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Safety First

Organising conferences is a complex process. There are many aspects to consider, from food to entertainment, but some of the most pressing concerns of conference organisers, relate to security. For a start, you must look after the safety of delegates, further it is necessary to consider the safety of other hotel users, while also bearing in mind the safety of the property and guests’ personal belongings. Security issues are thus diverse and consequently, at any conference a calculated and carefully thought out security policy should be formulated. According to Claire Gantly, independent advisor at Gantly and Associates, good preparation is 95% of the work in terms of security. Awareness, dialogue and preparation are the key elements for a safe and successful conference – but too often, things go wrong when, in theory, they shouldn’t. “At conferences, a lot of very simple things go wrong, but this is mainly down to poor preparation,” says Gantly. “Simple measures such as controlling people walking around a venue can have a huge impact on the success of a conference from a security perspective, and these issues should be dealt with in advance as a matter of course.” Delegates are undoubtedly the primary focus of any conference, the vast volume of who will turn up at the conference venue at roughly the same time. With such an influx into a venue, there is no room for poor preparation and all the potential issues should have been considered prior to the event, says Gantly. “In terms of delegate security, the venue operators should conduct a risk assessment well before the conference takes place. Issues for consideration might be a controversial element of the conference program and the identification of any potential hazards and previous problems. There is a huge onus on the hosts to look at these issues and address them where necessary,” continues Gantly. “At the moment, there are conferences taking place that are controversial, thereby attracting an element of fanaticism to the event itself. For these events, additional provisions would be made and there would often be bodyguard protection for key attendees,” she says. “This would be costly of course, but it’s all a matter of scale. For a high profile conference in need of such security measures, the budget would be far in excess of your everyday conference, so this is really only necessary in exceptional cases. ”Gantly advises that in the week running up to the conference, all on-site staff be made aware of what’s going on, in terms of upcoming events, to avoid any confusion and minimise the risk of a mishap taking place, which could leave the host venue red-faced and looking rather shoddy. “This should be discussed at the weekly catering meeting, just so all the staff are completely prepared for the week ahead,” she says. Simple measures such as controlling people walking around avenue can have a huge impact on the success of a conference from a security perspective.

Furthermore, when you are dealing with the public, keep them confined to a particular area, make sure that everyone knows where they are, and keep an eye on them. If groups are monitored properly most security risks will be eliminated. However, Gantly maintains that a lot of the problems arise from the design of buildings, and in particular the location of conference facilities. “A lot of the problem is design and layout issues as much as anything else. There are so many things people simply don’t think of from a practical point of view, as well as a security perspective,” says Gantly. “I have seen all sorts of things on plans, such as doors leading out from conference and function areas onto bedroom corridors, which means anyone can walk around. At the end of the day, you don’t know who any of these people are and they are not traceable if something happens. ”While many companies that hold conferences will hire event organisers to oversee the operation, Gantly insists that the hotelier also has a responsibility to become involved in the security aspect of the event. “I would imagine that conference organisers would give security some thought, but at the end of the day they are interested in the conference itself and not the rest of the hotel,” she says. “So, the hotelier should discuss with them any security issues that might arise and how they will deal with them, because at the end of the day it is up to them to protect the rest of the people using the hotel. ”There aren’t many standard guidelines for people to follow when arranging conferences. Most of the areas are so broadly defined - even in terms of the hotel’s registration requirements - that they are very much open to interpretation. “The requirement is that when you have a function room, it has to be separate and completely independent from the main hotel, with separate access, but other than that there isn’t anything specific to say what you can and can’t do, such as doors leading from conference rooms to bedroom corridors,” says Gantly. “There is absolutely nothing specific written down that I have come across with specific guidelines,” she continues. “Particularly when plans are being reviewed, it’s the inspectors or advisers themselves who should say, ‘that’s not going to work from a practical point of view’. But if someone pushed them to it, there is nothing they can refer to where it states that in black and white.” Conference organisers and venue hosts must therefore rely heavily on common sense and learn from their mistakes. Security is a very serious issue in conferencing and as conferences get bigger it is becoming more and more important, but with few guidelines to follow, guaranteeing security is a difficult task. Perhaps in the future we might see some advances in this area, such as a conference security guide or a national advice group, but for the time being conference security