The Event Safety Podcast

Danielle invites UK crowd safety specialists Eric Stuart and Miriam Stone to discuss the role of steward in the field of crowd management and trace the lines between volunteers, stewards, and licensed security.Eric lays out a five-tier crowd-management hierarchy -- volunteers, stewards, security, police, military -- with stewards sitting just above volunteers: paid, unlicensed, responsible for wayfinding and soft enforcement. Miriam adds that in the UK anything above steward requires a license and training. The conversation also covers volunteer management, noting that fans of the event rarely no-show while general volunteers need clear expectations and something meaningful in return for their time. The group debates whether stewards should face the crowd outright or monitor at a 45-degree angle, and argues for briefing them to spot behavioral outliers -- heat illness, crowd distress, demographic mismatches. Guests:Miriam Stone | Operations Consultant, Arena and Venue IndustryMiriam Stone | LinkedInEric Stuart | Owner and Director, Gentian EventsEric Stuart QPM | LinkedInHosts: Danielle Hernandez 

Tami Richter, ESA's current president, moderates the second commemorative webinar panel, titled "Looking Forward: Education, Collaboration, and the Future of Safer Events." After a moment of silence honoring those lost in 2011, the discussion turns to several active ESA initiatives. Guests: Tami Richter, John Badcock, Jessie Sullivan, Bryan Huneycutt, Doug Bruce, Danielle Hernandez Show Notes: Event Safety Alliance | https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org USITT | https://www.usitt.org    

To mark the 15th anniversary of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed seven people and injured 58 others, Danielle shares Part One of an ESA presentation commemorating the event, and how it inspired us to change to safety at live events, work that continues to this day. The panel, led by ESA founder and immediate past president Jim Digby, traces ESA's founding: the conference calls that grew from a handful of concerned industry professionals to dozens, the Event Safety Guide, and an early meeting with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels that persuaded state officials to let the industry self-regulate. Topics also cover the 13 ANSI standards now available free through ESTA's Technical Standards Program, the insurance sector's role in rewriting weather cancellation policies to address wind and lightning rather than rain accumulation, and evidence of safety culture taking hold on show sites worldwide.  Guests: Jim Digby, Don Cooper, Scott Carroll, Sue McGuirl, Jacob Worek Show Notes: Event Safety Alliance ESTA Technical Standards Program    

Danielle reconvenes the 2nd annual current events roundtable, joined by event safety friends, Jacob Worek, John Badcock, and Doug Bruce to review the incidents, trends, and conversations that shaped the first half of 2026 for live events. Weather was a major theme, also, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, audience behavior and safety messaging, technology and surveillance at events, nightclub fires and more.   Lots of lessons learned, as well as considerations of pathways forward for these challenges. Show Notes: ASTM F38 Drone Shows Committee Contact Danielle | [email protected] Guests: Jacob Worek | SMP John Badcock | Event Operations & Safety Director, SXSW Doug Bruce | Creative Safety Hosts: Danielle Hernandez (host)

What separates safety training from safety culture? Danielle and co-host Anna Glover sit down with Jen Ruggerio, founder of Rugged Training Group and author of Uncorporate Leadership, to dig into that question. Safety training without leadership support is box-checking.  The conversation examines common leadership models that do not translate to environments where the stakes are lives rather than quarterly numbers. This episode builds a case for shared leadership as an alternative to top-down hierarchy, positioning safety accountability as something every crew member holds rather than something that flows from a title. Practical threads include heat illness in new workers, how to speak up when you are day labor, why imposter syndrome is evidence of growth, and how the fresh eyes of a first-week worker are an asset most companies fail to use. Guests: Jen Ruggerio | Founder, Rugged Training Group  Jen Ruggerio | LinkedIn Hosts: Danielle Hernandez (host)       Anna Glover (co-host) Show Notes: Uncorporate Leadership (Amazon) Rugged Training Group Contact Danielle: [email protected]