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[Tim McCulloch]

Good information does not equate with proper actions, but bad info is almost certain to lead to unfortunate outcomes.

I say this based on 35 years of working outdoor events of various kinds and will focus specifically on the staging blow-down at the Indiana State Fair concert featuring Sugarland.

Witt Associates (now Witt-O'Brien) investigated the policies and procedures of the Indiana State Fair and did a forensic analysis of the actual actions taken on 13 Aug 2011.  You can read the full report, as submitted to the Indiana State Fair Commission here:

http://www.in.gov/sfc/files/041212_WA_Final_ISFC_Report.pdf

If you're interested in the initial cause of failure and the resulting mechanical destruction you can read the Thornton-Tomasetti report here:  (it's a really big PDF file and includes lots and lots of pictures)

http://www.in.gov/sfc/files/041212_TT_Final_ISFC_Report.pdf

It was this incident that brought me to become a member of the Event Safety Alliance.  Nobody.... not audience, performers, local crew or production vendors, should have to die or risk preventable injuries for a good time to be had.

[Brian Jojade]

When doing outdoor events, if you are not prepared for unexpected rainfall, you are not prepared.  Simple as that.  The weather forecast may look beautiful, but then out of nowhere, it's raining on you.  Every event needs the same preparation.

For speaker covers, I can't recommend the weatherproof covers from UnderCover NYC enough.  Put them on the speakers, and let it rain.  No need to run around bagging things if it starts to rain.

For the rest of your gear, make sure you're not in a flood zone.  If you're in a valley, and it rains, there could suddenly be 6 inches of water to deal with.  If you only have 3 inches of clearance to the ground, something's getting wet, and it's not going to be pretty.

For safety concerns, it's a great idea to have it in your contract WHO is the one that makes the call for cancellation, and what the requirements for such cancellation are.  Pushing right up to the last minute means putting both guests and gear at risk.

  First off is making sure people are out of the way, then secondly, making sure the gear is protected as best it can. The bigger the show, the more detail must be taken for safety.  A pair of speakers on sticks won't need anywhere near the preparation and planning as a full stage show might.  Last summer, I had an event where the weather turned on us VERY quickly.  We went from sunny skies to the depths of hell within 15 minutes.  We had been watching the weather closely, and cleared the area before any signs of bad weather were visible.  Luckily we did, as the storm that came through  was extremely severe.  A pair of speakers flew about 40 feet through the air and landed right where the crowd was just 30 minutes prior.  Everyone executed the bad weather plan perfectly.  Great times!

[Mike Willis]

I can't thank everyone enough for sharing your expertise, recommendations and anecdotes - this is one of those situations where the more I learn, the more I learn how much I don't know! :-)

A few of you mentioned flood zones. Dumb question: other than avoiding the obvious valleys and other low points of a job site, how do you know if you're IN a flood zone?

Stephen, thank you for clarifying the difference between grounded and bonded. Very helpful.

Erk and Cailen - great advice about having a cancellation policy in place ahead of time. Makes perfect sense. Does anyone have a policy they'd be willing to share? Cailen, thank you for sharing your success story!

Baines, thanks for talking about being prepared for the client or event organizer to push back. I experienced that just a few weeks ago. Fortunately, the musicians had my back.

Mike, I wish I had a digital mixer so I could mix (smaller shows) from a tablet or iPad and place the mixer under shelter!

Tim, thanks for mentioning the event safety alliance. I will check it out.

Brian, thank you for recommending UnderCover NYC. I'll check them out as well.

[John Fruits]

"The Event Safety Guide" in kindle format is a genuine bargain at Amazon, under 5 bucks now. worth having if you can handle Kindle format. 
Oh yeah, I have mentioned this before and in other threads, but you can never be too safe.

[Rob Spence]

Brian, thank you for recommending UnderCover NYC. I'll check them out as well.

+1
I have weather covers for my QRX212s and ZXa5s

Oh, and all my transport covers are Undercover NYC too

Great people to do business with

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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