If you haven’t already heard, TomorrowWorld, the enormous electronic music festival that brings around 180,000 attendees to a rural town in Georgia, 35 minutes southwest of Atlanta, was a wash out.
Persistent rains over Sept. 25-27, 2015, caused festivalgoers to park miles from the event site and be shuttled to music stages through 8,000 acres of forest. However, when heavy rain turned dirt roads into mud, the shuttles couldn’t get attendees back to their cars or allow any form of transportation in or out of the festival. With no shelter in sight, tens of thousands of ticket holders waited in lines for shuttles that never came, wandered the woods, battled for Uber rides, walked for upwards of 10 miles or slept on the side of rural roads.
With more than 31 years in the events industry, Pat Ahaesy, CMP, CSEP, president and partner of P&V Enterprises, has planned many outdoor events, including one on Ellis Island in New York City where guests were ferried in and off the island. Barbara Dunn, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, has specialized in representing groups and organizations for decades. Here the two share precautions, lessons and takeaways for planners from TomorrowWorld’s mishaps:
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="274"] Stranded TomorrowWorld 2015 festivalgoers use cardboard to sleep on. Photo by EDMPOCAHONTAS/TWITTER[/caption]
1. Provide shelter from the storm.
“You never know how the weather is going to be at an event,” says Ahaesy, suggesting planners splurge on tents and have backup structures for people to take shelter in if the weather takes a turn. For one event Ahaesy planned, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor event put on by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, the owner of the tent company stayed on-site to make sure the tents were secured and functioning correctly. “If there are high winds or inclement weather, have safety procedures in place and experts on hand,” Ahaesy notes.
2. Walkie-talkies work when cell phones won’t.
In case cell phone service becomes non-existent in, say, rural Georgia, count on communication that won’t fail for large outdoor events. “We paid extra for radio repeaters so there was no space on Ellis Island where you couldn’t receive walkie-talkie reception,” says Ahaesy. “There’s a cost to it, and you may have to explain that to the client, but it’s worth it.” Both experts noted that communication is of utmost importance when dealing with an emergency. “If something had happened on Ellis Island—a fire, security issue, etc.—the ferries were on standby and everyone on staff had a walkie-talkie to call them.”
3. Pull the trigger on weather insurance.
“It’s very expensive to get weather insurance, but you don’t want the liability of injured people,” says Ahaesy. Dunn agrees. “If we’re talking about a mega event like [TomorrowWorld], there are very specialized insurance policies that provide millions of dollars of protection,” says Dunn, noting that if you even have an inkling you might have to trigger coverage on your policy, you should notify the carrier in writing right away. “One main reason that insurance companies will exclude a claim is because they don’t get timely notice.”
4. Have a contingency plan.
Ahaesy takes ushers or staff through emergency procedures at every event she plans. “We do it diligently and with seriousness so they don’t take it lightly,” she says. “There’s a lot of precaution [we take].” Dunn adds planners need to be ready with a binder. “If I’m a planner on-site at this event, I’d want a binder with me that has my risk management crisis plan, all my contracts, all my emergency contact information and the insurance policy, and to know that my staff is trained,” says the lawyer. When that doesn’t happen, Dunn says, that’s when problems arise.
5. If you’re providing alcohol, know how people are getting home.
At a steeplechase race event Ahaesy planned in New Jersey, a financial company client sponsored a tent with alcohol and invited guests. “We said, ‘If you’re going to drink, you have to know how these people are getting home.’ They spent the money to have cars pick guests up and get them home safely.”
Also read "How to Keep Communication Flowing During a Crisis" or "Crisis Management 101 With RIMS’ Director of Events."
