Music Festival Month: Firefly This is why Every Event Needs an Evacuation Plan
LIVE EVENTS
It s Music Festival Month on the Decibel blog, where we take a look at the highlights from this summer s best shindigs. The Firefly Music Festival in Delaware got off to a decent start this year, selling out for the first time ever, but took an operational hit or two as merrymaking was interrupted on the festival s third day by severe incoming thunderstorms, leaving festival organizers in the unenviable position of evacuating 90,000 people from the Dover Speedway grounds.
Yup, 90,000 people, a painful reminder that every event needs an emergency evacuation plan. The good news is that festival organizers at Red Frog handled the emergency with efficiency and aplomb, and though nobody was particularly excited to leave, no casualties were reported. The festival continued the following day, as planned. So how did they keep things together in a crappy situation?
Making the Announcement
The first task before festival organizers was getting the word out via channels likely to reach the highest number of attendees with all possible speed. Planners announced the closure both on the official Firefly Twitter stream and in person on the performance stages.
Directing Attendees Towards Escape Routes
Those routes should be clearly-marked and unobstructed, well-lit, and well-signed, with personnel directing evacuees and keeping the vibe calm. Ensure there s assistance on hand for people with disabilities who may be unable to exit the grounds themselves.
Liaise with Local Emergency Services
Appoint one member of the team responsible for keeping emergency services looped in to any developments on your end, and who will ensure that any official directives are followed.
Will the show restart?
Keep attendees notified if or when the show will restart. Organizers utilized social media to keep audiences informed of which shows would be rescheduled, which shows would be cancelled, and when the festival would restart.
Sorry you guys had to deal with nasty whether, but nice save!
Fantastic Buffet Layout Ideas from Around the Web
FOOD & CATERING
We ve been seeing a lot of catering pics recently, and with outdoor snacking season upon us, I realized we hadn t done a food post in a while. Or hey, maybe I m just hungry. Here are five inspiring buffet layout designs from smart and creative decorators around the internet.
Dangling in Mid-Air
There s something kinda Neverland about plucking your food out of the air, and definitely something whimsical about eating it off a swing. If you ve got some scaffolding to work with, you can create a gorgeous gardens-of-Babylon or country backyard feel, like this one from Elizabeth Anne Designs:
Rustic Piles
Three cheers for abundance psychology, that cornucopia effect that wipes away attendee inhibitions and encourages high-piled plates. Plus, something about a big ol mess speaks to the joyful anarchist within us all. Doesn t this pic by Inspired by Charm make you wanna break every diet you ve ever been on?
Or how about this gorgeous mess by Seven Layer Charlotte:
Chalkboard & Slate Labeling
Nothing goes quite as well with modern-vintage as scrawled-on-a-slate food labeling. I know, I know, it s trendy. But we re not sick of it yet. We snagged this pretty thing over at Brit + Co, in their nifty post about creative food stations:
Lifestyle blogger Ramsey nails it:
OCD Flat & Square
Gotta love hyper-organization, and all that food really pops on stark serving dishes. Here s a gem from Colin Cowie Weddings photo inspiration finder, an ultra Type-A table layout that does everything right:
A French country take on the same idea from Bright Bold Beautiful:
Food in a Cabinet
This idea from Austen & Carissa s wedding over on Wedding Chicks would be rough to pull off for anything large-scale unless you ve got the capability to fabricate your own furniture installations, but with a guest list under 500, this is gorgeous:
Same sitch with the Murphy Bar over at Thisoldhouse.com, a small-scale idea that would be fun to convert for a larger event. We re thinking several dozen of these, or a much bigger one:
Got buffet layout ideas? Tell us in the comments.
Event Theme Design Inspiration: Stained Glass
EVENT DESIGN
This week, we re inspired by the incorporation of stained glass into spacial and event designs. The design world went pretty single-color for a while there, but we re seeing (and loving) a lean back towards more vibrant, daring palettes. We ve collected a little mood board of beautiful images with inspiring prismatic decor.
Monumenta 2012
One of Paris most expansive art events, Monumenta is an annual exhibition that challenges artists to execute their vision on the grounds of the 145,000 square-foot Grand Palais. The chosen artist for 2012, Daniel Buren, created a gorgeous stained-glass landscape, reflecting the light of the building s dome skyward.
