Olympia London and Exhibition News gathered together event professionals at a roundtable to discuss how good security means managing risk effectively, and creating great visitor experiences
The world of event security, from both a threat and visitor expectation point of view, has changed considerably over the last 25 years.
A roundtable of eight made up of event organisers, venue management and security specialists put their minds together to debate how security at all stages of an event can give reassurance to attendees, make them feel secure and enhance their experience.
The table also discussed Martyn’s Law, also known as Protect Duty, and the different risks that certain events face based on their size, demographic and location.
Director of Security, Safety & Risk at ASM Global, Gary Simpson, said: “Security has got to be proportionate to the size of event and the risks that your event faces. They are wide ranging, from the counterterrorism element to fraud or cyber risks, and understanding the context of what's going on in the world.”
Olympia London venue director, Gillian Kiamil, said: “Seamless security makes your guests more confident, happy and reassured in attending… The bottom line is the better we can make that experience the more they will want to come back.”
Andrew Evans, managing director of Thorough Events, added: “You need to think about what it feels like as an attendee,” he said. “Security are often the first point of contact for your event, so that welcome, that smile, is everything.”
Speaking after the event, Gillian praised the collaboration and commitment of everybody to providing the best level of event safety possible: “I think it's really interesting that we managed to bring together not only security professionals, but also people from the within the venue and service partners to discuss the bigger piece together.
Read more about the security roundtable in Exhibition News.
List of attendees:
Gary Simpson, Director of Security, Safety and Risk, ASM Global
Gillian Kiamil – Venue Director, Olympia London
Andrew Evans - Managing Director, Thorough Events
Emma Dengate - Global Health and Safety Manager, RX
Kerrie Kemp – Event Operations Director, Informa
Jennifer Phipps – Operations Director, RX
Selven Govindsamy - Operations Director, The Event & Exhibitions Partnership Ltd