When fans take being ‘laser focused’ on a game too far, we’re sure it becomes quite frustrating.
Your incident management process is probably up to speed like the Detroit Lions, but sometimes those sly fans slip through the cracks – regardless of how many solutions you have in place.
Troublemakers are sneaky, they make everyone nuts BUT the good news is they like to brag about it on social media!
Other fans become frustrated, players’ performance can be affected and security officials start looking for a needle in the haystack.
We want to avoid this and at least catch the people that go undetected. Take the recent NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.
During the recent game a fan was shining a laser pointer on a number of Bills players, including quarterback Kyle Orton and holder Colton Schmidt. Cameras caught the laser blinding the quarterback and other fans clearly saw it happening. To find the needle in the haystack of 65,000 fans proved to be impossible.
Ahhh, but remember how troublemakers like to brag, well, now that needle is blinding and easy to find. A Twitter user known as @MarkoBeslach bragged…
(Twitter/@MarkoBeslach)
It since has been deleted from Twitter…but not from the internet.
A Real-Time Tool for Boosting an Incident Management Process
An incident such as this is a textbook example of how social media can be used to enhance your incident management process. No matter how effective or efficient our systems are at times, some people find ways to work against the system, and test the capabilities.
We’re going to show you an all-star team. With your incident management system (IMS) and social media, identifying, tracking and handling unruly guests and incident associated persons will significantly strengthen your incident management process.
Much like an IMS, social media is a real-time reporting tool with vital data being monitored AND at your fingertips. First, let’s establish a foundation for your team – the incident management system.
Use Social Media to Discover, Use Your IMS to Execute
After reading our blog on the 18 ways an IMS creates order you’ll see the benefit for your venue. But we want to highlight a few points here.
Three key ingredients in the strength of an IMS are – most importantly – instant communication, multiple users in multiple locations that can use the system and your ability to develop protocols for incidents entered into the system. (Read the aforementioned blog and you’ll notice the value is endless.)
During game day these three points we mention above will allow you to catch the troublemakers before someone gets hurt. Here’s how.
Using free social media monitoring tools (e.g. Hootsuite, TweetDeck), your operation can monitor social streams for all of your associated social media accounts with ease – from a single dashboard. Using keywords, related hashtags and following fans through your feeds will afford the extra insight into what’s occurring in the stadium bowl.
For example, using the tool you can search for a keyword…let’s go with laser pointer since it’s timely. Enter the keyword and you’re now able to view all social media chatter related to the term.
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was hit with a laser pointer. No doubt about it. The possibilities are endless here. You can even monitor hashtags [#Bills] attached to a tweet. You now have a living breathing stadium of fans giving you instant updates of everything occurring at your venue. Pair this with a text communication solution too and now you have thousands of eyes AND voices.
You’ve just upgraded your superpowers – we’re talking invaluable to your operation.
Enter the Incident Management System
Supplement your process with social media to find your abilities to capture data in real time become infinite. Use this your advantage. Your fans are talking, why not listen?
Here’s some perspective. Your team notices one of your hashtags is getting a tremendous amount of activity related to a fan using a laser pointer to distract players on the field. You can now react to the situation with effectiveness.
Scroll the cameras looking for a potential hazard while simultaneously entering the incident into your incident management system. Staff is on alert, searching for a suspect and ready to respond immediately as needed.
Immediate details and the status of this incident can then be sent to need-to-know staff and supervisors via text, email or mobile handheld devices. Having the ability you have with an IMS will put your team in a position to respond and handle the incident like professionals. All your departments will be aware of the incident and ready to cover their respective responsibilities as the incidents progresses.
The suspect is arrested, your team is applauded, players and fans are happy.
Keep Track of Repeat Offenders
Using an incident management system will allow you to document data and images from your social media findings along with the details of the incident, and information including photos of the person involved in the incident. A historical database inclusive of the incident details will give you the ammunition you need to prevent unruly fans like this from affecting the outcome of your overall fan experience.
Study Your Success
The only way to make your game day efforts a success is by scrutinizing the data. See which social media channels and feeds are giving you the most incidents and hone in on them.
Your analytics will put you on the correct bearing. We’re telling you…between your IMS and social media, you’re going to get LOTS of good information to make your team much more effective.
Don’t forget this one major critical fact: If you don’t know it, you can’t manage it. So take advantage of these tools to empower your fans and your staff, to give you the information YOU need to deliver a memorable game day experience.
With analytics you quickly see the difference:
- Respond to more incidents in a little less time.
- Understand how your resources are being utilized.
- Know where reoccurring incidents exist in specific areas so you can send staff to handle them effectively.
- Respond to guest requests and complaints a few minutes sooner to optimize guest services initiatives.
In the end, it’s all about the memories you help your guests create. With that said, an incident management system and social media are a team effort you can be proud of.
