AFEM Roundtable Spotlights Position of Schooling—Not Concern—In Messaging for Dancefloor Security

Because the digital music business returns to pre-pandemic crowds, a permanent query has by no means been extra pressing: how can we celebration with out placing folks at risk?

Final week, the Affiliation For Digital Music (AFEM) convened a digital roundtable titled “From Dance Flooring to Festivals: Rethinking Crowd Security,” providing an in-depth look into the challenges and options being mentioned by the business at massive.

Moderated by powerhouse publicist Nikki McNeill, who can also be an AFEM Govt Board Member, the panel featured Claire Wright, founding father of BUDDY, which claims to be “the world’s first social utility app; Carl Loben, Editor-in-Chief of DJ Magazine; Jason Euler of the Arizona-based digital music occasion organizer Relentless Beats; and crowd security pioneer Paul Wertheimer, founding father of Crowd Administration Methods.

The dialogue touched on the escalating complexity of occasion security, the emotional toll of fear-based messaging and the persistent threats dealing with girls on the dancefloor. Although differing in backgrounds, the panelists shared a standard perception: security can’t be a secondary consideration in music—it should be embedded within the DNA of each occasion, from underground warehouse raves to stadium-scale festivals.

As Wertheimer, a veteran within the subject for the reason that 1979 Cincinnati Who live performance tragedy, has lengthy argued, security should be built-in into each side of occasion planning, from venue design and crowd stream to real-time response and public schooling. Euler, whose group produces large-scale occasions throughout the USA, emphasised these logistical rigors required behind the scenes.

Emergency motion planning is essential, he defined, noting that Relentless Beats takes steps to make sure its chain of command is abreast on energetic shooter trainings, CPR preparation and Narcan certification. “Having extra folks which might be multifaceted to have the ability to assist in various kinds of emergencies—and having that preparation—is de facto the whole lot,” Euler mentioned.

The raves proceed, however so does the chance. His feedback mirror a brand new actuality for promoters working in a post-pandemic world, the place employees are anticipated to be not solely hosts, but additionally first responders. The importance of such preparation is underscored by latest tragedies at live shows all over the world, together with crowd crushes and drug-related deaths, incidents which have led to rising scrutiny from native governments and the general public.

Elsewhere within the roundtable, Wright referred to as for a recalibration of how security info is delivered to attendees. There’s an abundance of fabric on the market, she mentioned, however it’s positioned in a means that stresses them out and instills a way of trepidation.

“There’s a lot fear-based info, like on social media and press… It is stopping folks from going out,” she defined. “That is not what we wish. We’re not right here to scare folks, we’re right here to tell them.”

McNeill pointed to a disturbing fact: for a lot of girls in digital music areas, security just isn’t a theoretical challenge, however a lived expertise as a result of rampant sexual assault. “It is extra the ladies who are likely to really feel unsafe,” she mentioned, “however clearly that is a wider challenge.”

Whereas she acknowledged the tradition of mutual care that usually defines the digital music group, she cautioned that particular person vigilance has its limits.

“I believe we do are likely to look out for our associates after we’re out and about clubbing or at festivals, however that may solely go to this point,” McNeill mentioned. “So it is more durable to sort out a wider society downside, however I all the time assume the digital music sector is a frontrunner in taking up new applied sciences and an early adopter of issues.” 

You may watch AFEM’s full roundtable right here.