The International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) is pleased to announce that Scott McCartney will speak and lead a session on crowd management and security at the 2016 Academy for Venue Safety & Security (AVSS) and GuestX: Guest Experience & Crowd Management Conference.
“In light of the recent Paris attacks, IAVM wants to ensure our safety and security training in 2016 addresses key areas of preparedness for all venue managers,” said Mark Herrera, IAVM’s director of education. “Scott McCartney is an exceptional addition to the AVSS and GuestX 2016 programs, and the experience and expertise that he brings will be tremendous for every student and attendee.”
McCartney is the project director of the Large Stadium Initiative with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. The initiative is based on the premise that a majority of stadiums are owned by municipal or state governments, and therefore security varies from facility to facility. This program explores commonalities of large stadium/venue Homeland Security preparedness issues and assists in developing strategies for enhancing prevention, response, and recovery capabilities. He earned national recognition as a Master Exercise Practitioner from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
McCartney’s discussion at AVSS and GuestX will focus on all hazards pertaining to crowd management and security, broken down into three categories: Assessments (venue staff, facility, policy and procedures), Training (establishing training guidelines, staff, continuous training), and Exercises (discussion based, drills, and full scale).
“During the discussion, I will use several ‘real situations’ I have been a part of and worked through to help illustrate for attendees the importance of crowd management and security,” McCartney said.
AVSS takes place Feb. 21-25, 2016, and GuestX takes place Feb. 21-23, 2016, with both taking place at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel. Registration and more information can be found at http://iavm.org/avss and http://iavm.org/guestx.
