Unlocking Event Incident Management: A Deep Dive with Industry Experts

In a rapidly evolving business landscape fraught with risks and uncertainties, event incident management has emerged as a cornerstone of organizational resilience.  

We recently interviewed WeTrack account executive Jackie Sabol about event incident management and how venue managers can benefit from an integrated, purpose-built incident management system.  

Event Management vs. Risk Management

Event incident management is closely related to risk management, though the two have key differences

What is Event Incident Management? 

Event incident management is the process of responding to and resolving an unplanned event or interruption. At a venue or event, an incident is an all-hands-on-deck experience: everyone from IT to security is involved in resolving the incident and resuming regular operations.  

Incident management focuses on resolving a present issue and implementing fail-safes to prevent it from happening in the future. It relies on response and resolution. 

What is Event Risk Management?  

Event risk management involves recognizing, evaluating and mitigating potential risks that could impact an event's outcome. These risks encompass any incidents or challenges that could affect participants, vendors, personnel or the venue. Effective event risk management is indispensable for ensuring the success and safety of any event.  

Risk management focuses on preventing an issue from happening before it becomes a reality. It relies on prediction and prevention.  

Tip: Learn more about navigating incident and risk management.  

4 Event Incident Management Points with Jackie Sabol

[This interview was conducted by Adam Enloe, director of sports facilities and fairgrounds, with Jackie Sabol, account executive.]

Jackie Sabol is a unicorn. Having worked in the tech industry for the last 10 years, Jackie’s priority is to help customers solve problems.  

Jackie has helped companies build efficiencies into their existing workflows. Most recently, she was hands-on in helping tech companies of all sizes manage their compliance requirements.  

Now with WeTrack, a Momentus company, Jackie is bringing her wealth of experience to the event incident management world — by educating prospects on the importance of protecting their venues and events with systems like WeTrack.  

1. Are Incident Management Systems Necessary? 

Jackie: There is an ongoing need for technology that manages incidents and other projects effectively and efficiently. Not only do venues and event spaces need these systems to help avoid litigations and legal risks, but they also help venues get ahead of legislative requirements.  

I’ve learned that the types of things we can manage and measure — like how incidents are handled and resolved — are required. These are things that need a paper trail that is less manual and more connected. There is also a need for organizations to meet these requirements, work with external partners effectively and position themselves in a way that appeals to prospective employees. All of these things need to come together and have a way to aggregate data, showing how they’re aligned with a company's mission.  

Some of these things are considered nice to have right now. But, if we look into the future, we can see that these are things people look for in their employers. This is what people want to measure when they work with other providers, vendors and other partners.  

These are all things that are going to be used for that decision. So, we want to make sure any organization has that data at their fingertips and can prove they’re covering all bases.  

2. What Are the Misconceptions About Incident Management Systems?  

Jackie: I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that organizations may think that if they offer a way to manage incidents, it's going to open a can of worms with their employees and with anybody who has access to add an incident to the queue.  

I think a lot of legal teams might be hesitant to have incidents documented so clearly. But the reality is that they're going to need things documented to prove that incident resolution has been managed properly behind the scenes. They can easily present those records when necessary. It will cover that organization and help identify ways to prevent future issues.  

You might open a can of worms, but those are cans of worms that are very important to understand. These systems help to prevent future incidents and make sure organizations have a way to handle them.

Adam: Let’s talk about the event incident management systems being used today because I’ve seen a lot of systems that are either outdated — whether from a user interface or a process perspective — or the venue has no system of record at all. Organizations need to ask themselves, how are we tracking and managing these potential future incidents with over 50,000 people attending a concert?  

Jackie: Plus, anytime you talk about introducing a new platform to your tech stack, people tend to think it's overwhelming. There's going to be a ton of change management.  

One of the important things about WeTrack is that it's modular and easy to implement. You can use every module for that comprehensive view, or you could roll out the incident management piece first and incorporate other components later. Implementation doesn’t have to be hard or scary.  

3. How Do You Know It’s Time to Upgrade Your Incident Management Software?  

Jackie: You may need a change if you are paying for a platform, but not sure if you're using all of it. It could be time to investigate other ways to manage that data with a partner who can tailor this better to your specific needs.  

I would consider how data is being rolled out to those who need to see it. Are you creating a lot of reports? How much time are you spending getting everyone on the same page for their specific needs? Does your leadership team require additional information? Are they able to easily understand new dimensions of the data that might go beyond incident response? If you can’t do these things, it may be time to upgrade.

Organizations auditing potential incident management systems often consider the speed in which they can set up a risk profile. 

When we think about who needs data access, what data they are looking at? How easy is it for them to get a quick snapshot of what they need to see? How are we spending time on that and how flexible is the system?  

I think anytime you're thinking about looking, there's a chance you're missing something, and you have a greater need to explore something that's a better match.  

Adam: We've heard from the industry that setting up a risk profile for any event is very time-consuming. You’re looking at historical event information that you may have had 20 years ago — but there are different risks today. Pulling from an expansive risk register will speed up that process.  

There’s also the best practice of working with your local partners and emergency services. How are we distributing information to the police, fire department and emergency medical services? An event incident manager will help with these details.

4. How Does a Successful Event Incident Management System Implementation Impact Success?

Jackie: When organizations implement an effective event incident management platform, I’ve seen so many improvements across the board in many aspects of the organization, from employee morale to customer feedback and how they approach incidents.  

Not only have the safety factors improved, but companies have increased revenue and opportunity, along with the quality of their employees. All of this is because you can link back to the company caring about safety.  

Organizations want to make sure things are done safely, properly and transparently. Transparency is big today, too. Having a platform that automatically pulls everything together has increased the ease of running events. WeTrack is just so simple to use. So don’t be scared; be excited!  

Adam: I want to expand on what you said earlier about thinking of the future. When you think about Momentus as a provider, we're very forward-thinking, especially around WeTrack and the event incident management process.  

We're already seeing event incident response changing in Europe; some of the largest concert promoters require a risk profile done before every event.  

What’s happening now is important. But it's also about preparing for the future. That's why you have a solution provider like Momentus Technologies and WeTrack, because we're thinking about what’s happening five years down the road.  

Jackie: Incidents will happen no matter what. You don't want your organization in the news because of how an incident was handled.  

We can think back to so many things that have happened in the past couple of years where the public is confused about event incident response. So, making event incident management part of a platform and eliminating the risk areas is a big benefit. You want to be remembered for the right reasons.

Final Thoughts: Harnessing the Power of an Event Incident Management System

In conclusion, event incident management represents a critical component of organizational resilience and success. By adopting a modern event incident management process, organizations can effectively navigate risks, handle incident responses, enhance compliance and drive positive outcomes for their stakeholders.  

That's where WeTrack comes in.

WeTrack helps event and venue managers oversee their events with a risk-to-incident reporting workflow.

WeTrack’s incident management software offers vital oversight for a critical component of your venue or event operations: handling unforeseen circumstances.  

We equip you with continuous workflows that follow risk assessments to pre-event checks, all the way to incident management and response. WeTrack’s systems empower event and venue managers to promptly report, document, and address incidents, facilitating effective communication, implementing pre-established plans, and alerting relevant stakeholders.  

With Momentus' WeTrack platform leading the way, organizations can confidently navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape and emerge stronger, more resilient and better equipped to thrive in an ever-changing world.