
photo by: newdiscovies.com
With the phenomenon that is the Super Bowl, the producers and team have a backup plan for just about anything that could go wrong. Well, this past Sunday viewers across the world were able to see that backup plan when the power went out in half of the
Superdome.
While
108.4 million people watched Super Bowl XLVII at home and another 72,000 people waited patiently in their seats within the dome, crews scrambled to get power back up and running. Thirty-four minutes later the game resumed, but not without talk of how the power outage changed the whole momentum of the game. Just before the lights went dark Jacoby Jones of the Baltimore Ravens returned a history-making
108 yard opening kickoff, continuing the Ravens’ domination into the second half. After the blackout the Ravens only scored six points for the rest of the game, while the 49er’s gained 25 points.
With all of this drama that surrounded the Super Bowl it is important to point out how you can ensure a power outage will not happen during your event – pending any natural disasters. In an interview with Tony Barras, President of EWI Worldwide’s
The TERM Group, we discussed the main points that need to be covered in order to help ensure your event will happen without losing power, based on his 25 years of experience working thousands of shows, exhibits and events:
1. Do your due diligence to ensure you have all of the information about the venue that is needed
2. Communicating venue information to the proper people, including managers, technicians, etc.
3. Do not cut corners, answer all questions and have a backup plan; i.e., have a surge protector to ensure that the “
abnormality” that happened at the Super Bowl will not happen at your event.
4. Have skilled technicians on hand to handle any emergency situation. Usually the venue will provide you with a team.
5. Before you choose a specific venue for your event run through this simple check list:
a. Site Inspection
b. Look at electrical capabilities
c. Check the weather
d. What is your back up plan?
e. What are all the pitfalls?
6. Have insurance to cover catastrophes.
Murphy ’s Law states, “Anything that could go wrong, it will.” Prepare for the unexpected and address all problems before they get worse.
The goal to holding an event is to have it be successful in all aspects. The most important factor that needs to be considered is who you partner with for the show. The more experience, the better and the questions you know to ask the more successful the show will be.