Post-Pandemic Crowd Behaviour (Taylor's Version)
Do Swifties hold the key to safer crowds when crowd behaviour at events is at an all time low?
Latest
#5. Becky Stevens - Event Control, Safety Advisory Groups, managing an emergency evacuation, insights into the Fatboy Slim concert on Brighton Beach in 2002
Safety Sistas: 5. Becky Stevens - Event Control, Safety Advisory Groups, managing an emergency evacuation, insights into the Fatboy Slim concert on Brighton Beach in 2002 on Apple PodcastsShow Safety Sistas, Ep 5. Becky Stevens - Event Control, Safety Advisory Groups, managing an emergency evacuation, insights into the Fatboy
#4. Morten Therkildsen - Roskilde Festival, IBIT 2023, evolution of formal education, Safety and Security, Zone Ex, politics, high reliability organisation, definition of a Crowd Manager
Safety Sistas: 4. Morten Therkildsen - Roskilde Festival, IBIT 2023, evolution of formal education, Safety and Security, Zone Ex, politics, high reliability organisation, definition of a Crowd Manager on Apple PodcastsShow Safety Sistas, Ep 4. Morten Therkildsen - Roskilde Festival, IBIT 2023, evolution of formal education, Safety and Security,
#3. Anne Marie Chebib and KT Sonnen - The BBC report on malpractice in security training, regulation, expectations on security and stewarding, the wider picture, and evolution of our industry.
After the release of BBC’s File on 4 undercover investigation, on the 3 October 2023, into “sham training” in the security industry, Íse sits down with Ann Marie Chebib, Managing Director of Select Security and Secretary of UK Crowd Management Association and Global Crowd Management Alliance and KT Sonnen
When we sabotage ourselves
The saying goes that we are our own worst enemy, and the more I become aware of my life and how my mind and body works, the more I understand the nuances of this statement. Over the years I have noticed how, when I set out to achieve something, I
#2. Janthea Bridgen - child care at events, regulatory compliance, lost child procedures, risk assessing events for child care, how safeguarding can be improved.
Janthea Bridgen is CEO of Nipperbout, providing child care and children’s activities for the events industry. We talk about how she got to where she is today, what it takes to provide best practice and what challenges she faces in the industry. She shares fascinating insights in how she
Threads is not the anthesis to Twitter
Poem | Hampstead Heath
A summer’s breeze fills the air sweeps my mind with a gentle caress To hear the rustle of the leaves And birds chirping in their nest Wind brushes softly against my skin A bee buzzes behind my ear They land me back into my bones My eyes open, I
#1. KT Sonnen - event security, studying a PhD, training security, working a pit, crowd dynamics, staff welfare, post pandemic behaviour, improving the industry
Welcome to our first episode of Safety Sistas! The podcast about the people who keep you safe. I interview people who fascinate me with their experience, wisdom and knowledge in the world of safety and I want to celebrate the work they do behind the scenes to keep us all
Video: Practical tips for Zone Ex planning
What is Zone Ex and why is it important?
In the wake of the Manchester Arena Attack in 2017 and the Wembley Euro Final in 2021, the subject of who was responsible for crowd safety within the public realm became a topic of focus. This issue regarded the delineation of responsibility for crowd management within the space outside the
Can the word ‘stampede’ undermine crowd safety?
The Oxford Dictionary of English defines Stampede as: * a sudden panicked rush of a number of horses, cattle, or other animals: the herd was fleeing back to the high land in a wild stampede. * a sudden rapid movement or reaction of a mass of people in response to a particular
#5. Recommendations to Government and Industry to improve Crowd Safety at outdoor events
This final chapter revisits each of the research objectives, summarises the findings, critically appraises the research process and concludes with offering three recommendations to government and industry. (Please note this was originally produced in 2019-2020.) Here are the previous chapters for reference: #1 The Root Cause of Crowd Disasters #2
Cutting out what’s not working
We need to cut out what is draining our energy, to make space for something new. What I am learning, over the years, is that I can’t do it all. In fact, I can barely do one thing right. And that’s OK. I used to think of it
#4. The perceptions of licensing authorities and event safety professionals on crowd safety and legislation at outdoor events.
