ipadThe Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) held their annual Transcather Cardiovascular Therapeutice conference in late October of last year. This six-day conference, held in San Francisco, drew 11,500+ attendees. 

In order to cut down on paper products and eliminate conference binders, CRF decided to purchase 10,000 Samsung tablets for attendees, knowing that over 1,000 attendees would BYOD. Instead of charging for the tablets, they gave them to the registrants for free when they arrived at the conference. . 

However, much to the surprize of Johnnie White the Executive Director at CRF things did not go off without a hitch. Here are five things to consider when event planning and why in some cases renting iPads may make more sense. 

ETHICS

Because the tablet was not included in the registration fee, many physicians felt accepting the tablet would be in violation of the Pharma guidelines. So at the end of the conference, many returned them back to CRF. 

If you rent iPads, there are no worries about ethics. Attendees use the device and return them at the end of each day for recharge and storage. The audiovisual rental company is responsible for providing the right device for the right attendee. 

STORAGE and INSURANCE

White had all the tablets shipped to New York for tax purposes, even though the conference was in California. 

"We had a hell of a time trying to find a warehouse that would house 10,000 tablets for a few weeks….tablets are probably the number one stolen item right now. So a lot of the warehouses did not want that liability,

"Insuring the tablets on their trip from New York to San Francisco was equally difficult…a lot of companies wouldn't do it," White told Michelle Russell from PCMA Convene Magazine. 

When considering iPad rentals, you don't have to worry about storage, insurance, shipping or loss. A national company like SmartSource Rentals has the product to handle your demands. With 20 locations across the country, they have the product to meet your demand. 

iOS vs. ANDROID

The Samsung tablet runs on the Android platform yet many of the attendees were familiar with Apple devices and the iOS operating system. Using an Android platform required a lot of help from the CRF staff. 

Understand what your attendees already have and are familiar with. Make the meeting apps easy for them to use. If they already have an iPad at home, a rental at the conference will be a piece of cake for them to navigate. 

WiFi 

Because they were enabling so many devices and they knew attendees would be bringing at least one more, the bandwidth needed to be just right. White flew out two weeks ahead of the conference to make sure the network would have enough juice to handle the number of attendees present. 

Event WiFi solutions can including a WiFi network array rental unit to boost bandwidth. Because bandwidth can be challenging with tablets (due to their weak antennas), a network array can be just what you need to enhance the venue's existing WiFi infrastructure. 

No matter what the quantity of iPads needed, SmartSource Rentals can deliver them to your meeting, trade show, or event! An Account Executive will be your single source of contact for your entire rental experience and handle every detail for you! Contact them today for more information.at 800.888.8686