Last week, the Winter Gardens in Blackpool played host to the country’s largest magic convention. Thousands of stage magicians, mentalists and close-up performers came together worldwide to share trade secrets and show off their skills. Then events took a catastrophic turn.
On the penultimate night of the convention, an intoxicated attendee climbed to the roof of the Winter Gardens’ main hall and began swinging across the roof beams. It is unclear what he intended to accomplish. Perhaps he planned on staging an airborne trick or illusion, or perhaps he was committing a foolish, alcohol-fuelled prank. Whatever his motives may have been, he lost his grip and fell twenty-five feet to the hard, marble floor below. Fortunately, he survived. However, he was severely injured, and the convention’s positive reputation was tarnished.
This disaster could have been avoided if the convention had had a better security system. Here at Zaun, we understand that large conventions can be dangerous. Whenever thousands of people are gathered in one place, there’s a good chance that someone will injure themselves or others. That’s why we believe that convention organisers need to invest in high-quality security equipment. If you’re organising a convention or similar event, there are two items of security apparatus that you absolutely must-have.
Firstly, you should invest in temporary security fencing. Whether your convention takes place indoors or in the open air, there are bound to be certain areas on-site that are too dangerous for attendees. For example, if access to the roof had been blocked using deftly-placed security fencing, the attendee at the Blackpool Magic Convention might not have had the opportunity to injure himself. Learn from this oversight and make sure to block potentially dangerous areas at your convention.
Secondly, you must have a decent network of CCTV cameras and a station where the footage can be monitored in real-time. If someone is about to do something foolish, they can be spotted on CCTV cameras and stopped before injuring themselves. Nobody saw what the attendee at the Blackpool Magic Convention was doing until it was too late to stop him: don’t let this happen at your convention.
If you’re responsible for organising or securing a large convention, check out our range of temporary fencing options and CCTV cameras today. You may need them to protect your more unpredictable attendees from themselves!
