Behind the Scenes at Drumsheds: Event Control, Technology and Smarter Security

A busy venue needs more than a room full of radios. It needs good people, good information and systems that actually work in the real world.

At DRUMSHEDS, Event Command brought all three together, providing Event Control Room management, specialist staffing and our bespoke Incident Management Portal to support the venue's safety and operational teams.

While the audience experienced the event from the dancefloor, our team was working behind the scenes to help maintain a clear operational picture across the venue.

Event Control at the centre

Our Event Control Room team provided the central coordination point for incidents and operational information.

The role of the control room is about much more than answering radio calls.

Information needs to be understood, prioritised, recorded and passed to the right people. Incidents need to be tracked through to resolution. And the control room needs to maintain an accurate picture of what's happening across a busy venue.

That's where our people and technology work together.

An Incident Management Portal built around the venue

For DRUMSHEDS, we deployed our custom-built Incident Management Portal, with unique features developed specifically to support the venue's requirements.

Rather than asking the venue to adapt its processes around generic software, we were able to adapt our platform around the operation.

This included enhanced tools for safety and operational reporting, allowing staff working across the venue to report information directly into the system.

That means the control room isn't reliant solely on what comes over the radio.

Information from the ground can be captured, structured and brought into the wider operational picture.

Supporting the enhanced search operation

One of the most interesting elements of the project was the development of a dedicated system to support DRUMSHEDS' enhanced search operation.

We built a specialised portal for the security team to record information about individuals being searched and the outcome of those searches.

The system gave the operation a structured way to capture information at the point where the search took place, rather than relying on information being collated later.

For a busy security operation, that matters.

It creates a clearer record of what has happened, provides useful operational data and gives those managing the event better visibility of the activity taking place across the venue.

And, because it was built as part of our wider Incident Management Portal, the information could sit alongside the broader safety and operational picture.

Technology that supports people

We're big believers that technology shouldn't replace experienced event professionals.

It should make them better.

A control room operator shouldn't have to spend their time wrestling with software.

A security officer shouldn't have to fill in complicated paperwork when they're dealing with a busy search operation.

And an event manager shouldn't have to piece together what's happening from dozens of disconnected sources.

The technology should do the heavy lifting in the background, allowing people to focus on making decisions and managing the event.

That's the approach we took at DRUMSHEDS.

Built for the real world

One of the advantages of developing our own systems is that we can respond to the realities of live events.

Every venue has different requirements.

Every event has different risks.

And sometimes a client needs something that simply isn't available as an off-the-shelf product.

At DRUMSHEDS, that meant developing functionality specifically around the enhanced search operation and the way safety and operational information needed to be captured by teams working on the ground.

It wasn't technology for technology's sake.

It had a job to do.

More than a control room

DRUMSHEDS is another example of how Event Command combines people, technology and operational expertiseto support major events.

Our team provided the control room management and staffing, while our Incident Management Portal provided the technology underneath it.

Together, they created a joined-up system for managing incidents, capturing information and supporting the venue's wider safety and operational teams.

Because ultimately, a good event control operation isn't about how impressive the control room looks.

It's about whether the right information reaches the right people at the right time.

And at DRUMSHEDS, that's exactly what we set out to achieve.

Event Control. Incident Management. Bespoke Technology. Built around the event.