INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Nicholas Cusano 8/30/24 Nicholas Cusano 8/30/24

Protecting the Pit: Concert Barricade Management Strategies

When the music pulses and the crowd surges, the pit becomes a powder keg of energy and excitement. But with great enthusiasm comes great risk. That's why protecting the pit is crucial - it's the frontline of fan safety, where a single misstep can spell disaster. From stage-jumpers to crowd crushes, the consequences of poor barricade management can be devastating.

Keeping Staff ATTUNE to crowd behavior

To prevent disruptions and ensure a smooth show, our stage security staff must be engaged with the crowd, vigilant for:

Projectiles
Medical aid
Stage Jumpers

It's crucial to keep eyes on the fans, ready to respond to medical emergencies like fainting or heat exhaustion. Protecting both the fans and the artist includes watching for projectiles and stage jumpers. A strong core team makes all the difference in effective event management.

Building a Strong Core Team

A well-structured barricade team is vital to successful concerts and festivals. This team should be comprised of knowledgeable, experienced, and responsible members, divided into five key areas:

Stage Security (preventing stage breach)
Pickers (identifying trouble or collecting crowd surfers)
Movers (escorting collected fans out of the barricade)
Credential Check
Media/VIP Support

Each role is crucial, and staff should specialize in their assigned tasks to ensure everyone's safety.

Controlled Removal of Policy Breakers

A basic concert team should include stage security, credential checks, and media/VIP support. For mega festivals or specific genres, consider adding Pickers, Movers, and a Chute Management team to handle crowd surfers, policy breakers, and medical support. The goal is to have a cohesive unit that controls the removal of fans when necessary to protect them from harm. With mega festivals, it’s important to have these teams staffed properly in order to effectively prevent the crowd from injury.

Preventing Injuries

To prevent injuries, staff must be attentive and prepared to help. Provide water for both staff and crowd, and keep medical care nearby. Pickers and Movers can support medical teams by extracting fans from crowded areas and relieving crowd crushing by removing fans from the pit. These types of medical and crowd crushing relief strategies help keep fans safe during concerts.

Effective barricade management is essential for concerts. By keeping staff engaged, having an experienced core team, and controlling the crowd through support, we can provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all patrons.

Experience the Difference. Trust the Experts. CrowdSafe Group — where safety meets sophistication.

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Nicholas Cusano 8/16/24 Nicholas Cusano 8/16/24

Event Safety: Why Every Venue Needs a Crowd Manager

A big turnout is the double-edged sword of event planning. While a packed house might be a testament to an event’s popularity, it can also present significant crowd control challenges. In this article, we'll explore the importance of crowd management and provide expert tips on how to do it effectively.

Ensuring Attendee Safety

One of the overarching principles behind crowd management is patron or crowd safety. Mass gatherings can quickly go from enjoyable and friendly to asphyxic and deadly in a heartbeat. This is where crowd management and crowd science come into play when planning for an event. Factors to consider are:

Crowd Density - The number of people per meter in a given space
Crowd Movement - The flow and behavior of people as they move through a space
Emergency Movement - The rapid and urgent movement of people in response to a critical situation or threat

As crowd density increases, so does the risk of overcrowding and crowd crushing. To ensure the safety of our patrons, we must first understand the limits of crowd densities. Another fundamental aspect of crowd safety is ease of navigation throughout the venue, including during an emergency. It’s important to know capacity limits to vital emergency exits and high traffic areas.

Preventing Property Damage

Crowd densities that exceed the maximum level are not only dangerous, but also costly to your property. When crowd densities begin to fill up all available moving and standing space, damages inevitably occur due to the constriction in the area. During this constriction we see damages to:

Signage
Stanchion
Portable bars and bathrooms
Tables, chairs, and furniture

This cause-and-effect dynamic is consistently observed in numerous mass gatherings. Damage prevention starts with successful planning and crowd modeling. Understanding and planning around the mathematical limits of your space is imperative. Without this pre-planning, event organizers jeopardize their ability to provide guests with both a safe and enjoyable environment. The damages could be significant too. To help better prepare your teams, crowd managers are able to precisely calculate crowd flow limitations to help prevent costly property damage.

Enhancing Attendee Experience

Crowd managers and event organizers can help make the patron experience a smoother process through effective venue management and crowd flow support, using methods like:

Patron Infrastructure Metrics
Line Queueing
Crowd Flow Design

In terms of quantifying the data for evaluation, the mathematics used to determine how long it will take someone to get through any line are similar to those used for counting space limits. These calculations can be applied to arrival of crowds, gate times, and concession lines. The goal is to take the information and use it to our advantage, but also to be able to prepare for realistic response times in emergency situations. There are many different methods for line queue experiences, crowd flow designs and patron infrastructure. As crowd managers, we will help you find the right solution for your venue or event.

Facilitating Emergency Response

No matter how hopeful you are that an emergency won’t happen, you should always be prepared for one. Important emergency crowd flow modeling should be adopted prior to any event, but you should always have an expert check your emergency response and crowd flow strategies. It’s key to look at:

Emergency response wayfinding
Emergency response team support
Recovery plans for dire situations

Whether you have sports events or festivals, emergency response teams are a necessary resource for event organizers. How you enable getting those resources around your facility is just as important. Crowd management teams play a crucial role in enabling swift and effective emergency response by practicing tried-and-tested methodologies that have a proven track record of success.

Compliance with Regulations

When planning an event, it’s crucial to consider factors such as location, size, and entry/exit points to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and minimize liability risks. Many areas of public assembly and their event organizers don’t follow NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, a requirement by US Fire Marshals, that states there is a need for 1 Trained Crowd Manager (or staff member) per 250 patrons in a place of public assembly. For an event of 100,000 there should be 400 Trained Crowd Managers (or staff members) who can provide expert support for an emergency event. Having crowd management professionals on board can make a substantial difference in ensuring your staff is adequately trained and equipped to meet the required standards. Safeguard your event’s success — leverage our crowd management expertise for a compliant and stress-free event experience.