Venue managers and staff all have a duty to their attendees to provide a level of crowd management plus safe, fun experiences at the events. This is first and foremost vital for guest and staff safety.
Why choose Event Management?
People act differently when they’re part of a large crowd of faceless individuals. Strong emotions such as joy, anger, and excitement can quickly spread and become dangerous. Lack of crowd management can lead to the destruction of property, personal injury, and general chaos.
Ascending complaints may also lead to a poor event review. As part of the planning process, it’s necessary to exercise these practices for crowd management for a large-scale event.
Steps/ Tips To Manage an Event Successfully
Planning in advance
How you deal with the crowds at an event should be part of the event planning process. Once the venue is selected, one can start thinking about how people will move around.
Informing collaborators & relevant parties
Once we have an idea of who, when, and where, we can start contacting everyone that will be a part of the event, so they know what kind of crowd to expect.
Make sure to contact the following:
- Emergency services
- Event contractors
- Local authorities
- Neighbouring businesses
- Venue management
They can help work out the practicalities of crowd management, as they’re likely to have experienced similar events in the past.
Making a risk assessment
Risk assessments for health and safety at the event are an integral part of planning your crowd management strategy. Identifying potential dangers and planning how to keep people away from them is crucial.
Having an emergency plan
There is a possibility that things can go wrong no matter how meticulously you’ve planned your event. Anything can happen. This was the outcome of the event pictured earlier.
Hence planning for some of these worst-case scenarios is necessary:
- The weather suddenly changes
- Flammable objects catch fire
- A fight breaks out between attendees
- Someone is caught stealing
- Everyone panics and people stamps each other
MASG figures out the best way to manage those situations, so you don’t lose control if anything severe happens.
Use a lot of signboards
One can avoid having to answer a lot of questions on the day if you use proper event signage. Make sure that the attendees can find their way around and know where not to go.
Have big signs that can be read from afar for the following:
- Registration queues
- Restrooms
- Smoking areas
- Staff-only rooms
- Potential hazards
Fencing different areas
MASG uses barricades, cones, ropes, or stanchions to show where people should queue up for tickets and registration. Make clear where the main event is and fence off the areas you want to be left alone.
Limiting access to alcohol
Alcohol is a good icebreaker, but it can also break a lot of other things if consumed in large amounts by an excited crowd or possibly an irresponsible crowd. Depending on the crowd, it’s important to consider imposing certain limitations.
Screening attendees at the entrance gate
If you think there’s a chance that some of your attendees will try to bring anything illegal or hazardous to the event, consider having the security team screen everyone when they arrive.
Multiple check-ins point to reduce queues
A sure-fire way to tick people off is to make them wait. Long queues can turn otherwise civilized event attendees into a bad mood.
Here are some ways to streamline the check-in process:
- Have multiple check-in points
- Assign customer-minded staff to handle registrants
- Use turnstiles and barcode scanner
Having the right number of staff
MASG assigns just the right number of staff in proportion to the size of the crowds you expect. There are ushers to show people around, a whole team that knows the layout of the venue. They also have a convenient way of communicating with each other, such as walkie-talkies or a group chat on everyone’s phone.
MASG’s staff strategically surrounds the venue to make sure you cover key points of interest, such as:
- Entrances
- Check-in lines
- Ticket purchase windows
- Seated areas
- Guest service desks
Asking everyone to report suspicious behaviour
Asking the public, the team and event attendees to report anything shady or suspicious to the security.
Review your strategy
Once the event is over and done with, we review our crowd management strategy. One can speak to the team and the security firm and ask what worked well and what could be improved.
Our Take
Big events usually require a third-party security firm that is trained to deal with large crowds, rowdy behaviour, and dangerous situations. MASG is your right choice, as we have experience in the field of managing large events along with the help of our well-trained security team.
MASG deals with the following:
- Screening attendees for contraband
- Breaking up physical confrontations
- Contacting the emergency services
- Alerting the crowd when necessary
- Providing Security Guards. And much more
