How Venue Managers Reduce the Effects of Palcohol

Palcohol was recently approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for distribution and sale in the United States.

One packet of the powdered alcohol mixed with six ounces of water is equivalent to a standard adult beverage.

What does this mean for venue managers? According to the company that makes Palcohol, nothing.

But for professionals in the industry, you know a packet which measures only four inches by six inches – is not hard to conceal.

As a venue manager, you’ve certainly seen a number of items successfully enter your venue under the radar only to be seized later. You can add Palcohol to the list of prohibited items.

Congress, states and legislators throughout the country have already taken action to ban the production, sale, distribution, or possession of Palcohol as a condition of the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization (STOP) Act.

“I am in total disbelief that our federal government has approved such an obviously dangerous product, and so, Congress must take matters into its own hands and make powdered alcohol illegal. Underage alcohol abuse is a growing epidemic with tragic consequences, and powdered alcohol could exacerbate this. We simply can’t sit back and wait for powdered alcohol to hit store shelves across the country, potentially causing more alcohol-related hospitalizations, and God forbid, deaths. This legislation will make illegal the production and sale of this Kool-Aid for underage drinking.” - Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator (D-New York)

What can venue managers do to proactively mitigate the impact of this new powdered beverage?

Educate staff, and then role-play so they can more effectively execute the incident management process for this latest threat.

Role-Playing Helps Venue Managers Be Proactive

Although some states have banned the new alcohol substance, inclusive of Louisiana, South Carolina and Vermont, others states such as Colorado, New York and Rhode Island continue to work towards a successful ban.

With that said, for venue managers the challenge is very real and seems like it will be for quite some time. We can’t sit around waiting for a legal solution, can we?

That’s where role-playing and table-top exercises come in. The need for continuous education among venue professionals is continual. We know this from the increase in active shooters, emergence of drones and other advanced technological threats affecting venue operations.

Role-playing proves beneficial through the education of venue staff. The benefits are endless.

Now, underage drinking throughout your property is only one effect of the availability of powdered alcohol, because there’s another consequence that affects your business’s bottom line: A potential (and drastic) decline in alcohol sales.

Did we get your attention? In today’s realm of venue operations, you’re going to need role-playing more than ever.

Mitigate Palcohol-Related Incidents and the Effect on Your Bottom Line

Get your team together and reap the benefits of role-playing to mitigate the effects of powdered alcohol on your venue’s bottom line and your team.

Create accountability
Your team will feel valued
It challenges your employees
Build team’s confidence
Produce more solutions
Enhances awareness to full awareness
Increases productivity
Builds your credibility as a leader
Results in safer events and less powdered alcohol-related incidents

Create accountability among your team.

Running through scenarios with your team focuses them. Everyone learns the requisites which make up a safe, secure and powdered alcohol-free environment.

You can use this time to assess their abilities effectively, coach them, and then hold them accountable. Give them the tools and then hold them accountable to execute with purpose.

Your team will feel valued.

Taking time to train your staff makes them feel valued. Role-playing allows you to find the root of the problem. Whether it’s a problem in your process or staffing related issues, you can dig into the details. Acknowledging your team and their roles shows them how important they are for the collective.

When you get the big picture, you can then focus on the 4x6 packets of powdered alcohol you’re looking for. Get the big picture?

It challenges your employees.

If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. Rather than dictating, let your team workout ideas for your operation. When walking through different scenarios they may find specific details in the process to improve.

Remember, they’re the ones on the frontline. They’ll be the first to see everything and how guests might be trying to sneak in these packets. Role-playing gives your team the freedom to work-it-out, and test theories and possible outcomes.

Make mistakes now, not when it matters most.

Builds team’s confidence.

Successful people are confident. So are successful teams. Develop your employees into successful “mitigators.” Role-playing results in a sense of self-awareness your team can carry to the playing field.

All the training allows them to fine-tune their know-how with all the advantages of it not being real life. When you give them feedback, they’ll know they’re doing it all right. Foster an environment of confidence and reap the benefits.

Produces more solutions.

In the presence of chaos and quick decision making, there’s so much that can go wrong or right!

There are a number of steps in your process you can optimize or change all together. You can improve your process making your team better aware of all possible ways for patrons to package, conceal and sneak the powdered alcohol into your venue.

Acting out common or potential instances and how to respond will create extra solutions to add to your incident management plan. It’ll strengthen your team’s effectiveness.

Enhances awareness to full awareness.

More solutions lead to enhanced awareness of any and all alcohol-related incidents occurring at your venue. Train your employees to understand the impact of their role.

Role-playing that leads to a more aware workforce results in reduced response times and the removal of one more packet from your venue. It’s that ripple effect that’s seen throughout your business.

Remove one more packet from your venue to save one more dollar on your bottom line – and one more life from an alcohol-related death.

Take note, the powdered alcohol mixed into an existing alcoholic beverage can prove dangerous or even deadly. Mixing with an existing beverage does not change the volume of the drink BUT increases the alcohol continent.

(Pro tip: The powered alcohol takes approximately a minute to dissolve in an existing alcoholic beverage. Although challenging to identify, this can be a tell-tale sign of its presence.)

Increases productivity.

Ultimately, your training efforts can produce a high performing team. What do high performing teams do? They produce.

Better documentation.
Better Analytics.
Better Communication.
Better Awareness.

Role-playing affords you and your team the ability to be super successful…giving you peace of mind.

Builds your credibility as a leader.

Defining yourself as an effective leader includes over-preparing, over-learning and over-achieving alongside your team. Starting with today’s article!

Put your team in a position to win. To create a safe environment for your guests, combine you and your team with role-playing to prevent or mitigate powdered alcohol-related incidents.

Results in safer events and less powdered alcohol-related incidents.

Your staff might change, but training them on how to follow your protocols should be painless. Create a manageable and easy-to-execute system for training and communication between existing and new teammates.

Over to You

Like we mentioned in our article on event security’s defense against drones, we understand the pros and cons of this newly developed substance. However, we understand that its prevalence will pose a challenge for venue managers.

Use role-playing to take your operation to a whole new level. The result is a safer, more secure and powdered alcohol-free venue.