This chapter, slightly deviating from the structure of other articles, discusses the analysis of data obtained from the survey, relating to the fourth research objective: "To analyse the perceptions of licensing authorities and event safety professionals in relation to legislation on crowd safety at outdoor events." The data was analysed
When crowds ‘crush'
Crowds are a phenomenon of modern society. As the world population increases, so does the frequency of mass gatherings and mass events (Li et al, 2020). Instigated by a career in major events, I am fascinated by crowds, how they move, how they behave. When I began studying crowd safety,
Dissertation
#3. The impact of legislation on competency
While researching crowd safety and the impact of legislation on crowd safety, one of the key themes that warranted exploring was competency, as legislation and regulation are designed, amended, introduced and managed by human beings. For the purpose of this article, competency is framed as follows: that a person within
Crowd Safety
Takeaways from ILMC Production Meeting & Event Safety and Security Summit 2022
Yesterday welcomed event production and event safety people from around the world gather in real life at the Royal Garden Hotel in London for the ILMC Production Meeting & Event Safety and Security Summit. Personally it was great to be in 3D with old friends and colleagues and had great fun
Dissertation
#2. Legislation, Regulation and Crowd Safety
Throughout my career I have been fortunate to experience event planning and approval on both sides of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG): presenting event plans and assessing event plans - in sports grounds and outdoor events. Legislation differs greatly whether or not an event is inside a venue or out
Dissertation
#1. The Root Cause of Crowd Disasters
Crowd disasters occur when people are given insufficient information and space (Sime, 1999). It is rarely the case that only one factor causes a disaster (Helbing and Mukerji, 2012). In particular, increase or decrease in density is the difference between crowds moving from a ‘jamming’ to a ‘non-jamming’ state, accumulating
Crowd Safety
So, what is Crowd Safety?
I get a blank look when I tell people I work in "crowd safety". I ask if they ever attended an event; arrived safely, guided into the venue, found their seat, watched the show and then guided back to their transport, barely noticing the journey? That's crowd safety.
Self Authority
Why I deleted WhatsApp
Unless you’ve been living in a cave disconnected from the internet (in which case I am envious of you), you will have seen the wave crashing in on the straw that broke WhatsApp’s back. We knew this was coming when Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014, thinking they were
Crowd Disaster
To prevent disaster, now is the time to study crowd safety
If I am over a decade into my career and facing the challenge of an industry that has totally collapsed, then I can share an understanding of what those who are only preparing to enter the industry could be feeling. Event Management has only become a subject of study within
Episode 5: Can Events Help Antidote Fear
This is not the first epidemic or pandemic our world has experienced. However, when I looked into studies on each epidemic/pandemic, a recurring theme arose: fear. The fear of a pandemic; stirred by media, often times had a more severe impact on people than the disease itself.
Crowd Safety
Episode 4: Airborne Transmission and Crowd Safety
Recently, a group of scientists published an open letter (Morawska and Milton, 2020) urging governments and organisations to consider that airborne transmission of the COVID-19/SARS-COV-2 virus may be more impactful than surface transmission.
Transport
The Four S of Event Transport
When it comes to transport planning for events, major or not, there is a lot that needs to be considered. That’s why I created the Four S of Transport to keep the focus of what is key in ensuring a successful operation. Here’s where I briefly introduce each
Pandemic
Episode 3: On Biometric Data and Events
Within industry and academic recommendations, we can apply to our varied and unique industry. Considering privacy as a human right, it's important that we consider the impact of such systems, both positive and negative, and view them within the bigger picture of our moral obligations.
Pandemic
Episode 2: Restarting Events, Safely
Evidence has shown that restrictions on mass gatherings implemented early on in pandemic can greatly reduce the risk of transmission. However, research in virus transmission at mass gatherings is showing varied evidence in the association of size with the transmission of influenza.
Pandemic
Episode 1: Can the past indicate our future? 1918 Spanish Flu and Theatres
With events cancelled across the world, industry professionals are looking to each other and news articles to find some indication of how our industry will be impacted once these restrictions are lifted.
Crowd Safety
Risk Assessing the Nature of Crowds
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly conducting risk assessments in our everyday life. From crossing the road to walking down steps, subconsciously we are dynamically assessing the likelihood of a hazard occurring.
Crowd Disaster
Reflecting on a Decade of Disaster
As we enter into a new decade, many of us have been reflecting on our lives from 2010 to 2019. I couldn’t help but put it in the perspective of crowd disasters, to understand if there was anything we could reflect on and take the learnings with us into the 20’s (is that what we’re calling it?).
Crowd Disaster
The Most Common Threats to a Crowd Event
What are the most common threats to a crowd event? Looking at thirty years of crowd disasters to identify what event managers need to plan for to keep their attendees safe.