Led by Michael Ince, Director, City of New Orleans, Office of Nighttime Economy

In crowded events and emergency situations alike, heat stress can turn an already complex situation into a secondary crisis. Before we move out into the festival today, this quick session covers how to identify early signs of heat stress and dehydration in crowds and how to design facilities and rest areas that account for local climate and urban design.

Led by Captain Anthony (Buddy) Micheu, Special Events and Traffic Commander, New Orleans Police Department

How do you keep tens of thousands of people safe at events… fifty times a week, every week of the year? It’s the daily reality for New Orleans Police Department, and this session draws on decades of their special events experience to walk through how public safety professionals build
operational plans for events of every scale.

For safety and security professionals, it’s a chance to learn from one of the world’s most celebrated event cities and compare notes. For event producers and cultural venue professionals, you’ll come away with new perspectives for your own safety planning, and better equipped to collaborate effectively with public safety and other civic partners.

Led by Leigh Maher, General Manager, Lake Eden Retreat

Leigh Maher, former festival director of LEAF Global Arts, shares stories and hard-earned tactics from decades co-leading the festival with former executive director Jennifer Pickering. Grounded in the reality that there are rarely off-the-shelf solutions, this session emphasizes working with what you have to design safety strategies that fit your specific context.

Leigh walks through how their team developed practical approaches to managing crowds, strengthening communication, and maintaining safety in a uniquely complex festival environment. The session also explores how to recognize early warning signs before issues escalate, and how to make effective on-the-ground decisions that keep events running smoothly. A closing Q&A invites practitioners from across sectors to share challenges, exchange insights, and collaboratively explore strategies for safer, more successful events.

Led by Emma Skilbread, NOCEM/NOLA Ready Community Engagement Branch Administrator

Participants will explore how their event planning expertise translates directly to emergency management in this interactive session led by Emma Skilbred of the New Orleans Office of Coordination and Emergency Management (NOCEM). Through a realistic scenario exercise, attendees will identify key actions in real time and map them across core functions of Operations, Logistics, Communications, and Coordination. We’ll then connect these decisions to real-world incident response and explore how they align with existing response networks and partners. The session highlights how event professionals’ skills directly support readiness and response efforts, creating opportunities for more strategic alignment and engagement.

Led by Nate Heegaard, Associate Director of Technology, Footprint Project

Portable solar power is increasingly present at festivals and events — and increasingly relevant when the grid goes down. This hands-on session covers basic operations and safety for portable solar units, back-of-the-napkin energy calculations for real-world scenarios from family scale up to facility-level deployment, and what it looks like to build staff and volunteer capacity through repeated festival use — treating events as low-stakes opportunities to develop skills and stress-test infrastructure before you need it most.

Led by Michael Ince, Director, City of New Orleans, Office of Nighttime Economy

In crowded events and emergency situations alike, heat stress can turn an already complex situation into a secondary crisis. Before we move out into the festival today, this quick session covers how to identify early signs of heat stress and dehydration in crowds and how to design facilities and rest areas that account for local climate and urban design.

Led by Leigh Maher, General Manager, Lake Eden Retreat

Leigh Maher, former festival director of LEAF Global Arts, shares stories and hard-earned tactics from decades co-leading the festival with former executive director Jennifer Pickering. Grounded in the reality that there are rarely off-the-shelf solutions, this session emphasizes working with what you have to design safety strategies that fit your specific context.

Leigh walks through how their team developed practical approaches to managing crowds, strengthening communication, and maintaining safety in a uniquely complex festival environment. The session also explores how to recognize early warning signs before issues escalate, and how to make effective on-the-ground decisions that keep events running smoothly. A closing Q&A invites practitioners from across sectors to share challenges, exchange insights, and collaboratively explore strategies for safer, more successful events.

Led by Captain Anthony (Buddy) Micheu, Special Events and Traffic Commander, New Orleans Police Department

How do you keep tens of thousands of people safe at events… fifty times a week, every week of the year? It’s the daily reality for New Orleans Police Department, and this session draws on decades of their special events experience to walk through how public safety professionals build
operational plans for events of every scale.

