Weather Safety and Your Event - Is There An App For That? (Dr. Kevin Kloesel)

When the weather turns Shakespearean, are you ready “To stand up against the deep dread-bolted thunder / In the most terrible and nimble stroke / Of quick, cross lightning?” (King Lear). Severe weather events can strike anywhere, any time. If you don’t have a weather action plan for your event, you may be putting everyone at your event at risk, including your staff. Pretty radar images don’t make you a meteorologist and is no substitute for a weather professional. Dr. Kloesel will explain why people are still surprised by storms and how weather planning can be improved.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (Mike Harnett)

You’ve dozed off driving home from work, only waking up with a jolt as you head towards the ditch. You manage six hours of sleep, have the energy of a slug, and argue more and more with your family, not to mention the small nuclear reaction bubbling up in your stomach again. What’s going on? If your venue or event requires people to work long hours or late nights, or engage in physically demanding or safety-sensitive work, cumulative fatigue and decreased alertness can lead to impaired performance, reduced health, and safety risks. This session will deliver scientific evidence on why we need to respect sleep and strategies for how to prevent the effects of fatigue.

Electrify the Audience, Not the Performers (Richard Cadena)

In the last five years alone, four singers have died from electrocution on stage and a fifth was very badly shocked. What is causing these accidents? And more importantly, how can we prevent them in the future? Join Richard Cadena, ETCP Recognized Trainer, Certified Entertainment Electrician, and author of “Electricity for the Entertainment Electrician & Technician,” for a session of discovery and a strategy for protecting the stage from fatal accidents.

Event Security for Nervous Times

In some long-past golden age, it was relatively simple to plan event security – hire big guys to protect the stage and man the gates, throw out the drunks who couldn’t hold their liquor, done. Now, security is considerably more involved. Guest services staff can talk patrons out of their conflicts in order to avoid ejections; security professionals must be mindful of even laying hands on a guest; all staff must be able to calmly direct people towards exits should there be an unscheduled evacuation due to real or imagined causes. In this session, four people with boots-on-the-ground crowd management experience will discuss the modern challenges of event security.

Moderator:
Steven A. Adelman, Adelman Law Group, PLLC; Vice President, Event Safety Alliance (Scottsdale, AZ)

Panelists:
Luciano Cedrone, Vice President of National Security, Brookfield Office Properties (Canada)
Jennifer Mathieson, Archevent (formerly F.A.C.E. Produtions), Owner and Special Events Manager (Winnipeg, MB)
Sean Spence, Security Risk Management Consultant, Full Spectrum Security Inc. (Toronto, ON)
Jill Volker, Training/Operations Manager, XA Staffing

#TorontoStrong (Trevor Hyland, Nathaniel Kennedy)

On Monday April 23, 2018, a rented van was deliberately driven onto the sidewalk in the area of Yonge St and Finch Ave in the City of Toronto. This vehicle traveled southbound on Yonge St sidewalks for over two kilometres striking numerous pedestrians. Ten people were killed and sixteen were seriously injured. To honour the victims of this deadly attack and provide the community with an opportunity to heal, a vigil was held on Sunday April 29th at Mel Lastman Square.

This presentation will review the event planning process for the vigil, the public safety and security measures implemented following the incident, and the emergency response coordination, along with the City resources that were mobilized in support. Never in the City's history, has an event of this magnitude been undertaken within a 72 hour planning cycle. People came forward to show Toronto's true strength, compassion and our resilience for those affected by this tragedy. It's what makes us all #TorontoStrong.

Steven A. Adelman

Sports and entertainment lawyer Steven A. Adelman is the head of Adelman Law Group, PLLC in Scottsdale, Arizona and Vice President of the Event Safety Alliance. His national law practice focuses on risk management and litigation regarding safety and security at live events, and he also serves as an expert witness in crowd-related lawsuits. With the Event Safety Alliance, he is one of the authors of the Event Safety Guide, and he chairs the group that is developing a first-of-its-kind ANSI standard for Crowd Management at live events. He is on the faculty of Arizona State University’s Sports Law and Business Program, he writes the monthly "Adelman on Venues" newsletter on current issues in the live event and venue industry, and he frequently appears in national and local media to provide analysis of sports and entertainment incidents. Steve Adelman graduated from Boston College Law School in 1994. He can be reached at sadelman@adelmanlawgroup.com.

Richard Cadena

Richard is an ETCP Recognized Trainer, an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician with 30 years of experience in live event production, and the author of: “Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving and Color-Changing Light, 3rd Edition”, “Electricity for Entertainment Electricians & Technicians, 2nd Edition”, “Lighting Design for Modern Houses of Worship” and “Focus on Lighting Technology”. As a freelance lighting designer and lighting consultant he has worked on concert tours, television, theatre, motion picture productions, and more. He is the technical editor for PLASA Media and a columnist for Lighting & Sound America, Lighting & Sound International, and Protocol magazines. He can be reached at rcadena@aptxl.com.

Luciano Cedrone

Luciano Cedrone is currently the Vice President of National Security for Brookfield Office Properties (Canada) where he the Company’s overall security program for class A properties across the country.

His security experience includes 10 years with York Regional Police working uniformed response, Criminal Investigations and Intelligence specializing in major organized crime investigations. In 2007, Luciano joined Wal-Mart Canada as their Corporate Security Manager and Canadian lead for Global Security including major event planning.

