a red or green light.

sounds a bit long that