SAfety at shows
Issue 1 - August 2008

"Storm Hits the Omaha Summer Arts Festival"

Dear Show Director,
 
By now you must of heard of the terrible storms that devastated several art shows this summer. The Omaha Arts Festival, one of over 100 art shows that is a member of NAIA, was one of the first shows to be hit with bad weather. Their's is quite a story, but the most important part is how the show was prepared ahead of time for possible emergencies and how well the staff followed their plan. Thanks to this planning, preparedness and follow-through there were no major injuries. Here is the "Post Show Report" from Vic Gutman, President Vic Gutman & Associates, producers of the Omaha Summer Arts Festival:

Although we hope to never have to act on our emergency plan, this year was an example of why it is so important to have one in place. The plan worked well and there were no injuries on site. Even with the storm on Friday overall the Festival was a success. We were able to keep the event going and artists' sales rallied on Saturday and Sunday.

• Local weather is monitored via a weather radio and through our off-duty Omaha Police officers that provide security. As soon as we find out that inclement weather is headed our way, a pre-determined emergency team convenes to discuss a course of action. Depending on the specifics of the situation, the team crafts a message and sends pre-determined staff out to designated zones of the festival to disseminate the information.
• In this year's case, there were two sets of information released one after another. The original message was that a storm had formed approximately 25 miles west of Omaha, was rapidly moving in our direction and that we were expecting high winds and severe weather. By the time our designated staff checked in to confirm they had reached everyone in their zone, they were sent back out with a second message for artists and the public to seek shelter immediately. Shelter was available in several buildings immediately adjacent to the Festival site. Buildings included the W. Dale Clark Library, The Paxton, The Peter Kiewit State Office Building and The Landmark Building.
• Announcements were also made from the main stage and using the mobile bullhorn (part of our rental order each year).

• The festival Staff was already preparing for recovering and clean up before the storm was even past. A landline phone was used since cell phone lines were over-extended and not connecting. Each year a facility log is prepared that has contact names, numbers and emergency numbers for all of our facility services. Having this information available on one laminated page was an important part of our quick response.

• Staff began the process of accounting for all artists, staff and volunteers while still in shelter.

• Our onsite electrician shut down all of our Festival generators due to the torrential rain and flooding that was expected. One generator that was furthest from our electrician's location did not get shut off until after the storm (although we do not want to put our electrician at risk, we would ideally get all generators turned off before folks are let out of shelters).

• At this time the Festival itself does not have any insurance claims, however we did notify our insurance company of the situation immediately. The importance of having the Festival named as Additional Insured on our facility vendors' insurance policies is particularly important. Most special event insurance policies exclude coverage of rented items. Our tent company has approximately four claims pending with their insurance, including claims by two artists whose booths were damaged by other rented tents being blown into them.

• Within minutes of viewing the damage to the site an emergency crew was designated to accomplish the following: clear a path for emergency vehicles (fortunately not needed), clear debris that may cause injury, assess damage with individual artists and vendors, make arrangements and announce an artist/vendor meeting, continue working with facility vendors to get the Festival up and running by morning and notify the media of damage details and our plans to reopen on schedule on Saturday morning!

• Twelve artists left the Festival on Friday night. Many others had damage to their booths and their work but decided to persevere through the show. One additional artist left on Saturday night after another front of wind and rain passed through at approximately 9:15 p.m. We are keeping a record of artist damage and soliciting additional details through our post-event surveys. The damage to artists booths and work makes us feel helpless but the Festival is not able to accept liability for damage to artists' merchandise or booths; the artists sign a waiver as part of the application process.

• Some of the most extensive damage occurred at the World Music Pavilion where the 60 x 120 tent was torn apart and blown into the Peter Kiewit State Office Building. The tent was, of course, destroyed in addition to the rented sound system and other miscellaneous rental items (fencing, tables, chairs). The Peter Kiewit State Office Building also incurred damage including a broken window and possible water damage. The Festival was named as additional insured on the Lincoln Tent & Awning policy.

• As a result of the storms, the Festival will reflect a loss this year based on lost income from beverage sales as well as increased expenses that were incurred as we worked to get the Festival open on Saturday morning. These additional expenses include, but are not limited to: paying a new sound company for the World Music Pavilion, additional rentals, extra sandbags to secure artists' booths and hiring a crew to manage the clean-up and repair effort.

• Here are a few general notes:
• Monitoring and acting on weather situations is an art, not a science. Festival staff must make decisions on what weather information should be broadcast as well as how and when it should be disseminated. We cannot raise a flag with every front that shows up on the radar system!
• Even though many artists now have access to radar information on their phones, we must defer to the experts who know how to read and interpret the information. We still rely on the National Weather Service and local meteorologists.
• In this case, the storm formed just 25 miles west of Omaha - - - we are lucky we had that much warning and that storm didn't form on top of us with NO warning as it did just west of us in Valley.
• Weather in the Midwest can be unpredictable which is one of the reasons that we provide several services to help artists prepare their booths for the unexpected. The first is that we have sandbags onsite and free of charge for artists to use as additional weight to secure their booths. We also, have a Booth Inspection team that reviews the site and specifically artists' booths for stability and structural soundness. The team is made up of local architects/engineers, board members and an artist from our Artist Ambassador group.
• Since the onsite jury was not completed, we asked artists for ideas on what to do with the award money. It was quickly decided to donate the money to the relief fund that was set-up for the Boy Scout camp that was destroyed in a tornado two weeks prior. The donation was made in the name of the Omaha Summer Arts Festival artists and local Boy Scout Troop #20 (our amazing onsite clean-up crew).
• Due to both the hardship that was endured by our artists (except for two that were sited for rule infractions) and the fact that the jury was not completed, all artists at the 2008 show will be invited back to participate in the 2009 show without going through the jury.