Tom Fruin s Stained Glass House (via Colossal)
Art blog Colossal featured this October, 2014 work by installation artist Tom Fruin, who created a plexiglass house as part of a performance installation under Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Sugar House
A similar project to Fruin s was undertaken by artist William Lamson, who created a solarium using panels of melted sugar.
Standalone Window Backdrops
We don t do a ton of weddings around here, but this gem from Southerweddings.com is worth the deviation. We could see these standalone windows in use for both outdoor or indoor spaces.
The Glory Window
From Wikipedia: The most prominent and recognizable feature of Thanks-Giving Square [in Dallas, Texas] is the Chapel of Thanksgiving , a small, spiral tower that features an enclave for prayerful thanks. The entrance to the chapel is at the end of a 125-foot (38 m) bridge that runs over a cascading waterfall. Inside the chapel, the spiral is topped with stained glass Glory Window , one of largest horizontally mounted stained-glass pieces in the world. The window was designed by Gabriel Loire of Chartres, France to feature brighter colors as the spiral reached its apex, becoming brighter as it reaches the center.
The Mirror Woman (pic via Buzzfeed)
From Juxtapoz: South Korean-born artist Kimsooja has had a long, intense career full of installations, performances, photography, videos and site-specific project. This particular installation from 2006 is at the Palace de Cristal in Madrid. Exploiting the structure of the building while also leaving it intact, Kimsooja installed a mirror on the floor to multiply and unify the original architectural space. A translucent diffraction grating film also covers the glazed dome and wall of the crystal palace. Awesome.
Music Festival Month: Underground and Sustainable at Gottwood 2015
LIVE EVENTS
It s Music Festival Month on the Decibel Blog, and today we re turning the lens on the boutique festival scene with a quick intro to Gottwood, one of the UK s most interesting summer events. The Gottwood festival is an intimate slice of hippy-sci-future held in the forests of Wales, a woodland rave that aims for maximum sustainability.
Gottwood 2015, now in its sixth year, ran from June 11-14, and true to their underground roots, accepted no corporate sponsorship. According to an interview with one of the three Gottwood founders in the London Evening Standard:
All seven stages and other festival outbuildings are made from materials found on site. Anything built by teams of local craftsmen will remain after the event so that it can be used by school groups or community projects, while money raised by the festival is invested in improving the area. No vehicles are allowed on site and organisers ask festival-goers to use car share schemes as much as possible. Ticket sales are kept low to 5,000 customers, plus 1,000 crew so as not to damage the site.
Here s a little overview from the organizers:
And a bit more of the vibe:
The festival is held on the Carreglwyd Estate grounds, on a wooded stretch of coastline that was named Lonely Planet s Greatest Region on Earth in 2012. The estate itself has a history stretching back 400 or so years.
Carreglwyd was built in 1634 by Dr William Griffiths. He was the Chancellor of St Asaph and Master of the Rolls to Charles the First. His grandfather, Sir William Griffiths had been the Rector of Llanfaethlu for 44 years. Charles the First gave Dr Griffiths one of the five Edward Bower copies of Van Dyke s portrait at the time of his trial. This portrait hangs in the Dining Room of Carreglwyd today.
The 2015 gallery hasn t hit stands yet, but keep an eye on the Gottwood gallery page for more stunning photos of the event, like this one from photographer Roo Lewis:
4 Truly Useful Associations Providing Services for Event Producers
EVENT INDUSTRY, TIPS & TRICKS
The event industry is a connected, supportive place where you don t have to go anything alone. These great groups specialize in creating industry-specific networks where event producers can share resources, trade insights, and stay inspired.
International Festivals & Event Association
You want the most bang for your membership buck? Look no further than the IFEA, whose membership benefits include workshops, yellow pages, market places, award ceremonies for best-in-class work, industry surveys and worldwide support for overseas events. Members are also eligible to drum up further cred by writing for IFEA s magazines and publications, distributed to industry professionals all across the globe.
Event Marketing Institute
It s not just you: everyone feels a little bit behind on their event marketing know-how, a state of affairs EMI aims to overthrow. Their membership benefits list is extensive, including exclusive access to industry analytics, marketing training, quarterly conference calls with an EMI analyst, and custom educational programs.
