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CMP SERIES CERTIFICATION MADE POSSIBLE
Setting the Tone Electropop band Passion Pit played to clear skies and dry concertgoers the opening day of Lollapalooza.
“the actual process” for crisis management. “[It’s] just taking the time to think about the situations,” he said, “and what the potential threats are.”
MAKING THE FINAL CALL But oftentimes, the most crucial aspect of a crisis-management strategy is designating who will make the tough calls. That was the case at the 2011 Indiana State Fair, when severe weather threatened to interfere with the band Sugarland’s performance on Saturday, Aug. 13. The fair direc- tor and the band’s tour manager disagreed with police, who wanted to cancel the performance. “By the time fair organizers were on their way to evacuate the concert,” Fisher said, “the stage was already collapsing.” With Lollapalooza 2012 approaching, C3
Presents and Chicago safety officials faced criti- cism from the Chicago Tribune for their crisis- management plan because it left the final call for evacuation up to both parties. When it comes to that, Fisher said, there shouldn’t be any confusion or disagreement, which can happen when more
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than one person or organization is making the decision. However, after seven years of working together, C3 and Chicago safety officials main- tained that they would agree on any decision that had to be made. They had spent months working together to devise a severe-weather strategy. “Any decision to evacuate is a joint decision by city offi- cials as well as C3 partners,” Robinson said. “How- ever, OEMC has the authority to take whatever steps necessary to ensure the safety of attendees and Chicago residents.” With this kind of shared decision-making
responsibility, Fisher said, it’s important to agree that one entity will have the final say. “With every comprehensive plan,” Fisher said, “if something happens, the plan needs to lay out what you’re going to do and, specifically, who is going to make that decision.” And it goes without saying that time is of the
essence in crisis situations. “The first of all the protocols,” Fisher said, “is that if severe weather is approaching and, for example, you’ve got a crowd of 15,000 people, you need to know how long it will