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Good and bad in all. Stewards doing "confiscations" into their pockets on the search lines, security doing the same. T4 on the Beach a few years back with stewards confiscating chairs - and then sitting on them on the search lines straight in front of punters! Jobs attract different people for different reasons. Considering that, if nothing else, all the Security are CRB/DBS checked and stewards aren't, I know a lot of people who cannot get a badge that have gone to the steward option. More than a few Walter Mitty characters ended up in steward vests, including one convicted peado at Glasto a couple of years back and a group of stewards with serious crime convictions who just saw it as a way to meet a new market. Then again, we have a few Walter Mitty characters in security - never knew there were so many special forces doing festival security work. Personal fave was the one at Elstree Big Brother Green Room who told everyone that he was, in all but name, the head of UKSF and could kill you with the blunt end of a cold spoon. Obsessed by tropical diseases. They all get caught in the end though, having conversations with people who actually know what they are talking about. If you think security is bad, dig a little deeper on event medical staff, including the ones who have been arrested for fabrication of qualifications and driving mocked-up vehicles pretending to be paramedics on call! We had a cracking 21 year old who was claiming to be a paramedic/ex Royal Marine/security trainer/close protection guy...was probably just about safe to tie his shoe laces under supervision. Had his badge taken away, now a steward near you....
 
Stewards can't do searches and much of your description doesn't really fit the vast majority of stewards I've trained on the job, supervised, socialised with and run shifts for over the past decade at dozens of festivals.
 
Yep - they can do searches. Look at football grounds and sporting events - the vast majority are carried out by stewards with back up from SIA. Don't forget that from a legal perspective anybody can carry out a permissive search - you could stick your gran on a gate in a hiviz and she could happily and legally go through bags and coats. Remember that they do this as a condition of entry NOT as a legal requirement - all the police or licencing want is someone who is competent and trained to carry the search out.

Again, people seem to get hung up on "the badge" - when in fact the badge does not grant any powers at all - it was designed for use on licenced premises to maintain the four strands of public/licencing protection. The whole SIA/Licencing charade is just that - a self serving routine designed to employ loads of people to take money from another group every three years.

I have trained stewards using USSE, NVQ and on job, including Premiership football clubs and major sporting event staff. Stewards actually get better training on searches than DS staff as part of their awarding body specifications. Have a look at what is mandated in the specs.

Remember also that the military can carry out searches - and they do not have SIA badges, just a quick training session. And it's also not illegal to have opposite sex searches - just from a moral and ethical perspective and an awareness of the likelihood of allegations being made - which is why searching is supposed to be witnessed and logged at all time. And judging from some posts, even the same sex searches are being carried out illegally.

Some stewards are great, some less so. Some security are great, some less so. Some Safety Officers (yeah, got that level 5 qual too...) are great, some less so. As I said earlier, 30 years of doing this and I've seen success and horror from both sides on a local, national and international basis.

You want to see funtime searches - Africa. Where they routinely batter the search targets unconscious if they do not comply! Unbelievable. And a lot of them are carried out by military/paramilitary teams who openly steal stuff, then get buzzed or wasted.

I won't deny we have come a long way since Bradford/Hillsborough from sporting perspectives - and we had to.

At least with the SIA you know that they have been background checked - and companies also carry out further BS checking on staff including regular reviews and licence checks. Although some companies are more lax about it than others. Business licencing should have fixed this, the SIA ACS was an attempt which was not perfect. Stewards? You can pull them off the streets. There was a programme a while ago where a company had turned up to Brighton Pride short of staff and sent their supervisors out onto the streets of Brighton in the early hours of the morning getting people to sign up. No training, no checks - and some clearly off their heads. Not uncommon either.
 
Stewards can do searches with express permission from the person being searched. However there is a vast difference between the stewards found at sporting events and most of the festivals that JTG and myself have worked at. At sporting events the stewards are normally paid, and often trained and certificated, this is not the case at most festivals. Sporting events are regular, and high profile, in comparison to a vast majority of festivals which are once a year and often slip under the public radar. For example a organisation like oxfam who uses volunteers on a fundrasing basis has no interest in putting their stewards through anything more than very basic in house training, as the overheads of doing so would totally undermine the fundraising aspect of the work they're doing.

