The Pillars of Planning:
Partnering with you
to make live events
safe and successful
A Look at the ESA’s 2017 Event
Safety Summit
By Jacob Worek
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
- Benjamin Franklin
Variations of this quote
have long been a favorite bludgeon
of slick-haired management gurus as
a catchy, middle-brow means of stat-
ing the obvious. Whether it’s launch-
ing a new product, cooking a meal, or
simply trying make a tight connection
at O’Hare, preparation is key to a suc-
cessful outcome. In our own industry,
most professionals agree that planning
for safety has become an essential part
of the event production process. What
is often less clear are the details - what
should we prepare for, and where do
we begin?
The 2017 Event Safety Summit, titled
“The Pillars of Planning”, sought to an-
swer these questions. Held the week
following Thanksgiving at Rock Lititz
in Lititz, Pennsylvania, this year’s event
featured three days of workshops, pre-
sentations, and discussions focused on
safety planning, with a goal of providing
an actionable roadmap for initiating the
plan development process.
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Launched in 2014, Event Safety Alli-
ance’s signature program continues to
experience tremendous growth. Nearly
300 people took part in this year’s Sum-
mit, an increase of over 30% from the
2016 event. The audience has become
increasingly diverse, with participation
from dozens of professional disciplines
and delegates from as far away as Fin-
land, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. This diver-
sity was also reflected in the number of
industry segments represented, includ-
ing corporate events, experiential mar-
keting, music, motorsports, athletics,
and academia.
In anticipation of this increased profes-
sional, experiential, and geographic di-
versity, the 2017 program was curated to
ensure near-universal applicability. Most
sessions focused on “big picture” issues
common to all events and organizations,
such as training, leadership, and devel-
oping a positive safety culture. Several
sessions featured small group work-
shops guided by a team of facilitators,
designed to promote cross-discipline
engagement and peer learning.
The design of the event space was re-
considered, with circular tables and a
half-round layout taking the place of
the traditional conference setting. This
year’s Summit even featured a mock ac-
cident scene that served as the basis for
a “hazard hunt”, where attendees were
tasked with identifying pre-staged haz-
ards throughout the facility.
The Pillars of Planning
The core of this year’s program consisted
of workshops focused on four planning
“pillars” common to most event types
and professional functions - assessment,
documentation, training, and manage-
ment. Chris Jones (Integro) kicked off
the 2017 Summit with “Practical Risk
Assessment”, a primer on identifying
and quantifying risks and mitigation
measures. Jones guided the audience
through a practical assessment exercise
based on a speedway [motorcycle rac-
ing] event. Attendees were presented