New Partnership Boosts Venue-Security Strategies

Global Awareness Professionals, a firm offering security training, has formed a partnership with the BCJ Group, a consulting company that specializes in guest services and venue leadership development. They are joining forces to make facilities — and events — safer.

The collaboration is designed to help major event and venue operations teams align security and guest-services operations with event planning and execution from the beginning to the end of a gathering, and to enhance guest safety. The BCJ Group brings decades of experience across hospitality, entertainment, sports, tourism and global consulting, with a team whose careers were shaped through leadership roles at The Walt Disney Co.

Preparing early

The need for planning, communication and execution of event guest-services teams in conjunction with security teams is essential, according to GAP, from pre-event planning to post-event evaluation, as it creates risk mitigation and effective action when it matters most.

"Security should not be treated as a separate function introduced after an event has already been planned," said Mark Herrera, president and chief security strategist for GAP. "It must be embedded into the entire guest journey, with safety, service, communication and operational decision-making working together from the earliest stages."

Combining guest services and security in event planning, he said, ensures that risk assessment will inform venue layout, traffic flow, registration placement, VIP access routes, exhibitor move-in/move-out procedures and emergency vehicle access. When security is integrated early into planning for floor design, ingress/egress strategy and communication flow, it will enhance the attendee experience and strengthen brand trust.

Organizers that prioritize behavioral awareness training, annual risk assessments, structured crisis communications and disciplined credential control will not only reduce incident likelihood, but will protect long-term brand equity. This approach, Herrera added, is designed to define the intentional overlap between guest service and security, moving away from defining where one stops and the other starts.

"Security is most effective when it becomes part of the organization's culture rather than simply a function of its operations. At the BCJ Group, we believe that culture begins with leaders who build trust through knowing, communicating with and valuing their employees," said Bill Carl Johnson, managing partner at the BCJ Group. "Those employees, in turn, create meaningful connections with guests through proactive engagement and awareness. The result is an environment where guest service and security work together to create a safer, more welcoming experience for everyone."

Herrera noted, "Our partnership with BCJ Group brings together complementary expertise in security, guest experience and organizational leadership. By aligning these disciplines, we are helping event organizations build stronger teams, improve the guest experience and create safer, more resilient environments."

Trial run

The organizational development program offered through the GAP and BCJ Group strategic collaboration was presented on June 17 to the Spokane Public Facilities District, which oversees a wide range of sports and entertainment venues across the city in Washington state. Their facilities include Numerica Veterans Arena, the Spokane Convention Center, the First Interstate Center for the Arts, The Podium and One Spokane Stadium.

The program included everyone in SPFD, from frontline guest-services staff to leadership. Attendees learned skills-development drills in judgment-based decision-making under pressure, leadership driving culture, and preparedness and risk mitigation in guest services. The program is designed to embed total event awareness, engagement, de-escalation and protective action into the organization.

"What I appreciated about the training was that it matched how our venues actually operate. Our guest-services and security teams are often dealing with the same moments, just from different angles," said Nic Lawrence, director of event services for SPFD. "Bringing everyone into the same room helped connect the dots, and reinforced that a safe event and a welcoming event are really the same goal."