Luciano is an ASIS Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and holds Honours BA in Political Science. He has successfully leveraged public/private partnerships to support his security response planning including major events like G20, the Pan Am Games and private sector events including shareholder meetings and protests.

Luciano also Chair’s PATHcomm which connects over 30 private sector properties to emergency services to better manage and coordinate emergency response and is “best practice” example of effective public/private partnerships working together to mitigate risk during major emergencies.

Jim Digby

Jim has spent the last three decades producing live events across the globe for some of the world’s most celebrated talents. Working with the likes of Linkin Park, Enrique Iglesias, Meghan Trainor, Back Street Boys and many more, Jim's ability to meet and manage client and artist expectations is finely crafted.

His management technique and team building expertise are essential tools in the fast-paced delivery of complex projects, and his style of inclusivity helps to create a positive, enjoyable work environment for all partners. Jim's deep understanding of the latest resources required to develop such large-scale live events and his relationships with the many agencies who help deliver them is an essential resource when in the role of project-wide oversight. Jim has mentored and helped to develop a large roster of some of the live event industry’s most talented individuals, many of whom are part of the team.

Jim is the Founder and Chairman of the non-profit Event Safety Alliance, a safety-in-live-events global advocacy group. He sits on the board of the Behind The Scenes Foundation as well as the Fest Forums Group, and is a sought after keynote speaker in matters relating to event safety, event production as a trade and the often challenging human condition in live events.

Mike Harnett

Mike is President of Solaris Fatigue Management, a consulting firm that specializes in optimizing worker health, safety and performance. She has over 25 years of experience consulting with various US and Canadian government agencies including NASA, the Canadian Standards Association, and Transportation Safety Boards. She has assisted in the delivery of program development and guidance documents for a variety of industries including nuclear, airline, oil & gas, municipal, and performance arts industries. With a background in human factors and sleep neurobiology, Mike is recognized for her ability to take complex subjects and deliver their content in a simplified and innovative manner for all to understand. An award-winning speaker, she is known for her sense of humor and is an internationally sought-after presenter and educator. She can be reached at mharnett@solarisfm.com.

Trevor Hyland

Trevor has worked with the City of Toronto for five years in the City Cultural Events, Production unit leading various projects including: PANAMANIA, Canada 150 Celebrations, Canada Day, Nuit Blanche, Cavalcade of Lights and New Year's Eve. He recently accepted a position within the Office of Emergency Management leading a new event safety & security taskforce. He is passionate about the advancements in event health & safety, emergency service coordination and crowd management tactics at all produced events. Trevor is a graduate of Sheridan Collage and has worked in the events industry for over twenty years with a focus on concert production.

Nathaniel Kennedy

Nathaniel has worked with the City of Toronto for eight years in the City Cultural Events, Production unit participating in various projects including: Nuit Blanche, Invictus Games, PANAMANIA, Canada 150 Celebrations, Canada Day, Cavalcade of Lights and New Year's Eve. He started with technical and production support for major events and has slowly been integrating thorough site design and active safety and crowd management planning and operations into large-scale public projects. Nathaniel received his post-secondary education from Ryerson Theatre School and has had a twenty-five year career in the live performance and events industries.

Dr. Kevin Kloesel

Kevin is the University Meteorologist for the Office of Emergency Preparedness at the University of Oklahoma and a certified Oklahoma Emergency Manager. He is a former National Weather Forecast Contest Winner, and is responsible for weather plans and decisions for every event on the OU campus. Kevin is an instructor at the Event Safety Alliance Severe Weather Summit. He has appeared on numerous media programs including The Weather Channel’s WXGeeks, SXSW Eco and WeatherBrains. Kevin is the Director of the Oklahoma Climate Survey, an associate professor in the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at OU, and lead author for the US Fourth National Climate Assessment.

Jennifer Mathieson

Jennifer Mathieson is a Special Event Manager and owner of Archevent (formally F.A.C.E Productions) out of Winnipeg Manitoba. Her portfolio includes Festivals such as The 103 Grey Cup Festival, The Canada Summer Games Festival 2017 and Indigenous Day Live annually. She has been a primary contributor to special events since 2006 managing crowds and interactions from hundreds to 75,000. Jennifer’s style of management maintains a key focus on risk prevention through design which includes the design of teams, their key roles, interactions and event layout. Over the years Jennifer has developed policies and best practices that reduce risk, increase efficiency and enhance the event experience for all.

Sean Spence

Sean Spence is an accomplished security risk management practitioner with strategic leadership and consulting experiences within both the public and private sectors. After serving as an officer in the Canadian Forces, Sean went on to pursue a variety of security risk advisory opportunities in both corporate security as well as the live events entertainment industry. As a consultant for live events, Sean is passionate in supporting event organizers by assisting with physical site design, developing crisis management plans, and ensuring effective guard management services during events. He has a masters degree in Infrastructure Protection & International Security from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada) where he received a scholarship grant from Public Safety Canada to conduct counter-terrorism research for federal policy-makers. He is currently completing his doctorate in Security Risk Management from the University of Portsmouth (U.K.) where his research focus is on the protection of mass gathering events and mitigating public security risks. Sean has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and an Emergency Management certificate from York University (Toronto).