As oxfam volunteers are volunteers, it would be unreasonable to expect them to undertake searches as they are volunteers, but totally reasonable as an expectation of paid security staff, both SIA qualified guards and paid stewards alike. This is the same issue with all companies that rely on volunteers stewards for their staff, for example I've worked for the green stewards a number of times, and actually they began putting people through the NVQ level 2 in crowd management, however the cost of it became prohibitive, and it seems to have take a backseat...... That qualification does not negate the fact that it is unreasonable to ask an unpaid steward to perform searches, as when you are dealing with other peoples property, you open yourself up to all sorts of liability that you haven't signed up for as an unpaid steward. In an unpaid steward situation, if i was asked to perform searches, I would refuse, I've had no training in searching, I have no idea what sharps people may be carrying, and I certainly don't want to open myself up to the liability of being accused of theft, or planting something maliciously.

When you rely on volunteer stewards at the end of the day you get what you get, hence volunteer steward companies keep records on their past stewards, i.e. who turned up fucked, who didn't turn up...... But they also understand you can't hold volunteers to professional levels in the way that you can with someone who is SIA trained.

The issue I have with the security companies is they knowingly turn a blind eye when there are failures on their companies, and there are many many examples of this...... There are very few examples of situations where volunteer stewards have put others in dangerous situations, or have abused their positions in order to make gains. The same cannot be said for security, and the security companies a. Know it happens, b. Allow it to happen, c. Sometimes even suggest it as a perk of the job...... that is unacceptable.

I mean lets be honest, its not that long ago that two security guards were jailed for kidnapping a festival goer, eventually leading to his death...... and that was since SIA was brought in. I personally know in the double figures of people who have been kidnapped by security guards since SIA licensing was brought in. SIA unfortunately has not provided the professionalisation that the industry requires, and unfortunately coupled with the type of characters generally attracted into that type of work has resulted in security guards being seen as a necessary evil, but people who are never to be trusted.
 
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You are right - training stewards for sporting events is different from those at music events. Most companies state that their stewards are certified, etc - but I know of many occasions when they are literally phoning around for someone that owns a pair of black trousers and shoes - and the shoes are optional. It's not good. When you consider the safety aspects and implications, it's why I worry when friends tell me they are sending their kids to festivals. I always suggest to companies to look to local sporting sites for stewards - they tend to be "off season" but you know what you are getting. I know a lot of the Stadium Safety Officers and they would not dream of supplying poor quality staff because of reputation. You look at something like Kendal Calling that has just gone and you see the deaths and the hospitalisations and you worry. The better companies now have their security staff trained to higher levels of first aid - so when you turn up to a fitting, frothing 16 year old you don't just radio medics, you have an idea of how to take first actions. As a First Aid trainer, the amount of people who still believe you should stick a pencil in the mouth of a fitting customer is horrifying... It should have been brought into the SIA course when they reviewed and reissued it to cover vulnerable persons and they missed a trick. I have seen an improvement in dealing with vulnerable people this year though - a lot more coherent passing of the person through the welfare/medical route and better identification of those at risk. Whilst I love wristbands which tell me who is underage, it has been seen as an issue on some events where predatory behaviour has been picked up around bar and camp areas.

The cost of courses - yes. I know there is funding sometimes and we used to work with Colleges to get them through but then the Guided Learning Hours and centralised funding changed and we seemed to lose it all. Was gutted to be honest. The qualification covers very good search techniques of people and spaces - better than the DS course at the time, although it's now been changed. And I have still seen some people who could not find their sandwiches in their own rucksack, let alone something in someone else's bag. The DS course is not fit for purpose - it's aimed at Door Supervisors, when events are different. It should have been modular to cover the law elements, then added the rest as required - and done as an NVQ, not a one shot wonder. It should be combined with Customer Service training, alcohol and drug training, first aid. But it's not. Out of a class of 12 DS, they could all be aiming at different roles from static to doors to events to retail. It's too wide ranging and does not address the requirement.

Oxfam stewards - without exception - have always been brilliant. They seem to get the right ones. There are some very good companies who work the system with cut price entry, deposits, etc and seem to get stewards who have a very good approach.

When I run pit areas I often have stewards working in there with me. They are PI trained for their own safety, they love the chance to work there and they get paid more. They have a better approach sometimes too - less aggression, more customer service focused. We find that the stewards like to be brought on - some of them are trying to save for their badges and giving them experience helps. I would never force a steward into a role, but I see no harm in asking them if they fancy a change in role - too often they get stuck on fence lines or car parks, and there is not enough job satisfaction. I also think that the stewards bring skillsets that are not always apparent. The link to welfare is getting better and some of the stewards have a lot to offer there. I am seeing more of a support role than a "punish" role for people who need welfare. It's something that I have been knocking around with some like-minded people to work in a different kind of role - working with customers and trying to open up collaboration and assistance and yes, that would sometimes mean taking decisions that are counter to the training but in the best interests of all parties concerned, given implications and consequences. From a legal perspective, it's difficult because it would mean possibly going against police advice in order to deal with an issue in a more holistic manner - we don't want to pass everyone to the police and the judgment call is tight and needs careful management. Your 15 year old with one joint that he bought to show off - do you really want him put into the system whether there is a charge or not? His name gets flagged, Mum gets called, life gets difficult. In pubs, we work on "crush or flush" - logical decision making based on the person, situation, etc. There has to be common sense - it's a festival after all. Same as at football - foul language is supposed to be an ejection. If you want no fans and 3 players left, then yes, enforce it. But in reality you have to work around it. The authorities see festival goes as a different "class" to footie fans though. I have spoken to some Chief Inspectors who hate having festivals because they make links immediately to gangs, drugs, organised crime, "hippies"....I do think some of them would love a return to the days of Stonehenge Free Festivals and certain Beanfields....

I agree there are failures - have been and will be more. I do know of some occasions where personal gains have been made, but that applies to everyone - including event managers and promoters. It's not easy to make it work. Watching feedback, some punters are more than happy with security, some less so. Some have issues with how rules are applied, some want tighter rules, some want no rules. It's a losing battle but it doesn't mean that accountability and professionalism should be disapplied.

And yes - Brownstock. Shit state of affairs and was common practice to take people off site and dump them. Not happening now though - every event I've seen this year is so aware of the problem that they have a complete process for all offsiting. Even saw one where they drove people to the nearest garage under the CCTV, took photos...and welfare have to be involved to make a call about ensuring that the duty of care is maintained. We have some larger festivals coming up - it will be interesting to see how they go when they are putting large numbers off site.

I'm going back to my Alabama 3 playlist and wishing it was like it used to be.... ;-)
 
I don't agree that volunteer stewards used for most festivals are "poor quality staff" a. They're not "staff", they're volunteers, b. A vast majority have stewarded before and are used again.

At the end of the day stewards are brought into festivals in line with the requirements of the festivals..... Ive stewarded and attended festivals where there's been a number of deaths, in none of those situations would a steward being a trained first aider (I had first aid knowledge, although no qualification because of my day job anyway)..... but every situation where I've been involved or have heard about deaths at festivals have happened on the quiet, either in portaloos or in tents, I've never heard of a situation where someone has died in a crowd, or died due to slow responses slow attendance of first aid staff. Infact I've only ever been to one festival where I've been worried someone I've been dealing with was going to die, and at that festival I personally put at least ten unconscious/fitting people in ambulances because mxe was being sold on site instead of ketamine (mxe at the time was perfectly legal).

At the end of the day the role of a volunteer steward at a festival is not to be security, it is not to provide first aid, it is to provide the link between paying public, and the festival organisers/authorities. People will tell stewards things that they won't tell securtiy guards, and react totally differently to stewards that security........ If i knew a festival would do away with stewards and double up on security, I'd stop going, simple as.

