Loring Pride
Each June, thousands of people descend upon Loring Park for the annual Pride Festival sponsored by GLBT Pride/Twin Cities. The weekend celebration is a hallmark of summer in the Twin Cities, and The Foundation was proud to volunteer our time to help make this year’s festival a success.
The Foundation was approached by Pride organizers to help solve a particularly thorny issue – vendor check-in. In years past, lines for vendor registration were long with a two-hour wait not uncommon. The Foundation created a wireless network in the park which allowed vendors Check-in could occur at multiple points with volunteers accessing one database, vastly speeding up the process.
There were several difficulties that became apparent as the project progressed. Needed was a way to provide wireless connectivity for the information and registration booths, and yet be practical and stable. Using an existing phone line, a DSL modem was set-up in the Festival Operations Building. From this DSL connection, four Apple AirPort Base Stations were set-up; two in the information/vendor registration booths, one in the Festival Operations building and one in a secret location. Using these base stations, Pride volunteers were able to access the vendor database to facilitate a smooth checkin. Additionally the information booths utilized iChat.This allowed volunteers to handle any crisis or change of plan as information was spread through out the park instantly.