International Association of Speaker s Bureaus
You can t join the IASB unless you re part of the speaking industry specifically, but they do offer a membership search page where you can dig through association-approved speakers bureaus (in case you wanna find a local firm or vet your existing one). And in an uber-meta move, the IASB holds their own conferences. With speakers. That speak about about speakers.
National Association of Catering and Events
NACE takes a holistic approach to event management and catering with the tagline One industry. One association. True that where s there s people, there should be food. If you re looking for a catering pro to plug into your event or as a partner for your event production shop, do have a peek at the NACE s member directory. And if you re seeking inspiration and business connections for planning your next mega-banquet, NACE s Experience! Conference and Expo is a can t-miss.
Tips & Tricks: How to Rent a Public JumboTron
TIPS & TRICKS
The word JumboTron is actually a trademarked brand name owned by Sony, though one that has become synonymous with all mega-sized televisions, particularly those mounted in stadiums and public squares. But you knew that already. What you didn t know is how to get your marriage proposal, event announcement, or congratulatory message up there.
Who do I contact to rent?
The short (and rather unhelpful) answer is that you ll need to contact the owner, which can be a private individual, an ad agency or sometimes an institution. If you re looking to rent the JumboTron at a sports stadium, for example, you d need to contact the stadium administration office directly, and you ll probably need to call in as a surprising number of stadiums don t offer JumboTron message information online. The Jumbotrons in Times Square (here s a list of contact info for those) are each owned by private individuals or companies. so you d first need to identify the exact screen you d like to rent, then contact the owner for specifics.
How much does it cost?
There s a marked difference between costs for advertising on a Jumbotron versus costs for displaying a personal message (like a marriage proposal or anniversary announcement). Messages displayed on the scoreboard at Michigan Stadium, for example, cost $250 for a maximum of 50 characters, but you have no control over the design and placement of your message. Advertisements, on the other hand, can run anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000.
Some more examples of popular public JumboTrons in the US:
Yankee Stadium
Messages on the Pepsi Fan Marquee scoreboard at New York s Yankee Stadium cost $100 per message, with a maximum of 10 messages per game, allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Freemont Street Experience
At 135,000 square feet, the Viva Vision screen in Las Vegas is the second-largest screen in the world. Placing a custom message on the Viva Vision screen costs $500. If you want to include photo or video, you ll have to contact the administration for a quote.
Big Screen at Texas Motor Speedway
Positioned in the middle of the backstretch perched above Burnout Alley, Big Hoss TV features 20,633.64 square feet of HD LED display that consists of 4.8 million pixels and 281 trillion colors. The state-of-the-art video board is the largest ever built by Panasonic and surpassed fellow Speedway Motorsports, Inc. facility Charlotte Motor Speedway (16,000 square feet) to claim the Guinness World Record for the world s largest HD LED video board. The size of Big Hoss TV is 79 percent larger than the video board at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, which stands at 11,520 square feet. Contact for exact prices.
Music Festival Month: Video Outtakes from Bonnaroo
LIVE EVENTS
June is Music Festival Month on the Decibel Blog, and today we take a quick gander at the best videos from Bonnaroo. Held in Manchester, Tennessee, June 11-14, Bonnaroo is the only multi-day music festival where events and shows run 24-hours, non-stop.
First, the Stats
80,000 attendees, and a 24-hour event schedule to manage? How many acres? HOW many tons of waste? Respect.
Speakers in the Shower
What s the worst thing about having a scrub-down at a music festival? Missing your favorite songs, natch. But Bonnaroo is remedying the problem with pretty sophisticated shower technology, including speakers built into the shower heads that play music from festival artists. If you re curious about the process, this is what it s like to shower at Bonnaroo.
Because Yes Please: Earth Wind & Fire
The silver pants, the silver pants!
The Domestic Weirdness Video Backdrop
Leave up to Belle & Sebastian to turn the weirdness factor up to twenty with a minimalist video backdrop of bizarre vintage Americana. Check it out start at 28:54:
The Dome (Again)
Hey, look, it s electronic wonderdude Deadmau5! We were just talkin about this guy. The Bonnaroo videographers produced a much better video of the producer s brand new Thunder Dome lighting cube, which debuted at the Governor s Ball in New York only a few weeks ago. Check out this A/V madness:
Odesza Brings the Tuba-Driven Tripiness
A perfect pairing of light and sound at Odesza s Bonnaroo set, which is almost prettier to watch than it is to listen to.
