adminSuperfast soapbox cart racers wowed the crowds while a dedicated digital team kept people up to date with the action at the annual Belchford Downhill Challenge on Sunday (16th September).
Thousands of people who turned out for the soapbox derby, which saw 50 teams battle it out down a long stretch of hill in the village, were given a taste of how the latest online technology could work for them thanks to the Lincolnshire County Council onlincolnshire team.
A specially equipped multimedia marquee was set up in Belchford to carry out live blogging, send tweets and play back 2D and 3D video footage of the action.
Almost 30,000 Twitter users saw tweets about the event, with hundreds more joining in the discussion. YouTube users were also able to witness a driver-view of the 40mph speeds reached on the way down the hill after the team mounted cameras to the carts. People visiting the tent could also take advantage of iPads to stay on top of the action as it unfolded.
The marquee was also equipped with interactive leaderboards showing times and speeds reached for all teams.
“The Belchford Downhill Challenge was a fantastic opportunity to showcase exactly what people could be missing out on by not having fast and reliable access to the Internet,” said Angela Driver, Principal Development Officer at onlincolnshire.
“We wanted to use the latest digital and online technology to show how an event could be transformed. We’re very pleased with how many people wanted to find out more about the onlincolnshire project and what technologies we were using. The hope is that people who came to see us will understand the benefits of superfast broadband and support our campaign to improve the service across Lincolnshire.”
The project was part-funded by the East Midlands European Regional Development Fund as part of the £57 million council-led onlincolnshire project which aims to provide broadband speeds of at least 24Mbps for 90% of homes and businesses in the county, and a guaranteed 2Mpbs for the remaining premises by 2015.
Spectator Joanne Carver, 32, from Horncastle, visited the show with husband Mark, 34, and four-year-old son Harry. “My son wanted to see things from the drivers’ perspective and we heard about the media tent so went to have a look,” said Joanne. “It made it more thrilling to see the footage from the cameras and it was interesting to hear more about the broadband campaign in general.”
Staff from onlincolnshire were on hand to collect signatures in support of superfast broadband in Lincolnshire.
