In recent years, event security has become of higher concern than ever before. Whether you’re organising a fairly small conference event for your corporation or planning a large event with thousands of attendees, it’s crucial that every guest present is guaranteed to absolute safety and security. Fortunately, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure the safety of your guests. Use this guide to make sure your event runs smoothly and that no security breaches threaten the security of yourself, your staff, or your guests.

Hire a high-level security company. The best solution to any security concern is to hire a service that provides top quality specialist professionals to assist you throughout the planning and execution of your event. This is particularly important if you have VIP guests attending or any people who could be targets for some form of attack or disturbance. A service like Panoptic Solutions can work with you to assess the level of security required for your event, and then ensure that your event is fully covered from start to finish.

Consider the potential risks. While your event is in the planning process, it’s wise to begin considering any potential security risks that could come up on the day. For example, will there be any media presence at your event that could cause a disturbance? Will your event attract any controversy or protestors? Will anyone notable or controversial be in attendance? All of these factors can affect the amount of security required at your event, and the extent to which you need to invest in that required security presence.

Choose your venue wisely. Both outdoor and indoor venues have their benefits and downfalls. An outdoor venue can be lovely for a summer event, but if security is a concern then you may find that the venue will be more difficult to lock down and protect from intruders. Indoor venues can be easier to protect, but if something were to happen that required an emergency evacuation then you would need to ensure that the venue had adequate emergency exits.

Have an emergency plan. Unfortunately, even with the best possible planning, things can sometimes go wrong unexpectedly. Make sure you have an emergency readiness plan in place in the unlikely event that something does happen. Your hired security team can be a big help in this regard – they’ll assist you in drawing up plans based on their experience and expertise, and will give you various evacuation strategies that suit different types of emergencies. You should also speak to your venue about the evacuation routes available to you at the event, and make sure that emergency exits and evacuation routes are clearly marked on the day.

Require identification from attendees. Ensuring that all of your event attendees are clearly identified doesn’t just help you from a registration and organisational standpoint; it can also allow you to create a more secure event. Each guest should be asked to present valid ID upon arrival, and can then be given some form of wristband or ticket to clearly identify them. Aside from being generally convenient, this will let you know if anyone tries to enter the event without being invited, and will allow you to more easily pinpoint your culprit should breeches in security occur.