WorldExecutivesDigest.com | Having a huge number of attendees is a dream come true for most event organizers, whether we’re talking about business conferences, concerts, festival, protests or any other event that involves a big crowd. On the other hand, a huge number of attendees also means increased measures of security and protection.
When you have a lot of people in one place, it automatically increases the chances for disorder, injuries or damage to the property. You have to do everything in your power to ensure that during the event and right after it, everyone was feeling safe and nobody got hurt. In situations like these, crowd management is crucial and it should never be overlooked.
From acquiring red carpet runners to clearing paths from the venue to the parking for attendees, it’s your responsibility to cover all the safety aspects. We bring you things that will tremendously enhance the level of safety when organising an event.
Big Staff
Well, if you’re expecting a big crowd, you will need a big staff to handle all of the details that will provide these people with the maximum level of security at any moment. When deciding how many people you will need to have working on this event, one of the suggestions is to have one staff member for every ten guests.
However, if we’re talking about a thousand guest, it’s probably unlikely that you will have one hundred people working on this event, but make sure you have as many as you can. Your only concern shouldn’t be the number. Instead, focus on ensuring that you have enough people working on all of the aspects and phases of this particular event.
Having 10 people on one small entry is not a smart move if they are much more needed on other positions or assignments. Place everyone strategically and provide them with everything they need for clear and efficient communication.
Third-Party Security
It’s not wise to overwhelm your own staff with activities that involve a higher level of security or asking them to be safety officers for a day. Not only are you harming your staff with that but your decision could also tremendously damage others if something happens.
Instead, you should hire third-party security that knows how to handle this type of situations. This will also make your attendees feel a lot safer. Some of the usual activities performed by security officers you will need at your event are:
- Utilizing metal detectors and checking personal bags
- Handling a situation with an unruly guest
- Contacting law enforcement or ambulance if necessary
- Barricades
If you’ve ever been to a concert, you’ve seen how quickly lines can become disorderly due to lack of patience, attention and plenty of other reasons. That’s why the majority of the organizers will choose to have line dividers or rope dividers to establish where that line begins and where it ends. There are plenty of different sizes, shapes and colours of dividers on the market so you will easily find the appropriate one for your event.
Risk Evaluation
Unfortunately, there is always a risk that something unpredictable occurs, and the more attendees you have, the bigger the risk is. Therefore, you should review all possible scenarios that might happen prior, during and after the event and create a plan for it. Identify each of your venue exits and instruct your staff to ensure they are unobstructed during the event.
The risk evaluation should also include the possibility of purposeful disruption. This is essential for an event that takes place in the public sphere like streets and square (protests, festivals, speech, etc.). From the first moment, you need to plan with safety as your priority and don’t neglect anything that has a chance of happening, from bad weather to aggressive protest against your event.
Conclusion
When you’re organizing an event, the factor that will have the biggest impact on how well did the event go and how your attendees felt about it is definitely safety. Every event or venue requires the maximum level of security you can provide. If you see that you lack some of the important aspects, always outsource experts and have a prepared plan for every possible scenario. It’s too late to fix this if something goes wrong!