Five of the Hottest Event Photographers in 2015
EVENT INDUSTRY
Event photography is an art form all its own. You need someone who understands how to capture the action while it s happening without creating overly-staged shots, how to shoot under low lighting conditions for parties and night events, and how to take compelling action shots. Here are the Decibel Management picks for best-in-show photographers for 2015.
Shot by Rob
Speaking of low lighting, Rob is a roamer of the after-hours streets, a nightlife photographer with a real gift for capturing hot late-night club moments in which nobody looks tremendously drunk. Rob shoots around 500 events a year that s slightly less than two a day.
Dave Bird
With a portfolio that tends towards lovely conference and speaker shots showing the special of corporate events, London-based Dave Bird s event photography is top-of-the-line. About himself, he says: I love bright and exciting stories of people doing cool stuff, whether that s in their day job or what they do at the weekend. Natural interactions are really important to me, and I m always after that special moment my approach and process lets me light and then direct what s happening so that it works best for the camera, but still never feels posed or rigid.
Rukes
No post about event photography would be complete without a mention of Rukes, who specializes in electronic music and festivals. Snapping some of the hottest DJs and large-scale music events in the last few years, Rukes has been catapulted to the top his game with his amazingly colorful and dynamic imagery that showcases crowd excitement and scale like few others can.
Alan Klein
Alan Klein s photography is a mature but not at all boring, serious but not at all staid, and careful but not without a splash of fun. Based in New York, Alan s lens perfect captures political events, gallery openings, corporate functions, and visions of audience engagement.
Heisenberg Media
Heisenberg Media specializes in dramatic event photography and executive portraiture. We re not your standard documentarians. We seek out, capture and produce works of art that can be used time and time again in your marketing materials, publications, presentations and more.
Three of the Most Unique Expos Happening in Vegas This Fall
LIVE EVENTS
Click your heels and say it with us: there s no place like Vegas , a playground of shwag bags and call girls that plays host to some of the most hilariously specific events in the world.
The Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show
These people are avant garde event planning geniuses. This event is like, a miniature Vegas inside of actual Vegas, an endless expo floor of souvenirs in the mecca of souvenirs. There s gonna be customized bracelets and personalized picture frames for miles. There s gonna be custom-printed sports jerseys and little baskets of eco-friendly soap. There s gonna be shwag bags of souvenirs OF the souvenirs.
International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigator s Association Conference
Looking to lock up some hog-riding hooligans? There s an association for that. The IOMGIA holds their annual get-together September 13-18 this year, celebrating 41 years of putting mustachio d bad boys behind bars. Sorry: not just anybody can go: Only sworn law enforcement officers, law enforcement agency personnel with specific analytical investigative functions or prosecutors with valid identification will be allowed to register for the conference.
Mr. Olympia 2015
First held in New York in 1965, Mr. Olympia is ground zero for watching greased-up bohunks lift heavy things and punch each other. With kettlebell, boxing, and jiu jitsu competitions rounding out the more traditional body-building segment, the event is more fitness-focused than it was half a century ago. Snag a ticket and find out if reigning champion Phil Heath can hang on to his title.
Music Festival Month: Best Instagrams from the State of Trance in Mumbai
LIVE EVENTS
June is Music Festival Month on the Backstage Pass blog, where we take a twice-a-week peek at highlights from the biggest summer concerts worldwide. This week, Dutch producer and DJ Armin Van Buuren linked arms with the promoters at Sunburn in Mumbai to bring party-goers A State of Trance, a music festival headlined by Van Buuren and named after his weekly radio show. We dug through the social media melee and fished out our favorite shots of the throwdown. We re loving
This monochrome welcome:
This screaming sea of souls:
This amazing fisheye crowd shot:
This field of cellphones:
This rain of fire:
This explosive behind-the-decks view:
This electric storm:
This trippy space lighting:
These colorful spotlights:
This gates of Heaven goodbye:
