There’s no getting away from the fact that crowds have the ability to create chaos and anything that draws large amounts of people in one place such as retail events (think Black Friday) through to large sporting events or music festivals will need some sort of crowd control in place.
The idea behind crowd control is not one of strict enforcement, but instead the idea is to maintain a semblance of order so that the people in question are able to enjoy their festival/event in relative safety.
With this in mind, here are 3 important elements of crowd control that can be deployed to ensure greater safety and customer enjoyment.
Plentiful way-finding signage
When it comes to large scale events, nine times out of ten, people usually know where they want to end up but they don’t always know how to get there. By providing clear and plentiful directional signage it helps individuals navigate themselves from point A to point B with as little fuss as possible. So why is this important? Apart from the fact that people can now easily find their way around, most venues aren’t constructed to be able to handle hoards of people flowing in the wrong direction and when this happens it can become dangerous. What’s more, from a customer’s point of view the stress of not knowing exactly where you’re going is enough to put a serious downer on your event.
Quick deployment of personnel
When it comes to large scale events where thousands of people gather, organisers should expect the unexpected. From a sudden influx of people to escalators that have stopped working, experienced crowd control handlers know the importance of deploying personnel quickly as soon as the unexpected occurs (whatever that might be). It could be that you need to quickly open up another exit or entry point to alleviate the clog of people, or simply to be ready to be on top of a situation before it escalates
The flow of attendees
Successful and more importantly, safe large scale events, depend upon the continual movement of crowds. From the point of arrival to the point of departure every element needs to be thought through. To do this it pays to think about it from the perspective of a first time visitor who isn’t sure where they need to go and what they need to do. Think about how they’re going to find the entrance from the parking area. How will they know which barriers they need to go through? Where do they need to go after they’ve been through security? What about when exiting the venue, where do they go then? All these things need to be taken into account to ensure a continual and correct flow of customers.
It’s worth noting that good crowd control means a happy crowd and more often than not, that also means a safe crowd. So by applying these three techniques, and you’ll ensure your event goes like clockwork.
If you want to find out more about crowd control, or would like to book us as security for your next event then contact MA services Group on 03 9994 4107. We’ve been helping large scale events with their crowd control for many years and as such have the experience necessary to help make a difference.