In some instances stewards do get boring jobs, but jobs are jobs, they volunteer, they've agreed to do it...... the rubbish stuff normally goes to new people who haven't really built up the trust of the organisation. The volunteer steward companies do look at experience, and do stuff accordingly to that, hence I've been put in some very difficult situations by one organisation I worked for, which is partially the reason I stopped working for them (it resulted in me getting punched, and then another steward getting punched by the same person the next day - nothing was done by the company, the security or the festival, despite it being reported to all three)...... But its also resulted in me being thrown into a supervisor position with no warning last time I did oxfam, and they were short of supervisors, and read on my background I'd stewarded more festivals than many of the supervisors they already had, and that made me feel quite good about what I'd been doing.

And the kidnapping problem is still widespread, is has not been dealt with. Almost no festivals have an ejection policy that they ever make available to the public.
 
Volunteers are different - but they are still staff in as much as they are there to work, get put into staff camping and get some of the benefits of being staff - like food poisoning.

First aid is difficult - I've had two trampled to death in bloody mosh pits, exacerbated by drink/drugs/weather though. Everyone seems to want to start a mosh pit these days - waiting for the opera from Glyndebourne or the Book Festival to end up as a slam-fest. From a pit perspective, the vast majority we pull out are those at the front who faint through crowd pressure and positional asphyxiation. New Bucks Uni do some good courses on the psychology of crowds and their dynamics, including pressure suits. Because the stewards come from all sorts of backgrounds, I know loads who are first aid trained already so it helps. Some medical support companies are great - some less so. Some have good staff, some don't. Always interesting when they expect you to pay for your paracetamol though! Had more than a few where I have been worried they would die and been on sites where they have. Nobody expected to die at Kendal, two did. First person on the scene is crucial and first actions decide. Even at football matches we have high levels of cardiac issues - on the toilet mainly believe it or not. It's a known medical issue where the body is compressed and puts the heart under additional strain. 1-0 down at half time and needing a dump can be fatal! Starting to see a lot of off-duty security working in medical units. When they made the Close Protection badge free/cheap everyone went for it, but it includes either FAW or FPOSi - and with a flooded CP market, they can get employment in medical staffs. I know a few DS who work medical as well - depending on skills, the money can be better.

Stewards will always have a role - they are invaluable in some roles. I don't like them being sent to far and distant locations where they get forgotten about. There needs to be better employment based on skillsets. Same with the badges. Some need to get over the concept that they are there to nick people and focus on a more customer service based role. A good badge, maybe older and with less rough edges, can really help things go smoothly.

And yes, violence is aimed at anyone wearing a high vis....a good company will support the process through arrest and welfare. A bad one won't. A good supervisor is worth millions - too often we see them turn up with no leadership or management skills and expected to run volunteers who really only want to go and have fun. Our stewards and badges are paid to be there - it takes less management and leadership as they are following money - but that does not obviate the need for welfare support. The system can be made better and it is changing in some places for the better, but it needs people to direct it. With a combined security/steward/welfare/medical organisation the requirements are met but are delivered in a more positive manner. There will always be a time for throwing people out, there will always be a time when security are there to do what they need to do, but it's the downtime and alternative employment that needs looking at. Security in medical and security in welfare is unfortunately also needed. It's about striking a balance and moving on. Festivals always need huge numbers of staff - percentages will always work against you unless you let G4S do them all...
 
They're not staff in the basis that they're not paid...... You can't possibly have the same expectations of them. If you work out how much per hour they're normally working for, its generally about 50% of what minimum wage is.

Well first aid from that perspective is different..... I don't think I've been to a festival with a "mosh pit" since 2007....... Im a total raver/disco/gypsy style festival goer...... and I don't do crowds. Stewards shouldn't be looking after pits, thats a very specific training they need for that.
 
I know - I deliver the training...and it's not DS specific. A good pit has a mix of male/female/DS/steward as they all have separate roles. A good pit, apart from being an example in safety, is a thing of beauty. It's not somewhere you wedge full of staff to carry out a dance routine to Lionel Sodding Richie...it's also not about necklocking people out the side gate.

