Protecting Events
February 2011
As noted in the January edition of Tourism Tidbits major events are an important part of tourism. In fact these events, be they conferences or conventions, sporting events or religious rallies, not only impact almost every area of a tourism industry, but also act as a major tourism moneymaker and promotional tool. Because major events attract a great deal of publicity any negative security occurrence can have long-term consequences for the destination. Major events have sparked a philosophical debate among both security professionals and tourism professionals. On one hand, neither wants to have so much security that the locale appears to be an armed camp. On the other hand, visitors feel safer, tend to spend more money, and report having a better time when security is present. Thus, there is a need to balance the right amount of security with the event’s philosophy and sociological make-up. Perhaps the former Texas (USA) State Fair president, Errol McCoy, best expressed this concept when he stated: that his job was:
“Get ‘em here, Keep ‘em here, Bring ‘em backŠNow I can’t quote some academic study on the matter, but, in my mind, I can’t do my job if people don’t feel safe. And, I don’t think people feel safe where it is obviously dirty and littered or where doors and railings and such aren’t maintained and sturdy. That’s why we really focus on keeping things in good working order and keeping the Fair litter-free. Did you know we place out and police over 2,000 litter barrels and cleanup areas during the Fair?”
Furthermore, just as not all major events are the same so in the same way not all event security should be the same. The type of security that an event specialists employ should not only fit the needs of that event but also work become part of that event’s overall ambiance.
In order to make your event both a success and secure, Tourism Tidbits suggests that you consider the following:
- Event security needs to begin well before an event and continue well after the event. In many cases, for example sporting events, the event is only part of the experience. A special or mega event may have a number of social and/or political activities both prior and after the main event. These spin-off events may produce more security challenges then the actual “main event.”
- Know your demographics. Treats to events come in two basic formats, external threats and internal threats. External threats are from those outside of the event who seek to harm the event, its participants, its reputation, or its facilities. Internal threats are from those who either are working the event or attending the event. Before you begin to consider event security, you need to have a good vision on who will be attending. What are the events demographics? Will you be attracting an older or younger crowd? Will this event be of national or international importance? Are there specific demographic groups attending that may need special security or protection?
- Try to determine who might want to hurt the event. Some events are bound to attract higher levels of danger. For example, a political event may raise people’s passions and people who disagree with a particular religious philosophy or creed may threaten those attending the event. Sporting events have other special needs, such as unruly fans or groups of people who use the ‘sporting’ event to produce anarchy or urban mayhem.
- Distinguish between event security concerns and event safety concerns. Often security is defined as protecting people against others who intentionally seek to do them harm. Safety, on the other hand, addresses issues of a reflexive nature (not seeing a wet spot and slipping) and crises that occur due to negligence (not checking on the fire code). Both are essential and both are essential in event protection.
- Develop sophisticated security checklists. Make sure your checklist goes beyond the basics. Not everyone attending an event needs the same level of security. Participants and keynote speakers may need a whole other level of security then event participants. What are your event’s VIP’s security needs? Who is in charge of what? How do you contact people in the middle of the night in case there is a crisis when it is not expected?
- Develop a plan for the unexpected. What happens if the airport closes down? What happens in case of major flooding, rainstorm or blizzard? How much medical service is needed at the event site? Have you coordinated the level of medical services with the event’s demographics? What problems might attendees have when they are outside of the event venue? What special political, medical, religious or social sensitivities might the event goers have?
- Know to which threats the event may be subjected. For example, are you in a hurricane zone, is this conference liable to have political infighting that might impact your locale, does this conference act as a terrorism magnet, or will the conference become a disturbance to local businesses and citizens? For example, political events often require streets to be closed off, traffic patterns to be moved and other inconveniences to local residents. While these are not a threat to the convention attendee they may become “threats” to the sanity of the local population and to other businesses.
- Develop plans to protect both those working at the event and goods being sold at the event. Part of good event security management is to protect those working at the event. Event workers may be subjected to harassment, theft, and even sexual abuse. In a like manner, events often attract people who do not see pilferage as a form of stealing, but rather as being given the option for free samples. This free sampling may end up costing thousand or hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenues
- Carefully work with experts to balance non-human security with human security. Non-human security refers to such things as CCTV (Closed Circuit Television Cameras) while police and private security form the human side of the equation. Each has its place, and both are necessary. The way an event manager combines one with the other depends on the event’s location, its demographics and the type of threat to which the event is exposed.
- -Never create a false sense of security. If you use cameras, make sure that they work, do not simply dress people up in uniforms and assume that they will know what to do. Provide the proper training and equipment. In the long run a well trained and well equipped force is cheaper in the end.
- -Remember that the best security is caring about other people. Nothing takes the place of human beings who care about the welfare of other people. The best equipment in the world is worthless if the security task force is not inspired and does not care. The bottom line is that major events are a form of tourism and the essence of tourism security like other forms of tourism is customer service. The community that forgets this basic rule is gambling with its tourism industry and reputation and the security of its people.
