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Public Wi-Fi Trial

Summary

At Henley Royal Regatta (HRR), I led a Guest WiFi proof-of-concept to improve on-site connectivity where mobile coverage was limited. Beyond enhancing the visitor experience, the initiative was designed to drive engagement with HRR’s digital platforms, encourage user-generated content, and lay the foundations for future digital innovation, while also enabling high-quality audience insight and data capture.

Objectives

(1) Visitor Experience: Provide reliable on-site connectivity to address poor mobile signal and improve guest experience

(2) Digital Engagement: Encourage use of HRR’s digital platforms, including broadcast, website and social channels

(3) Audience Insight: Capture and segment first-party data from audiences attending the event

(4) Lead Generation: Grow HRR’s marketing database through high-quality, GDPR-compliant opt-in access

(5) Future Innovation: Establish foundational infrastructure to support future digital products and services

Approach & Delivery

  • Delivered a proof-of-concept Wi-Fi during the live event alongside on-site IT teams and a specialist Wi-Fi provider

  • Designed the service with visitor experience as the primary driver, ensuring fast, simple access to essential services

  • Positioned Wi-Fi as a gateway to HRR’s digital ecosystem, encouraging:

    • Consumption of live broadcast and racing coverage

    • Access to live and historical results via the website

    • Increased use of HRR social channels and sharing of user-generated content

  • Created four Wi-Fi hotspots for different points across the site, enabling later analysis and behavioural segmentation

  • Built the login journey to balance ease of use with robust data capture, consent and GDPR compliance

  • Embedded market research questions within the access journey to gather insight at scale

  • Introduced upsell and promotional cards on the holding page to drive real-time engagement

  • Acted as product owner for the platform, managing messaging, questions and outputs in real-time

  • Ensured alignment with security, safeguarding and data protection requirements

Outcomes & Impact

  • Supported thousands of attendees with on-site connectivity in an area of poor mobile coverage

  • Captured 10,000+ unique email addresses during the event

  • Achieved an average marketing opt-in rate of 89.5%, significantly exceeding typical live-event benchmarks

  • Identified approximately 93% of users as non-Members, validating Wi-Fi as a powerful acquisition channel

  • Generated segmented audience data based on location, attendance patterns and survey responses

  • Demonstrated Guest WiFi as a high-value service enhancement rather than a barrier to access

© 2026 by Madeleine Portwain

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