Joe DeGeorge, Verizon Arena, North Little Rock, Ark.; Stephen Reed, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa; Matt Gibson, Spokane (Wash.) Arena; David Moss, Raymond James Stadium; Jason Allen, US Testing Equipment; and Vincent Foderingham, Feld Entertainment. (VT Photo)
REPORTING FROM TAMPA, FLA. — Feld Entertainment has joined other content providers in scrutinizing security and terrorism precautions at all its 5,000 shows in seven countries with the intent of establishing minimum requirements.
“As a result of extremely bad things that have happened in 2015-16, we created a security council which I co-chair with another colleague,” said Vincent Foderingham, VP, Risk Management, Feld Entertainment. “We’re working on establishing minimum levels of security at all of our shows that we can work into the contract.”
Bottom line, “if bad things happen, how do we protect the balance sheet of the organization. Insurance, indemnification… who is responsible for what?” he asked.
He is also studying risk assessment and consistent emergency protocols across all of Feld Entertainment’s brands, he told more than 200 attendees at the IAVM Arena Management Conference here Sept. 18-20. “We did find we had several different product lines, but some handle emergencies differently than others. We want an established protocol across all of those lines.”
Back of house credentialing system is also an inconsistent process for Feld Entertainment. “We need our venue partners to make sure they know who are people are,” Foderingham said.
Layer one for Feld is venue indemnification and venue-enhanced security in place, as well as compliance with the Department of Homeland Security Safety Act Certification program, Foderingham continued.
“We’re purchasing terrorism coverage now. We see that as a credible threat,” he told arena managers. “We are looking at your Safety Act coverage. Does your security coverage extend to us as your venue partner?”
“If you don’t get anything else out of this program, go home and research terrorism coverage,” advised Matt Gibson, Spokane (Wash.) Arena, who moderated the session.
Foderingham, like all the panelists on this session on security, referred to magnetometers and whether that will be on the list of equipment necessary to meet Feld Entertainment security requirements of its venue partners. Other panelists included Jason Allen, sales manager, US Testing Equipment; Joe DeGeorge, director, event services, Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Ark.; and David Moss, director, event services, and Stephen Reed, event coordinator, both with Tampa Sports Authority/Raymond James Stadium.
“People stopped me and thanked me at our last event for installing metal detectors,” Gibson said. While he had feared the inconvenience, even intrusiveness, of using magnetometers would deter fans, it had the opposite effect.
That is the feeling abroad, as well, Foderingham noted, adding that Feld shows just barely missed being open in Paris and in Brussels during the last terrorist attacks in those cities. “At some point, something will happen,” he said. “We do a better job of due diligence internally than nationally.”
Allen gave attendees a broad look at the technology in place with magnetometers. Key to any program in training, the staff on how to look at risk management and crowd expectations through social media.
When buying magntometers, it’s important to consider whether they will be indoors or outdoors, up all the time or stored and portable or stationary, Allen said. “Cost is the major deterrent. Look at leasing.”
Also consider what you want to catch, which should not be everything. “Reference some of the National Institute of Justice standards – look at small handguns and up.” Limiting the items searched can help with throughput. At the same time, document a policy and be consistent on what you do, what you test for and how often you test.
Municipally-owned factilities have access to GSA contracts which allows the lowest price, Allen said. “You can avoid lengthy RFP processes and get to brass tacks as to cost. Also, leverage it on your security vendor – that they have to provide the equipment.”
Magnetometers have a lot of features these days and the operator can control sensitivity and zones searched, for example. Allen suggested adjusting them based on feedback from the queues.
“Queuing and controlling that space is the biggest component,” Allen said. “The pinch point is ticket taking, not the security. Control the space first.”
“Don’t tell everyone to take everything out of their pockets. Just cell phones and keys. Those are important training points.”
DeGeorge noted Live Nation has already sent out directives making walk-throughs at Live Nation concerts mandatory. In their case, Def Leppard was the next Live Nation event. So they rented 12 walk throughs for smaller, pre-DL shows to assess what the investment was going to mean in time, training and fan satisfaction.
“You will have issues with both staff and patron training,” DeGeorge warned. “They will show up 20 minutes before the show and you will have lines.”
When Live Nation said walkthroughs were mandatory at their concerts, Verizon Arena had been ready to buy handhelds. They bought walkthroughs instead, and rented some walk throughs for smaller shows prior to delivery. “We didn’t want our first show with walk throughs to be Def Leppard and 12,000 people in the house. It was good training.”
He stressed the important of communication with patrons. “We send out an email blast stating security policy and door time is 6-6:30 directly to people who bought tickets. People are starting to catch on to come earlier.”
They also overstaff walk-through mags to get people in before the show starts and screen all employees. Stagehands provide list of who is working so when their people show up, arena staff know who is scheduled to work that event.
“We also have outdoor speakers talking about security and post staff outside,” DeGeorge said. He noted that hen people got to the mags, they were fumbling to get stuff out of their pockets, so “we bought 600 baskets from Dollar Tree, put stickers in there saying put your cell phone here, don’t put changehere, don’t put wallets here. Staff handed them out, and it sped the process up. Also, staff is engaging people walking up so if anyone is suspicious, they can call security.”
Panelists had mixed feelings about express lanes. We did it at first, but those lines sometimes were not used and if you call a couple over, hundreds come over,” DeGeorge said.
DeGeorge also took staff to FedEx Forum, Memphis, to advance the use of walk throughs.
By the 2017 National Football League season, every NFL stadium has to have magnetometers, Moss said. “We are using handhelds at gates now, but by 2017, we will be compliant,” he said. Besides magnetometers, the stadium will also add awnings over the magnetometers, due to the excessive heat in Tampa, and “we need to determine where to place them.”
Moss talked about the National Football League’s clear bag policy, which was instituted in 2013. “Now, 80-90 percent of the people know about it,” he said of the mandate that all carry-ins at the stadium fit in a clear plastic bag. “We still have banners and flyers in the parking lot reminding people,” Moss aid. And gallon zip lock bags are provided by parking lot attendants and security when needed so people can take anything that doesn’t fit or isn’t allowed back to their cars. It’s as much about training attendees as it is training employees, he said.
To the issue of training, Reed said Tampa Sports Authority will bring in a crew an hour early and practice security procedures at every game. It’s a matter of training and retraining on what is allowed in and what to do if contraband is found.
To establish minimum security requirements, Foderingham notified arena managers to expect a survey from Feld regarding current security procedures in place sometime this mo nth. “You have to make a proper assessment of what to ask for,” he said, so step one is finding out what exists.
“We get really concerned as to whether our guests feel safe going to shows,” Foderingham said. “We know that at some point, something is going to happen. I think we do a better job doing due diligence on an international basis than nationally. When something happens, the investment to make the public safe is much greater than consideration of profitability.”
“I went into this kicking and screaming,” Gibson said of purchasing magnetometers in Spokane. “I thought we should invest in training versus equipment. It doesn’t even matter what I think, when I saw our guests thank me for making this investment. Even if you don’t catch someone with this stuff, the mental awareness you’re giving your guest is well worth it.”
Interviewed for this story: Jason Allen, (360) 735-7685; Joe DeGeorge, (501) 975-9042; Vincent Foderingham, (941) 721-1233; David Moss and Stephen Reed, (813) 350-6500; Matt Gibson, (509) 279-7000