Mosh pits - at the last festival I did it was overheard that "this lot would mosh to a fucking commercial break..." Dangerous. Generally chavvy idiots who want to fight without fighting. Too much collateral damage, I really don't like them when the acts are inappropriate or when there are kids around. Can throwing, piss throwing. Hm. But still the best place to get a real buzz when the music is flying.

I wanted to work Wickham this weekend but never got round to looking into who was running it. Can't beat a bit of Proclaimers to be honest. Saying that, most of the best festivals are those that still retain that feeling of travellers private festivals and don't try to bring the new arenas into play. Did a lovely one early in the season - hugely understaffed but awesome welfare, long hours, great punters and brilliant artists. Incredible location too. If only they were all like that. When you wake up beside a lake and go to work, you must be doing something right!
 
Driving in this morning suddenly thought I needed to clarify something - it's not volunteer stewards I use in other jobs! I would never put a vol in a position like search or pit - I was talking the trained and paid ones. However, I have been known to take vol stewards into the pit when their favourite bands are on and let them hand out water to the crowd or "make sure the sides of the pit are secure" or "monitor the sound levels from the side of the stage".... ;-) Too soft sometimes, clearly!
 
[QUOTE="including the ones who have been arrested for fabrication of qualifications and driving mocked-up vehicles pretending to be paramedics on call! We had a cracking 21 year old who was claiming to be a paramedic/ex Royal Marine/security trainer/close protection guy...was probably just about safe to tie his shoe laces under supervision. Had his badge taken away, now a steward near you....[/QUOTE]

haha, my mate dressed up as a paramedic and strolled unchallenged into Glastonbury :thumbs:
 
Wouldn't be the first time someone has managed to stroll through using a badge to get access to a festival without paying. Allegedly. I still reckon I could get all the way to stage right and probably even closer just by bluffing and wielding passes and laminates....
 
I hope im not bundled into a van when I break in to a certain festival at the end of the month.....

when you find fencehoppers, are they always chucked out? or can a friendly word here, a cheeky £50 there allow them to stay?
 
We used to carry spare bands - half to us, half to the promoter, was just easier as there was no till at night and no way of accounting or issuing bands. If you are coming over, under or through a fence then you may well get thrown back out again. If you are picked up - do not resist, just go with the flow. The security may well get over excited but get conversational straight away and it will ease them down. As soon as the words "fence jumper" are given over a radio, they get keen. You should be taken either straight off or documented through a control point. I won't tell you what to look for about coming in like that - you should be able to work out for yourself. If you can't work it out, then you will get caught. Do not run - with the towers, they will vector teams into you, and the teams do not like running!

Which festival is it? If it's run by someone I don't like then I'll tell you EXACTLY how to get in and not get caught lol....
 
im not going to say what festival it is out of respect to it, but its a nice, family yet still ravey one, which turns somewhat of a blind eye (compared to most). Id buy a ticket if I could but they sell out quite early every year- this makes me feel less guilty about breaking in, as they have already made their money on the tickets.

Thing is, myself and friends who do this, are not troublemakers or scumbags out to cause trouble or steal. We're genuine festival goers who fancy saving a few quid on tickets, and if anything add to the festival in various ways. I wondered if security can tell the difference, and if they did whether they gave a shit or not. I understand that if you are caught without a ticket, then its perfectly fair to expect to get booted out. But personally if I was a security guard, caught someone without a wristband who was friendly, courteous, clearly just a normal festival goer with no bad intentions who couldn't afford a ticket, id probably let them stay.
 
