Uvenu Geofencing Designed For Fan Engagement At Live Experiences
Monster Jam, San Diego Gulls and San Diego Seals see greater interactions with fans, better user experiences
Uvenu is a cloud-based, patent-pending software company that developed a geofencing based fan experience called an audience engagement platform that is mobile-first. The Sports Techie community blog chatted with Daniel Canepa, co-founder and CEO of Uvenu, about his vision for transforming fan experiences across sports, live entertainment and large-scale events for an instant connection with fans. It was a pleasure to spend an hour on a video call learning about his sports technology product and to get to know the highly intelligent, 41-year-old, husband and father of two young kids who hails from San Diego, CA. Dan truly has a lifetime of background in broadcast, live production, and venue operations derived from his work experiences at the Padres, Garnett and NBC Universal, as well as being the son of a local and prominent sports journalist. Pre-pandemic, the concept of how to meaningfully connect with mobile-first audiences—at scale, in real time, and without hardware headaches, at live events, drove him to launch his startup around 2017. Under his leadership, Uvenu is in use at over 30 venues and growing weekly with a variety of minor league teams, pro lacrosse, and other users. while they build up the brand name. Our conversation timing was perfect to also discuss the recent Kiss Cam phenomenon as it related to CrowdVu, which is a module of the robust VuSuite platform. Dan’s prediction that all kinds of related and most often, humorous content would surface, especially during this influencer era, as well as touching on the effect in terms of viral marketing that happened for Coldplay, was all spot on. Empowering fans to engage directly with live broadcasts via mobile phones while streamlining operations and driving revenue growth is a powerful sweet spot for Uvenu to deliver for existing clients like Monster Jam, the San Diego Gulls and San Diego Seals, and franchises that are off the record for now, in the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NCAA, and more. From a turnkey, zero-integration light shows to AI-powered fan engagement, Uvenu brings it all together to amplify the biggest moments.
Daniel Canepa is the co-founder and CEO of Uvenu, a mobile-first fan and audience engagement platform now used across sports, live entertainment, and large-scale events (image via UVenu)
“Since over 80% of fans and event participants use their mobile phones at the venues, it makes sense to utilize geofencing to activate sponsorships, provide event or gameday information or send notifications to attendees/fans at the venue. In addition, fans outside of the zone will miss perks, ensuring rewards are reserved for those who make it to the game or event,” said Canepa.
CrowdVu image of SelfieCam with QR Code Acivation
Optimizing Geofencing Tech
If your organization wants better fan engagement, their new Geofencing feature, unlocks a metrics bundle of insights into fan behavior, in many ways, revolutionizing how teams and businesses understand and engage with both their in-venue and out-of-venue audiences. By leveraging geofencing technology, Uvenu ensures that all content—videos, stills, live cameras, live polling, and light shows—is authentically tied to a specific event. This creates a seamless, easy to use and trustworthy experience, for sophisticated or beginner users and operators, alike. Geofencing can be used in stadiums, arenas, race tracks, music venues, convention centers and a variety of other venues offering fan experiences such as polling, pump up moments with fans holding AI generated and Claymation signs to create viral moments, DJ activations, post-game concerts, and on and on.
CrowdVue
LumiVue light show
CanvasVue social wall
PollVue gamification
MagicVue AI generation
StreamVue production cams
MagicVu AI Generation Star Wars AI fan Cam
Monster Jam, San Diego Gulls and San Diego Seals use new Geofencing technology
Monster Jam employs Uvenu’s Geofencing technology across five venues every weekend, simultaneously. As the event locations change weekly, operators can effortlessly pair live cell phone cameras to their specific event using evergreen weblinks. The Uvenu console only requires updating the event locations—no confusing links or constant device updates needed. Dan shared Monster Jam uses Uvenu in some 120 events, A key StreamVu production cams breakthrough was the mounting of cams inside the cars in a light and easy way by using iPhone 12 minis mounted inside the carriages, producing never-before-seen video and still shots of drivers.
Both the San Diego Gulls and San Diego Seals play at the same arena and utilize identical links to implement a comprehensive geofencing strategy. When their events are active, the system automatically pairs the event to the correct team, updating all branding and themes seamlessly based on the scheduled event. Geofencing can improve sports stadium marketing, fan engagement, and event management.
Fan behavior insight derived from geofencing, and data analysis is a game-changer for the sports and entertainment industry. It allows teams and businesses to go beyond simple attendance numbers and understand the nuances of fan behavior, leading to more effective engagement strategies, improved operations, and a more fulfilling fan experience.
PollVu with Sponsor Activation
Geofencing key benefits:
Authenticity Assurance: Knowing content is directly linked to an event relieves broadcast productions and operators from the burden of verifying legitimacy, allowing them to focus on their core tasks.
Exclusivity & Marketing Opportunities: Geofencing enables exclusive experiences and targeted marketing with local brands.
