From the International Entertainment Buyers Association March 1999 - Event Protection: Knowledge is the Key to Success

Written by James Chippendale

Over the past several months, in the crazy world of the entertainment industry, insurance claims and occurrences have become more frequent, unique, and serious. Learning from the mistakes of others can help lessen the occurrence of mishaps or avoid them altogether. It is impossible to predict all problems an event may face, but having a comprehensive risk management program backed by the right insurance, can adequately protect your business as well as the people attending your events. I have composed a brief overview of a few incidents that have happened recently. It can be serious.

· Lightning touched down halting the first day of the Tibetan Freedom Concert and throwing those closest to the bolt violently to the ground. A twenty-five year old George Washington University Law student's heart stopped and was resuscitated.
· Three spectators were killed and six injured when a wheel and other car parts flew into the stands at Michigan Speedway during the U.S. 500 Championship Auto Racing Team's most prestigious events.
· Cancellation of jazz events at the Ford Centre in North York left ticket holders fuming.
· A fireworks explosion at a Fourth of July display injured for people on Long Beach Island.
· The worst storm to blanket Indiana in more than twenty years left a trail of basketball cancellations and postponements.
· A Disneyland visitor hit in the face by a piece of metal torn from a tall ship on Christmas Eve was pronounced brain dead.
· Rain poured down in buckets, a third of the giant balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had to be withdrawn for technical problems.
· Another one of New York City's Orchestras canceled its holiday concerts because of contract disputes between management and the freelance musicians.
· A guard was stabbed and a patron was reportedly bloodied as violence erupted at a Black Crowes concert in Tucson Arizona's Rialto Theatre. The show was halted when a bottle thrown from the audience hit singer Chris Robinson in the shoulder and head.
· Marilyn Manson continued his rampage ordering his bodyguards on an editor of Spin.
· A man opened fire at a rock concert and Fourth of July celebration, hitting eight spectators and causing a panic that injured at least eight other people.
· Four victims died and forty-two others are hospitalized after eating food tainted with cyanide at a festival in Tokyo.

Over the next year I will continue to provide monthly updates to the IEBA and its members. If you should have any specific questions on your coverage or possible claims against your business, my door and e-mail are always open: CSI Insurance, 800-204-1523 or jc@csicoverage.com