Trouble is that it's about multiple things - mainly revenue protection, numbers, safety limits, encouraging others, etc, etc. I have been known to take each case on merit before, but promoters really don't like that happening - they see the £ signs, not the intent. The snag with sellouts is that it encourages touts, which nobody likes - and it means that technically they have reached their limits on licenced numbers (remembering that staff and artists are included in this - even though I have never seen anyone going around with a clicker). The gates tend to have scanners or clickers and they need to record numbers, even though those numbers are mainly to see the gate throughput and work out which extra areas need opening, etc. One guy who comes through a fence in a dark corner may be OK - it also depends on the situation at the time. If you are timing it just as we are getting reports of tent thefts, or they are chasing dealers or NOS teams, then it's not ideal. Other punters will simply ask why we let some in for nothing when they have paid and can, quite rightly, get arsey about it. I would say that if you are intent on this, then scout it out. Look for the path of least resistance and the one that lets you vanish into the crowd as quickly as possible. Hopping the Heras and racing across No Man's Land is a surefire fail. I am sure you can infer the best practice on this. Treat it like it's a military thing - think about what you are watching for, group sizes, etc, etc. It will depend very much on security too - if you are talking Green Man then I would think twice. I know the guys and girls on this job and whilst they are truly lovely, they will not be up for a debate on the rights and wrongs of not paying - they will also beat you hands down on the standing start race across No Man's Land! The response teams - and that is who you will be meeting - are highly professional as well, coming from Main Event Security, no silly idiots on their teams at all. They will treat you well, but will follow the rules. Can you not get a Plus One from an artist? Bear in mind that once inside you will need to move between the cross-overs - and they will have staff checking bands as well. I would love open and free festivals, but it's a corporate thing these days....
 
TheInsider said:
Driving in this morning suddenly thought I needed to clarify something - it's not volunteer stewards I use in other jobs! I would never put a vol in a position like search or pit - I was talking the trained and paid ones. However, I have been known to take vol stewards into the pit when their favourite bands are on and let them hand out water to the crowd or "make sure the sides of the pit are secure" or "monitor the sound levels from the side of the stage".... ;-) Too soft sometimes, clearly!
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Me and JTG only really have experience of unpaid/volunteer stewards afaik, he's heavily involved in oxfam, and I used to do a lot with green stewards, although I focus on production jobs if I'm trying to get work there these days. In fact, I think I've only ever been to one festival where they have paid stewards
 
TheInsider said:
Trouble is that it's about multiple things - mainly revenue protection, numbers, safety limits, encouraging others, etc, etc. I have been known to take each case on merit before, but promoters really don't like that happening - they see the £ signs, not the intent. The snag with sellouts is that it encourages touts, which nobody likes - and it means that technically they have reached their limits on licenced numbers (remembering that staff and artists are included in this - even though I have never seen anyone going around with a clicker). The gates tend to have scanners or clickers and they need to record numbers, even though those numbers are mainly to see the gate throughput and work out which extra areas need opening, etc. One guy who comes through a fence in a dark corner may be OK - it also depends on the situation at the time. If you are timing it just as we are getting reports of tent thefts, or they are chasing dealers or NOS teams, then it's not ideal. Other punters will simply ask why we let some in for nothing when they have paid and can, quite rightly, get arsey about it. I would say that if you are intent on this, then scout it out. Look for the path of least resistance and the one that lets you vanish into the crowd as quickly as possible. Hopping the Heras and racing across No Man's Land is a surefire fail. I am sure you can infer the best practice on this. Treat it like it's a military thing - think about what you are watching for, group sizes, etc, etc. It will depend very much on security too - if you are talking Green Man then I would think twice. I know the guys and girls on this job and whilst they are truly lovely, they will not be up for a debate on the rights and wrongs of not paying - they will also beat you hands down on the standing start race across No Man's Land! The response teams - and that is who you will be meeting - are highly professional as well, coming from Main Event Security, no silly idiots on their teams at all. They will treat you well, but will follow the rules. Can you not get a Plus One from an artist? Bear in mind that once inside you will need to move between the cross-overs - and they will have staff checking bands as well. I would love open and free festivals, but it's a corporate thing these days....
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Ive broken into glastonbury since superfence....... I think the operation we put in place would put most military forces to shame :D
 
We use them a lot on static positions. NMW long shifts. They can roll from festival to festival doing build in and build out and make a lot of money!

