What makes a successful event?

Everything needs to run to schedule, the venue is ideal, caterers provide the required food & drink the speakers and exhibitors turn up on time and no emergencies or problems occur. But it is more than that – equally, if not more important are the people working behind the scenes to ensure a totally smooth operation such as the stewards ensuring visitor safety, quick entrance & exit, organising car parks and dealing with queries.

Marshals and stewards are quite simply the public face of your event and their value should never be overlooked.

Just think what can happen without trained marshals and stewards around.

Queue Management

Efficient marshals and stewards minimise queuing by ensuring rapid bag checks, tickets and manning access points. They provide the first point of contact for anyone wanting information.

Fire Safety

No matter how well organised an event, the risk of fire is always present. In the heat of summer, a spark can quickly ignite tinder dry grass and spread fast. Electrical sparks, carelessly dropped cigarettes or even problems in kitchens can result in serious incidents. Panic can quickly ensure as people try to leave a building or area as quickly as possible.

In such circumstances, professionally trained stewards can quickly take the initiative and ensure everyone leaves safely by the nearest exit. They can also help with the initial action against the fire itself by using fire extinguishers to prevent the fire from taking hold.

They also ensure that road access is kept free so that the emergency vehicles can get in quickly to deal with problems.

Adverse Weather

Then there is the issue of the weather. This is, after all, Britain and the weather is always problematic. You can never 100% guarantee the weather which means car parking can quickly become difficult. Visitors, quite naturally, want to park as close as possible to the entrance to the event.

If left unsupervised, such parking can quickly descend into chaos with badly parked cars, often blocking access points and routes around the car park. People drive round and round hunting for an elusive space close to the entrance. This adds to the congestion and tempers soon start to fray.

At night the problem can be even worse. Ever tried manoeuvring around a dark, unlit car park with cars parked higgledy piggledy and headlights blazing into your eyes as cars start reversing and turning, trying to get past other cars and find exits? The potential for damage to other cars and pedestrians, as well as accidents between moving cars is huge.

On grassy car parks, heavy rain can quickly cause the site to become a field of mud. Cars get stuck, unable to move and sliding all over the place.

This is where the presence of trained car park marshals and stewards come into their own. They can react quickly as soon as conditions start to deteriorate. Straw can be put down over muddy areas to give cars plenty of grip as they pass by, avoiding the risk of getting stuck. Traffic can be directed into the least muddy areas, and exits organised. If the worse comes to the worst – they can even give cars a push to help them on their way.

The event result you want!

The result is happy visitors, entering and leaving events safely and quickly having enjoyed a pleasant time without any problems. This is achieved simply by having professional marshals and stewards doing a good job, thus contributing to the good public perception of your business.