When you’re an event organizer, you have a responsibility to ensure that any potential safety and health risks are well managed for everyone. From staff to contractors, to attendees, everyone should be safe from risks. Now, when you’re walking around an empty venue, this might not seem like too much of a challenge. But when you have a crowd that’s forming, it’s actually easier than you anticipate for something to happen.
So, how do you make sure that an event that has a large volume of people go smoothly? How do you make it run safely for everyone? Do you use line dividers, do you have a lot of security? What do you need? Well, below we’ve got the answer for you. We have a few tips that will help you control your crowd, and make sure that your event goes as issue-free as possible.
Good planning is key
Crowd control is something that is integral to having a safe and enjoyable event. Therefore, you should consider it in the earliest stages of planning. When you’re an organizer, you aren’t expected to plan everything on your own. Instead, you have quite a lot of other figures that you can consult with, and that should help you out.
You should discuss things with your team leaders and event contractors, and make sure everyone understands what their tasks are. Local authorities and emergency services should be aware that a large mass of people will assemble at a certain location. If you have any neighboring businesses or other third parties that might be affected by the event, they should know what’s going on, too.
You should understand your crowd
Depending on the nature of your event, it might be pretty tricky to understand how many attendees you should be expecting. For example, some events depending on holidays, weather, or even timetables of special attractions. You should base your estimates on any ticket sales, attendance at any similar events, or turnout at your previous event.
Whatever the venue, it’s going to have a maximum capacity. Therefore, you should plan accordingly. Keep in mind that people will be outside, queueing to get in. If there is even the slightest chance of an event exceeding the capacity, you must have a contingency plan.
Also, note your crowd’s expected demographic. Do you need to provide ample direction, or will they be people who are most likely familiar to the venue or the event format? Do you have people that will come in early in order to secure themselves a good spot, or will you have people constantly going in and out? You can predict certain things, such as a band’s fans rushing to the front when there’s a popular song.
Communicate with your crowd
What is the most effective method of getting a message through to your attendees actually varies. It depends on the type of the event, it depends on the venue itself, and it depends on how you’re organizing things.
For example, the easiest way that fits just about any type of event is to display signs prominently. Whether you have a fixed notice or an LED board that shows updates, make sure you have signs that are visible from further away. This should help guests and prevent them from stopping and creating crowds around the signage.
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Your guests should have access to maps. Whether you put them on as signs or print them on your printed promo material, they should be able to find their way around the venue, with alternative routes to choose from. Those should be marked clearly, and you’ll want to indicate where potential accessibility issues may arise, so guests should exercise caution.
Another good tip would be to go for a public announcement system so you can notify your guests of something that’s happened. Stewards that share information about specific areas are also a good idea, and if you’ve got a large space to work with, you could even have an information desk
Review what happened
Whether you had an evening, a weekend, or a whole season, you should resist that urge to just pack up and go home. Gather your team, and review how the event went. This is just as important as the initial planning stage as it reveals any potential issues that could’ve been prevented during planning.
Assess what works, and what could be improved. Make notes of what you can do better when you’re organizing your next event. Even if you have a change of venue, a change of team, or a change of crowd, you should learn everything you can at each event you organize.