Apart from this, seen the Evening Standard? Wimbledon Security Guard from G4S was overcharging customers and pocketing the cash. Hyacinth Reid, 48, was in charge of looking after belongings but routinely charged £5 instead of the £1 fee. The Jamaican national from Leyton, who also claims Employment Support Allowance was only hired for the two weeks of the championships.

Crocodile tears and got a conditional discharge...fraud by false representation.

Just when you think you can demonstrate it's getting better, some greedy cow comes and shoots you in the foot. At least her badge will be cancelled, but it's not really the point. Not as though she was doing it to help anyone - just thieving.
 
sim667 said:
Ive broken into glastonbury since superfence....... I think the operation we put in place would put most military forces to shame :D
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I actually quite like seeing the fence jumpers. Some of them are really innovative. The gate-wafflers too. I have been known to find something else to look at...a lot depends on attitude and outright cheek. If they really wanted proper protection it would cost them a fortune and turn it into a Supermax prison - it's got to be a balance. We test them sometimes and it's not difficult - and the adrenaline is quite fun too. The worst ones are the ones that wander across the fields, throw their bag over and then try and follow on...gives the teams loads of time to get to them. Then they get the bag search...and it gets worse. Best ones - the ones who time it across multiple points of entry. They are all "doable" - just bear in mind what you might meet on the other side and keep yourself safe.
 
TheInsider said:
I actually quite like seeing the fence jumpers. Some of them are really innovative. The gate-wafflers too. I have been known to find something else to look at...a lot depends on attitude and outright cheek. If they really wanted proper protection it would cost them a fortune and turn it into a Supermax prison - it's got to be a balance. We test them sometimes and it's not difficult - and the adrenaline is quite fun too. The worst ones are the ones that wander across the fields, throw their bag over and then try and follow on...gives the teams loads of time to get to them. Then they get the bag search...and it gets worse. Best ones - the ones who time it across multiple points of entry. They are all "doable" - just bear in mind what you might meet on the other side and keep yourself safe.
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We just played the system on the gate..... there's always a way in :D
 
Absolutely. Sometimes a bit of cheek and friendly attitude can work wonders. Especially when you may have misplaced the band you were issued and you need a replacement. Everyone needs a bit of interaction 6 hours into a 16 hour shift....Haribo gets you a long, long way with me!

Shallow and corruptible, clearly!

Tangtastic seems to be the drug of preference on search gates by the way. And if you ever rock up with an ice lolly, you'll get VIP and AAA whether you want it or not....
 
TheInsider said:
if you are talking Green Man then I would think twice. I know the guys and girls on this job and whilst they are truly lovely, they will not be up for a debate on the rights and wrongs of not paying - they will also beat you hands down on the standing start race across No Man's Land! The response teams - and that is who you will be meeting - are highly professional as well, coming from Main Event Security, no silly idiots on their teams at all. They will treat you well, but will follow the rules. Can you not get a Plus One from an artist? Bear in mind that once inside you will need to move between the cross-overs - and they will have staff checking bands as well. I would love open and free festivals, but it's a corporate thing these days....
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Nah not Green Man, to be honest I've broken into the one I am talking about the last 2 years, first year was a walk across a corn field, jump a stream, through some woods, then unclip the small mesh fence. Last year, somehow just found an open unguarded gate and walked on through :thumbs:. I do understand about the numbers etc, and if people get away with it, then next year all their mates will try their luck as well and so on.....

TheInsider said:
Apart from this, seen the Evening Standard? Wimbledon Security Guard from G4S was overcharging customers and pocketing the cash. Hyacinth Reid, 48, was in charge of looking after belongings but routinely charged £5 instead of the £1 fee. The Jamaican national from Leyton, who also claims Employment Support Allowance was only hired for the two weeks of the championships.
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I used to work for G4S at Wimbledon each summer as a student, and believe me 99% of the 'security' at Wimbledon tennis are just meek students who do not know anything about security. the majority get put through the SIA course too (paid for by G4S). Good job its not exactly a challenging crowd!
 
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