Congratulations! You’re in charge of making sure that a major event at your venue or another venue is going to run smoothly and safely. The task you’re undertaking is a big one, and is not one to be taken lightly. All manner of things can happen when your empty venue suddenly becomes a full one. You’re going to need to think about traffic, safety, and behavior, and all before you even know what your total crowd will actually look like.

Don’t worry! This post, and others like it, will help you prepare yourself, and give you the tools you need to be successful. Thinking through various crowd management strategies doesn’t have to be headache-inducing. Let’s roll!

1) The Overall Strategy

This is the fun part, because you get to do a lot of research. Have you ever done an event like this before, perhaps even at the same venue? Look back and try to determine what made that event a success (or potentially a failure) and what the points of growth were. What were the crowd control techniques and ideas that were useful previously? Good data points to have and think about:

• How many people are you expecting?
• Is there a comparable event to compare to?
• What will the crowd look like? Will there be children? Rowdy concert goers? Is there a need for heavy security to prevent safety concerns?
• Horror stories/success stories: study successful events, and study failed events (like the Fyre festival). Where did they go wrong? Where did they go right? How can you avoid or copy them?
• What type of event are you throwing, and will it differ significantly from ones this venue has seen in the past?

The point is to come up with a plan describing your event, the resources you’re going to need (security, volunteers, paid staff, facilities, etc.) and then get in contact with the necessary stakeholders so you can ensure everything runs smoothly. The principles of good crowd control can follow from looking and the past and preparing for the future.

2) What Kind of Event?

The question is so simple that it seems obvious, but one of the keys to creating effective crowd control procedures is understanding what kind of event you’re throwing. Is it a concert, a trade show, a conference, a meetup? What is the goal or the objective of the event? Answering these questions can give you options for creating an environment conducive to certain types of crowd control techniques. Maybe you need one entry and one exit, or your crowd is going to come and go as they please. Regardless of the type of event, if you don’t understand it, you’ll have an incredibly difficult time coming up with any sort of strategy.

3) What Kind of Crowd?

It doesn’t matter what field you’re in, knowing the audience who will be attending your event is perhaps the most important thing on the list. Having a good read on the type of people who will be attending your event can save you headaches down the road as well as giving you insight into how you might structure the flow of the crowd on the day of the event. Here’s a sample questionnaire to help you start:

1. Why is the average attendee at my event?
2. What is their level of knowledge about the event?
   1. A trade show might have a relatively informed audience that is milling around to see a bunch of products, while a concert needs a clear path to the stage.
3. What frustrates my attendees?
   1. Not being able to find the bathroom, not enough breathing room, byzantine navigation?
4. How makes my crowd feel safe?
5. What are amenities that will take my crowd’s experience to the next level.

4) How Will You Communicate?

Unfortunately, as you plan, you might fall into the “ideal world” trap, which generally means believing that you’ll be able to control everything once the event starts. Crowds are big and difficult to control, and one of the primary things you have to think about is how you’re going to direct and communicate with it once the event is in full swing. So, how many signs are you going to have? What kind will they be? Are you going to give maps to attendees, and does your map accurately reflect where everything is? Remember: not everyone navigates the world in the same way, and there’s no such thing as over communicating as far as crowd control is concerned.

There’s another part to this as well--your staff and volunteers. They’re going to be an enormous part of keeping your crowd managed. Ticket-takers, help desk staff, cleaning staff--they’re all going to be a part of keeping your crowd safe and happy, so make sure not to skimp on keeping them informed and helping them stay in contact with you and one another so things can be kept under control.

Ensuring that your volunteers and staff are all trained in the best crowd management and control techniques is another important component. Have you built out a plan describing who the point people are, complete with an emergency evacuation plan as well as plenty of diagrams and scenarios? Not yet? Don’t worry, we’ll have a post on that coming soon to help you make sure that everything is well-designed and thoughtful for your staff.

5) Keeping It Safe

Making sure you’re following any local and federal safety laws is essential. You want your crowd to be safe and comfortable. This also means being attentive to folks with disabilities and people who might need additional accommodation at your event.

Remembering that problems in the safety plan or anything else in the crowd management strategy can create enormous problems and snowball quickly. Planning a quality event requires diligence, planning, and attention to detail, but there’s nothing better than a well-designed event. We can help, and we provide barriers, bollards, and more to help you make sure that your crowd management strategy is effective and safe. For your crowd management solutions, browse our products or be in touch!