In closing, while the effect of the storms took a toll on the Festival, we are extremely relieved that no one was injured and that we were able to continue throughout the weekend. We have heard many positive comments from artists, vendors and festival goers about the way this emergency was handled and our ability to regroup and continue.

Show: Omaha Summer Arts Festival
Dates: June 27, 28 & 29 (last full weekend in June)
Artists: 135, spanning 5 linear blocks in downtown Omaha
Website: www.summerarts.org

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For being fully prepared with an excellent emergency plan, for following through with the plan to protect lives and property and for making compassionate decisions regarding award money and next year's show jury NAIA is honoring the 2008 Omaha Summer Arts Festival staff as the first entry into the newly created NAIA Hall of Fame.

Thank you and Congratulations!

Link to the NAIA Hall of Fame

Thank you Vic Gutman for sharing your report. Several examples of safety actions by other shows are listed below:

Many shows all over the country have emergency plans and NAIA thanks those that do. Is your staff prepared for a disaster to hit the show as happened in Omaha, Evanston, Des Moines, Madison, Ann Arbor and beyond this summer? Or Austin last year? Or Boston Mills 2 years ago? Or Cherry Creek several years before? Do you have a plan? Do you hold drills for your key staff shortly before the show?

Imagine if bad weather hit, or worse, a human caused tragedy occurred? Artists do not expect you to control everything, certainly not the weather. We understand that sometimes a terrible storm can crop up in only 15 minutes. But we need your assistance, as do the patrons at your shows and we need a planned and practiced response carried out in the event of emergencies. Surely the local Police and Fire Departments can assist in creating the best emergency plan for your event and location.

Professional artists recognize it is our own responsibility to protect ourselves and our property the best we can under the tenuous conditions of outdoor events. We understand you also recognize your safety responsibilities. The purpose of this "Safety Bulletin" is to share information from actual Show Directors, with regard to safety at shows, with as many show directors as we can reach.

Have you honestly assessed all venerable areas of your show?

The Gasparilla show of Tampa, FL moved location in 2008. Prior to this year there was one spot in the show's former location that was always hit with very bad winds. Nearly every year artists in that location received damage because of the wind.

The Original Ann Arbor Street Art Fair long ago recognized the windy area in the show's former location and only placed "open air booths" in that area, meaning only artists that could display their work without tents.

Have you considered some type of mandatory anchoring system for the artist, information and vendor booths?

Some shows have specific and mandatory weight or tie-down requirements, in particular, Disney's Festival of the Masters in Orlando and the La Quinta Arts Festival in California. Disney provides extremely heavy weights for every booth that artists are required to use. The weights are nicely "Disney-fied" with flowers and foliage.

La Quinta's requirements involve staking into the ground. Each artist must bring a 3 ft stick of 1/2" rebar for each tent leg. The rebar must be driven into the grassy ground a full 30" and clamped to each tent leg using either "metal hose clamps" or "cotton rope (not nylon because it stretches and therefore loosens) covered with duct tape". After the show, staff use forklifts to remove the rebar. Sounds like overkill? Not at all. The area commonly has 60 mph wind gusts. And yes, the patrons still come unless it gets real bad.

Starting in 2007, all tents including artist, information and vendor booths in the Ann Arbor shows are required by the Fire Marshall to be securely anchored. The Fire Dept. checks booths for compliance in this. Debra "Max" Clayton, director of The Guild of Artists and Artisans", explained that the anchoring regulation was added after several non-profit tents literally flew down the street.

Shary Brown, director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair - the Original, has identified areas in the show's new location that sometimes receive stronger winds. Large heavy-duty rented tents are placed in this area for entertainment and other non-art uses. The tents are weighted heavily to prevent problems. During this year of stronger than usual storms those tents did move slightly so next year they will be double-weighted. Shary's show rents additional large heavy-duty tents for some artists to use and explained an issue with them that her show allocates volunteers to handle. That is, the securing of the rented tent sides when bad weather approaches. Artists are fine securing their own tents, but artists that are set-up under large tents rented by a show are in an unfamiliar situation with equipment different from their own tent. When show staffers are trained ahead of time in how to secure the tent sides, they are very valuable in helping to secure the tents quickly when needed.

What type of communication devices do you use?

Jay Downie of the Main St. Fort Worth show explained how his staff used a cell phone communication system this year to warn artists, vendors and restaurants with outdoor booths of a bad weather threat the first night of the show. The show staff recorded a voice message that was sent to all cell phone numbers on hand in the above groups, at the same time. Additionally, all Main St. Fort Worth Steering Committee members carry walkie-talikes, first aid kits and have been trained in CPR. Free training was provided by one of the show's sponsors.

As shown above in the report from Omaha, cell phone systems can get tied-up after emergencies and therefore can be the wrong choice to dispense important information after the event. Walkie-talkie radios do not rely on cell towers and can therefore be a better choice in some situations.

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Cool Idea:
The Omaha Summer Arts Festival provides palettes of sand bags for artist use at the show. Artists that survived the storm at this year's show have stated how very valuable the sand bags were. Three Cheers for Vic Gutman, director of the Omaha Summer Arts Festival!!

Do you have an unusual "Cool Idea" you would like to share with shows in future issues of "The Independent Director"? If so, please send an email to the address below.

 

Thank you for reading this Premier Issue of "The Independent Director"

Sally J. Bright
NAIA Board Chair