Poor security at SLU event a problem
Kimberly Harrison
Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: A&E
ACE concert chairs Sam Tyler and Casey O'Brien enumerated that there were "8 SLU security, 6 student safety employees, 14 uniformed ACE affiliates and exec members working enforcement, 4 school administrators [and] 6 EMTs and 1st responders on scene." It was arranged before the event, through contract stipulation, that 15 audience members would be allowed on stage at a time from designated stage right stairs. This plan quickly disintegrated when people jumped the front boundary (where there was no active security) and got on the stage. Dancers on the stage crowded Gillis, stood on his equipment table and climbed the speaker stacks. The few security members were unable to hold back the crowd, and the rush caused the show to be shut down because of danger to the performers and attendees.
The behavior of the majority of the crowd was nauseating. Clearly intoxicated (whether with alcohol or drugs) attendees tripped, behaved obnoxiously and made sober attendees uncomfortable. The crowd was, at best, outrageous. The manner in which our peers chose to conduct themselves in public is concerning. Event planners removed only a few over-intoxicated attendees (at least eight people had been transported to Canton-Potsdam Hospital before the event even began).
It is unfair to blame the conduct of the crowd and ACE's lack of preparation on the performer. It was clear after the break that Girl Talk was enthusiastic about continuing the event. He made an effort to compensate for the lack of action on stage by moving around and dancing.
Soon after healthy dialogue between attendees about their grievances began on the Facebook event, someone from the organization with administrator privileges deleted the event, and thus all of the content.
One final side-note was the unnecessary mass of toiler paper waste produced by two blowers on the stage. Approximately 20 rolls of toilet paper were blown into the crowd and turned to a soggy mess on the floor. The piles made it difficult to find lost possessions after the concert and was atrocious in the face of Earth week's approach.
ACE concert chair Casy O'Brien gave insight into future planning considerations: they would "request that the setup company bring extra barricades for outside the doors" and "gve people some incentive to arrive more than 20 minutes before the show starts." One way to draw students into such a big event sooner would be to have an opening act.
Hopefully ACE and other similar student organizations learn from the shortcomings of planning for the Girl Talk event. If any student organization chooses to hold such a major event again, perhaps they should take a more detailed look at the things that could go wrong.
The behavior of the majority of the crowd was nauseating. Clearly intoxicated (whether with alcohol or drugs) attendees tripped, behaved obnoxiously and made sober attendees uncomfortable. The crowd was, at best, outrageous. The manner in which our peers chose to conduct themselves in public is concerning. Event planners removed only a few over-intoxicated attendees (at least eight people had been transported to Canton-Potsdam Hospital before the event even began).
It is unfair to blame the conduct of the crowd and ACE's lack of preparation on the performer. It was clear after the break that Girl Talk was enthusiastic about continuing the event. He made an effort to compensate for the lack of action on stage by moving around and dancing.
Soon after healthy dialogue between attendees about their grievances began on the Facebook event, someone from the organization with administrator privileges deleted the event, and thus all of the content.
One final side-note was the unnecessary mass of toiler paper waste produced by two blowers on the stage. Approximately 20 rolls of toilet paper were blown into the crowd and turned to a soggy mess on the floor. The piles made it difficult to find lost possessions after the concert and was atrocious in the face of Earth week's approach.
ACE concert chair Casy O'Brien gave insight into future planning considerations: they would "request that the setup company bring extra barricades for outside the doors" and "gve people some incentive to arrive more than 20 minutes before the show starts." One way to draw students into such a big event sooner would be to have an opening act.
Hopefully ACE and other similar student organizations learn from the shortcomings of planning for the Girl Talk event. If any student organization chooses to hold such a major event again, perhaps they should take a more detailed look at the things that could go wrong.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ben O'Brien Smith
posted 4/17/09 @ 2:26 PM EST
It really was a shame to see the show run so poorly. I can't help but think that, given greater organizational preparation, the show could have been a total success. (Continued…)
Post a Comment