Example: At a geofenced event, users can be prompted to visit a designated location, scan a QR code, and answer a poll for a chance to win a giveaway.Ease of Use: Uvenu’s geofenced events feature “evergreen” user connection links. These links only activate when an event is live (based on date/time) and the user is within the preset location, simplifying the pairing process.
“Geofencing is a versatile tool that can revolutionize the way teams and venues interact with their fans, optimize their operations, and generate revenue. By harnessing the power of location-based data and analytics, they can create more engaging, efficient, and profitable experiences for everyone involved,” said Canepa.
The platform’s geolocation capabilities and seamless integration with live broadcasts make it a game-changer in fan engagement.
Phillie Phanatic mascots recreate the viral Coldplay “Kiss Cam”
Coldplay Kiss Cam
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot were filmed on the Kiss Cam camera at a Boston-area Coldplay concert last week.
Parody and meme trends were sure to go viral as the Coldplay video did.
“Faking the CEO story was sure to be a viral marketing hit for Coldplay,” said Dan. Dan added, “Look for AI parodies, memes and images to be submitting with signs, smack talk and rivals to make light of opposing fans, political figures and advertising campaigns.”
Byron resigned shorty after being caught on Kiss Cam while cuddling with Cabot.
PollVu at Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta for the Georgia vs Clemson game
Sports Techie, Danny feels as do I, that we are entering the 365 days per year event spaces, with no place more adapt at this than the Battery and Truist Park here in Cobb County, GA. Dan and his team supported the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta for the Georgia vs Clemson game on Aug 31, 2024. The CrowdVu Selfie Cam, CanvasVu social wall and PollVu Gamification (5 polls) were operated seamlessly and in timely fashion during the live broadcast.
Uvenu wanted to solve one of the biggest challenges in live experiences: how to meaningfully connect with mobile-first audiences—at scale, in real time, and without hardware headaches.
Development of the product took a major turn when they found the right developers, mostly on-shore here in the U.S. with some off-shore work, as needed.
My son and I went through several demos led by Dan with the admin tool to see how easy it is use and to create MagicVu AI generated, VuCam images and video stills. Theme night images for Lego night, tropical night or Star Wars nights, are very easy to produce with the combination of CanvasVu social wall content and MagicVu AI generation, in mere seconds.
StreamVu image of Monster Jam
Fans can share Uvenu content via Facebook and Instagram with a click of a button because Dan decided his company did not want to have to data scrub, which used to be free on Twitter/X but now comes as a cost after owner Elon Musk changed the model. As a result, fans can self-post.
Light shows use an iPhone’s back light that can be easily synched with potentially thousands of other users inside a venue. The optical of the synced light show during a blackout is an amazing feature.
Event metrics are readily available post event. When going live, clients can collect fans’ email addresses, or deliver a 20% off coupon for merchandise or concessions by using a hyper linked or QR code, and when filtered back, the clients automatically get the data and can then provide it to existing sponsors. The social scroll enables clients to add a Peloton or Verizon ad for fans to see while scrolling content.
Security is very important during broadcast marketing, thus QR codes need to work everywhere, both internationally or domestic. Dan and his team supported during a social CanvasVu social wall and watch party on a broadcast. Because the proprietary tech tags users, the admin knows where each person is located for added security, as well as marketing or sponsor touches.
The admins approval process for producing content is considered family friendly so as to not make sponsors look bad. In near real-time, admins, whether via the client or with Uvenu admin support for larger events, make it certain that all content meets posting requirements before going live.
I wanted to know more about how they overcome latency. He responded, “By using industry standard backbone of video, webRTC, using protocols such as HTTP, WebSocket and DTLS-SRTP for real-time communication through internet browsers. It is readily available and is the core of this Microsoft Teams meeting we are communication over with a sub 10 millisecond bit rate.”
I have to admit, I was absolutely sold on this product for its ease of use, price point and feature sets. Dan says the nonintegrated product is tied into what leaders do with the light show recently allowed to happen nearby where I live.
There are a few competitors in the space, in particular with selfie cams, but Uvenu’s geofencing technologies have landed unnamed NFL, NHL and MLB clients because the product does not need to be integrated with physical computers because it is 100% hosted in the cloud, which Dan felt was a barrier to entry for prospects considering a rival product. The lack of integration requirements makes it easy to install in about an hour, then operate on a browser, and also be able to customize, as needed. Client customization ideas are encouraged and doable via API.
VuSuite comes at a fair price point or interested clients can purchase individual modules at fair pricing. Pricing per big or small event, per module, or for the entire VuSuite, is flexible since they operate as a family-friendly company.
I asked Dan whether we might see Uvenu powered drone shows. He said it may be coming sooner than later.
As the former Director of Business Development at ScoreMore, LLC. I was part of a geofencing-centric product nine years ago. Seeing this tech come full circle in less than a decade is inspiring.
Ready to elevate your venue, brand or game day?
The NLL, AHL and Monster Jam are doing just that, by redefining live event experiences via mobile first – all through one seamless platform, thanks to Uvenu.
See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!
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