There are times in events that you just have to laugh.
My job with Study Tours put the safety of the students as the top priority. Of course, this priority was swiftly followed by a myriad of requests to maximize the students' stay. Although we would do all we could to ensure the safety of the students, sometimes the students didn't always think with their heads - most of the time it was with their egos, or just not at all.
During my second summer in Los Angeles in 2010, I had a student named Luigi. I was standing near the pool talking to my staff and some students. We only had about 90 students on campus, so it was a relatively small group.
I looked across the pool to find Luigi climbing up the exterior of the building. There were benches on the walkways with slats (pictured below). For Luigi, this made for easy climbing from one floor to the next.
I was screaming from the pool to Luigi. "Luigi!!! What are you doing? Don't climb that!!"
He reached the top and stopped. I yelled again, "Luigi, what are you doing?"
Luigi's English was not the best, but he understood well enough that I was not happy with his actions. Then he yelled back, "What?... I am Spider-Man!"
"Get down here," I shouted to him.
"I love you!" he replied putting his hands in the shape of a heart.
He came down to the pool deck with his Italian swagger, button-down shirt that was half open, big eyes, flowing hair, jean shorts, and giant belt buckle. I explained to him as best as I could that he was not allowed to climb the benches, that he might get hurt and I did not want to go to the hospital with him.
He replied, "I'm sorry... but I love you!"
How can you be mad at that? It was one of the most memorable stories of the summer.
Sometimes the attendees during your events can be your biggest liability. I think this job prepared me for just about any circumstance.
Do you have stories about risk management that you didn't foresee?