From the Frying Pan into The Fyre Festival
Events are our thing.
They are the foundation on which Lightspeed was built. When we hear about an event that went horribly wrong, we try to listen and learn.
This is the case with The Fyre Festival. The brainchild of Ja Rule and self-described “serial entrepreneur” Billy McFarland, the Fyre Festival was supposed to be the marriage of music, technology and an exotic locale.
From the NY Times:
“On social media, where Fyre Festival had been sold as a selfie-taker’s paradise, accounts showed none of the aspirational A-lister excesses, with only sad sandwiches and free alcohol to placate the restless crowds. General disappointment soon turned to near-panic as the festival was canceled and attendees attempted to flee back to the mainland of Florida.”
At least they had free alcohol.
There are lots of lessons to be learned from this. Don’t give any more money to Ja Rule and ignoring Kendall Jenner altogether being, perhaps, the most obvious.
For us, the whole ugly incident underscores the importance of hiring event management experts to handle your event management.
No doy, right?
Well, you would be surprised at the number of people that think planning an event is not much more involved than planning a sweet 16 party. Ja Rule and Billy McFarland were in over their heads.
What was missed? Too much to mention, but a few things that any event professional should consider:
- Registration Development
- Housing Module
- Session Manager
- Contract Negotiations
- Online Evaluations
- On-site logistics
- Event management
- Event website development
- Signage management
- Off-site Event design
- A/V Production
- Transportation Management
It’s like your Mother always told you, “Don’t make the same mistakes as Ja Rule and Kendall Jenner.”