For safety and security professionals, it’s a chance to learn from one of the world’s most celebrated event cities and compare notes. For event producers and cultural venue professionals, you’ll come away with new perspectives for your own safety planning, and better equipped to collaborate effectively with public safety and other civic partners.

Led by Nate Heegaard, Associate Director of Technology, Footprint Project

Portable solar power is increasingly present at festivals and events — and increasingly relevant when the grid goes down. This hands-on session covers basic operations and safety for portable solar units, back-of-the-napkin energy calculations for real-world scenarios from family scale up to facility-level deployment, and what it looks like to build staff and volunteer capacity through repeated festival use — treating events as low-stakes opportunities to develop skills and stress-test infrastructure before you need it most.

Led by Emma Skilbread, NOCEM/NOLA Ready Community Engagement Branch Administrator

Participants will explore how their event planning expertise translates directly to emergency management in this interactive session led by Emma Skilbred of the New Orleans Office of Coordination and Emergency Management (NOCEM). Through a realistic scenario exercise, attendees will identify key actions in real time and map them across core functions of Operations, Logistics, Communications, and Coordination. We’ll then connect these decisions to real-world incident response and explore how they align with existing response networks and partners. The session highlights how event professionals’ skills directly support readiness and response efforts, creating opportunities for more strategic alignment and engagement.

Led by Michael Ince, Director, City of New Orleans, Office of Nighttime Economy

In crowded events and emergency situations alike, heat stress can turn an already complex situation into a secondary crisis. Before we move out into the festival today, this quick session covers how to identify early signs of heat stress and dehydration in crowds and how to design facilities and rest areas that account for local climate and urban design.

Led by Nate Heegaard, Associate Director of Technology, Footprint Project

Portable solar power is increasingly present at festivals and events — and increasingly relevant when the grid goes down. This hands-on session covers basic operations and safety for portable solar units, back-of-the-napkin energy calculations for real-world scenarios from family scale up to facility-level deployment, and what it looks like to build staff and volunteer capacity through repeated festival use — treating events as low-stakes opportunities to develop skills and stress-test infrastructure before you need it most.

Led by Captain Anthony (Buddy) Micheu, Special Events and Traffic Commander, New Orleans Police Department

How do you keep tens of thousands of people safe at events… fifty times a week, every week of the year? It’s the daily reality for New Orleans Police Department, and this session draws on decades of their special events experience to walk through how public safety professionals build
operational plans for events of every scale.

For safety and security professionals, it’s a chance to learn from one of the world’s most celebrated event cities and compare notes. For event producers and cultural venue professionals, you’ll come away with new perspectives for your own safety planning, and better equipped to collaborate effectively with public safety and other civic partners.

Led by Leigh Maher, General Manager, Lake Eden Retreat

Leigh Maher, former festival director of LEAF Global Arts, shares stories and hard-earned tactics from decades co-leading the festival with former executive director Jennifer Pickering. Grounded in the reality that there are rarely off-the-shelf solutions, this session emphasizes working with what you have to design safety strategies that fit your specific context.

Leigh walks through how their team developed practical approaches to managing crowds, strengthening communication, and maintaining safety in a uniquely complex festival environment. The session also explores how to recognize early warning signs before issues escalate, and how to make effective on-the-ground decisions that keep events running smoothly. A closing Q&A invites practitioners from across sectors to share challenges, exchange insights, and collaboratively explore strategies for safer, more successful events.

Led by Emma Skilbread, NOCEM/NOLA Ready Community Engagement Branch Administrator

Participants will explore how their event planning expertise translates directly to emergency management in this interactive session led by Emma Skilbred of the New Orleans Office of Coordination and Emergency Management (NOCEM). Through a realistic scenario exercise, attendees will identify key actions in real time and map them across core functions of Operations, Logistics, Communications, and Coordination. We’ll then connect these decisions to real-world incident response and explore how they align with existing response networks and partners. The session highlights how event professionals’ skills directly support readiness and response efforts, creating opportunities for more strategic alignment and engagement.