Last Updated: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 Michael Jackson Memorial Service Crowds: The Hype Is Dead. Long Live The Hype. Updated: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 Lonely streets: An example of the crowds that developed around the Staples Center police perimeter. Photo: KTLA c 2009 The Michael Jackson memorial service is over. That means the hype surrounding the events related to it are over. That means the hype about the hordes of fans that would invade Los Angeles for the ceremony is over. OMG, spokespersons from the LAPD estimated up to a million people would converge on the city for the Michael Jackson farewell. And hundreds of thousands of fans would fill the streets near the Staples Center and Nokia Theater. Crowd Management Strategies publically stated the opposite would occur. Adding that there would be no noteable crowd problems caused by Jackson fans. What actually happened today? Non-ticketed onlookers who came to the vicinity of the Staples Center were estimated to be, well, in the hundreds. There were no crowd problems of any kind. Chalk one up for Crowd Management Strategies. The international consulting service has built a reputation on identifying crowd safety challenges and estimating crowd size in advance of major events, including the 2004 Boston Red Sox victory parade, Woodstock ’99, the Chicago E2 nightclub tragedy and the inauguration of President Obama. But, while official crowd estimates may have been wildly off their mark, crowd management and control techinques used by the police and organizer AEG were focused and effective. LAPD traffic management was first class. The Michael Jackson farewall event is an example of how large public events---celebrations, concerts, festivals, parades---can, and should, be handled. [ home ][ crowdcafe ][ new ][ crowdshop ][ contact ] Crowd Management Strategies © 1997 - 2006. All rights reserved. Crowdsafe is a registered trademark of Crowd Management Strategies © 2006.