[divider]Opportunities[/divider]
With every weakness comes an opportunity. The wait in lines were long. So long, people would more than likely read a message board if it were placed in the lines. We know that we would anyway. Also, emailing the fans leading directly up to the event with with the subject line “VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT” would likely get the fans to read the warnings and harm reduction policies put in place by Insomniac medical staff.
As for finding the medical facilities, the same pomp and circumstance that went into stage development and production could potentially go into marking the medical facilities. We have seen some medical tents use white balloons with the medical cross on it with LED lights inside floating above the crowd to provide a better marking of it’s location. This would easily allow patrons to spot the facility from a distance.
[divider]Threats[/divider]
The biggest threat we can see from any event around the world are the companies that promotion companies use for staffing these massive events. These staffing agencies provide very little training to their employees and it is reflected in their abilities when they are approached for help. Usually these staffing agencies will bid for the job or have a contract with the venues and it comes down to who can do it for the cheapest.
EDC does provide a similar thing to the Conscious Crew called “Ground Control”. The biggest threat to this program is being able to find them. For some reason, Insomniac decided to give the Ground Control crew dark purple shirts. As you can imagine, they are impossible to find in that environment. I personally didn’t even see them until I spent some time in the medical tent to talk to the aid staff. One person manning the door said that he didn’t even know who they were or why they kept bringing people in. We highly suggest bright colored shirts for future Insomniac events.
[divider]Moving Forward[/divider]
EDC was a safer event than it was last year in the total number of casualties reported and arrests were down from last year as well. However, there was one death reported at EDC this year, which is one too many. That is still down from last year which had two during the festival and one a few days later as a result.
Every year we as community become more educated in the safety of ourselves and others. Promotion companies are doing their part in implementing common sense programs and learn from the mistakes of the year before. Hopefully, Pasquale Rotella and his team will take our advice and improve upon an already stellar program and create one of the safest environments the world has ever seen. If you were at EDC, what did you think of their harm reduction program? Tell us in the comments below.
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