Internet down in the middle of your matchmaking event? How to keep it running

If the internet goes down in the middle of your matchmaking event, the event only stops if your operation depends on the network. With the software installed on the organizer's computer and a paper plan B, the timer, the tables, the audio and the big screen keep going.

The rest of this article is what you prepare ahead of time, so the outage becomes a footnote and not the story of the day. If this is your first event, start with the complete guide to running a matchmaking event.

What stops when the network goes down

Venue internet is shared. At a hotel, a convention center or a chamber of commerce auditorium, the same network serves the front desk, everyone's phones and sometimes another event upstairs. It tends to fail right when the room fills up.

When it drops, everything that runs on a website or an online account stops with it:

• the scheduling tool that opens in a browser;
• the shared cloud spreadsheet with the table grid;
• a big screen that displays a web page;
• check-in done on an online system;
• the messages you planned to send participants from your phone.

Participants see none of that. They see the organizer staring at a laptop, a frozen timer and people standing around with no idea which table to go to. Every minute of downtime is conversation time that does not come back.

There is a worse detail. If the tool goes down halfway through, do you know who has already sat with whom? Without that answer, the risk of a repeated meeting when you restart is real, and a repeat is what participants remember.

A paper plan B

The plan B does not replace your tool. It covers what no tool can: a power cut, a frozen laptop, a missing cable.

What to print before the event:

• The full seating plan, round by round: who sits at which table. This is the document that saves the event if the screen goes dark.
• Each participant's schedule, with their table for every round. Someone holding their schedule does not need the big screen to know where to go.
• The attendance list, so you can check people in with a pen if check-in freezes.
• The run of show: opening, break and closing.
• Venue contacts: sound technician, the person in charge of power, the front desk.

Also agree on a manual signal for changing rounds, such as a bell, in case the sound fails. And decide who owns the folder: someone on your team who knows where it is and what to do with it.

Print the final version, after the list is closed. If people do not show up and you reorganize the tables on the day, the paper goes out of date. That is why it is plan B, not plan A.

Online tool vs. installed software

One question decides whether an outage becomes a problem: where does your tool run?

An online tool runs on a server, far from the room. Every click needs the venue network and the server working at the same time. It has real advantages, like access from anywhere with nothing to install, but on event day it inherits the quality of the hotel Wi-Fi.

Installed software runs on the computer sitting on your table. The network can drop and the event keeps going: the timer counts, the tables are set, the audio plays and the big screen shows the round, the table and the time.

That is how our software works. The internet is used once, to activate the license, and after that only when you choose to download an update. Setting up and running the event does not depend on a connection, and your participant list stays on your computer.

That does not mean giving up on online. Registration can happen through the Organizer Hub weeks before, when the network is not an issue. The registration spreadsheet comes out in the format the software imports, and what happens in the room stays on your computer.

If you are still choosing a tool, the article spreadsheet or software shows what changes as the event grows.

Venue tech checklist

Do the site visit with the same computer you will use on the day. This is the minimum to check.

Before you leave the office

• License activated and updates downloaded, at the office and not at the venue.
• Participant list imported and seating plan reviewed.
• Event backup saved somewhere other than the computer.
• Automatic system updates postponed until after the event. Nobody wants Windows restarting during a round change.

Power

• An outlet near the organizer's table, tested.
• Laptop charged and plugged in for the whole event.
• A spare extension cord and power strip.

Big screen and sound

• The right video cable and adapter for the projector or second screen, with a spare in your bag.
• Big screen tested in its final position, readable from the back of the room.
• The computer's audio output connected to the sound board, with the volume set for a full room.
• The venue technician told that the round announcements come from your computer.

Network, only for what needs it

• Ask whether there is a separate network for the organizers.
• Keep your phone's hotspot as a backup for email and messages.
• Make sure nothing that runs the room depends on it.

Paper

• The plan B folder on the table, with someone who knows how to use it.

For an hour-by-hour plan of the day, see what to consider on the day of the event. For the weeks before, use the complete checklist for organizing a matchmaking event.

Backup and restore

The paper plan B protects the room. The backup protects the work: the imported list, the reviewed seating plan, the attendance you recorded.

With our software, everything stays on your computer: the local database, backups and audio files. Your participant list is never uploaded anywhere. A backup is a single file you keep wherever you want, and restoring it brings the whole event back.

Good moments to back up:

• after importing the participant list;
• after reviewing the seating plan;
• the day before, with the final version;
• at the end of the event, before you shut the computer down.

Keep a copy off the computer, such as a USB drive in the plan B folder. A backup that lives on the same disk as the event does not protect you from a disk problem.

Learn to restore before you need to. Walk through it once, calmly, on an ordinary day, and not for the first time with the room waiting.

When the last table gets up, the report comes out of the same computer, in PDF and Excel: attendance and how many meetings took place, between whom. To see the whole operation running without depending on the network, take a look at the software or book a demo.