Momentum Worldwide Upgrades Preparedness Program

Momentum Worldwide is teaming with software application provider Everbridge for a critical event management platform and security program to help ensure the safety of its employees, clients and attendees at the company's 4000+ events each year. 

"While we have had critical event management protocols in place for years, we wanted to update our system to be in line with the latest tech capabilities and set it up with safety and the ability to scale in mind," explains Donnalyn Smith, president, North America at Momentum Worldwide.

“We have designed a robust safety program to not only ensure attendees are protected, but also to propel our industry to make event safety a top priority,” she adds.

The three-plank program includes an integrated communications, crisis management and threat intelligence system to support employee safety and situational awareness from any location or office within the global experiential agency network. Team members — via Everbridge's Global Intelligence Operations Center (GIOC) — will be able to scan messages from first responders, social media, weather apps and government sites to determine the validity of an incident before sending out an automated alert.

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The second on-site educational plank is designed to host events and seminars, such as a FEMA Active Shooter training, so all employees understand what to do if they encounter a safety issue in real life.

The third part of the program will customize a Momentum Production Safety Plan designed for each event to assess risk and provide safety information for all known exposure areas, while also outlining emergency meeting spots and site layouts.

To secure a smooth rollout, Momentum will install what the agency calls a "critical response" team with representation from agency leadership, as well as IT, HR and experiential activation teams. It will meet on a weekly basis to ensure all facets of the program are seamlessly integrated into existing structure. These members will also be responsible for 24/7 monitoring of the platform dashboard, says Smith. 

These new safety initiatives are first being rolled out across North America in all of its offices. However, since each region encounters different emergency scenarios and not every employee will be at a specific event, the alert system is geo-specific and will only notify those in the vicinity of an incident.

The initial reactions to the new system have been positive, says Smith. "Several members have expressed an increased feeling of security, thanks to the addition of the new training courses, an improved threat alert notification system and the ability for them to check-in as 'ok / not ok' immediately."

In the long term, Momentum will offer this service to every client that attends its events. "We take event safety seriously and ensuring the safety of all event go-ers, whether one of our own employees, a client or a regular attendee is our No. 1 priority," says Smith. 

The event that demonstrated the necessity of embracing new technology was the 2017 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, where 58 people were tragically killed and thousands more were injured, she says. "We had over 40 staff on-site, and while we were able to check-in and verify the safety of every person, we recognized the opportunity to enhance our connection to those in attendance." 

 

 

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