The sports-filled daily life of Kuopio Football club is made easier with Taitori’s room booking system and door displays “We can now trust that when the Ltd books a room for itself, it is actually reserved for us.
Founded in 1923, Kuopio Football Club, commonly known as KuPS, faced challenges during the COVID years as the pandemic complicated the organization of sports events in Savonia.
“COVID made our operations at the Väre Arena very difficult. UEFA imposed many regulations that often lacked logic. The teams had to be kept completely separate, entering the stadium through different doors, even though they would soon be playing against each other on the field. During the worst times of the pandemic, there couldn’t be any audience present at all,” says Niklas Pehkonen, Media Manager at KuPS.
The Väre Arena has six shared spaces used by both KuPS Oy, which manages the men’s and women’s teams, and Kups Ry, which oversees junior football and related matters.
The venue includes:
- Four private boxes for events, accommodating 10-15 people. The boxes are ideally located above the substitutes’ bench and coaches.
- A Super-VIP room, recently renovated for hosting customer events during home matches, hosted by a group of KuPS player legends.
- A Partner’s Pool, a VIP area that will be set up in a tent for the summer, featuring its own terrace, VIP end, main grandstand, and spacious interiors.
- Additionally, the arena includes the Aalis cabinet, which seats about 30 people.
Need for Taitori’s products and services
“The primary need was to ensure that the company’s requirements for our spaces were met. We wanted to guarantee that the spaces were reserved for our use, after which we could also offer them to the association. We also wanted to gain control and information about who uses our spaces and how often.”
All facilities at the Väre Arena are under the responsibility of KuPS Oy, but they are used extensively for various purposes:
- Both the men’s and women’s teams prefer to hold meetings in the Aalis cabinet, as it has the best displays and can accommodate the entire team at once.
- At the same time, our stadium also hosts Kups Ry (the junior side), often with about ten coaches present simultaneously. They also need to hold video meetings, as well as their personal and internal meetings.
“Previously, we didn’t have a room booking system or calendar, which caused a lot of confusion when people would walk in only to find a room was already booked. Then they would wander the halls wondering where their meeting could be held,” Pehkonen explains.
Experiences with Taitori’s Booking System and doorway displays
Taitori’s products have been serving the Väre Arena for a few months now, and rooms can now be booked through a web browser and Taitori’s mobile app.
“The implementation was very easy; we received options for installation dates and chose what suited us. The installer came on-site and completed the job while showing how the devices and system work. We checked together to ensure everything was functioning properly—and that was basically it. After that, we arranged a training session via Teams so that everyone would be familiar with how the service works. Four to five of us participated in that.”
“The implementation was very easy; we received options for installation dates and chose what suited us. The installer came on-site and completed the job while showing how the devices and system work. We checked together to ensure everything was functioning properly—and that was basically it. After that, we arranged a training session via Teams so that everyone would be familiar with how the service works. Four to five of us participated in that.”
Benefits Taitori’s services have bought
“We can now trust that when the company books a room for itself, it is genuinely reserved for us. This has clarified planning regarding many matters, and we now know if a space is reserved for someone else. We have control over how much the junior side or Kups Ry uses our facilities, allowing us to consider how to collaborate with them even better in the future—positively, of course. Knowing whether our spaces are in use by ourselves or others allows us to also think about sharing cleaning costs, for example, with the junior side. Having clear data on the usage of our spaces provides us with opportunities to consider different options and potentially save costs,” Pehkonen shares.
What about the domestic nature of Taitori’s Services – does is matter?
“Of course, being domestic has a positive impact; it always helps if issues arise. Trust is generally greater with a wholly Finnish company,” Pehkonen notes.
Would you recommend Taitori to other sports clubs of companies?
“I would definitely recommend it. Taitori has a very clear operating system, and their services have made our daily life easier,” Pehkonen concludes.
