Note: Click to embiggen any of the pictures.
I would like to state that Les Miserables is going to be held at the Esplanade theatres… So.
WHY DID MBS KEEP MOVING THE BARRICADES ON THAT DAY?
This is one of the worst red (blue) carpet events I’ve ever attended. Like what the HECK?
The TL;DR of this is: MBS, you messed up the blue carpet. I hope you won’t mess up any more future ones.
And now we begin, after the read more cut on how much you messed up if you need actual pointers on how to fix it.
For one thing, we know this is more to your wants and not for the fans or people. It’s pretty obvious to see really. All the stuff I’m stating here are from all my friends since we split up on the various floors and locations of the rink. I’m calling them the Agents of SHIELD (AoS) because if you know your Marvel, you know what that stands for. So here, here’s your evaluation.
Security, Agents, Staff
The security staff aren’t briefed properly on this. Did you guys have a lack of budget or something? You probably had more than enough time to plan this whole freaking event and you didn’t get proper security staff meant for red carpets? Yes. They had uniforms but that is not all what security does. You want good security, you get experienced ones or those who had been briefed on what kind of event this is.
Don’t be ridiculous, we can hear the walkie talkies and whatnot. We’re close enough to hear they get instructions last minute on what to do.
The agents. What the heck are the agents in blue? Are they volunteers, random MBS staff. ??? Cause they seemed like they didn’t know what to do which meant management had no idea either.
TIME FOR A FLASHBACK GUYS.
8AM
The Agents of SHIELD (AoS) were there in the queue. They are actual fans. They queued and sat properly. Guess what happened. You guys eventually moved the blue carpet. Like picked up and go again. Who does this? It seemed like you all were confused. They were moved because apparently where they were, were supposed to be for the media? But even disregarding that, you guys moved the blue carpet a lot. Way too many times for a professional event.
Also.
Are your sponsors supposed to be arguing at the layout?
Because AoS could hear one guy arguing about placing the figurines in glass along the blue carpet with one of the higher Agents. Did you guys give a map to your sponsors? LUCKILY your Agent was good since they convinced the guy to move the glass encased figurines to the VIP section. Which on hindsight great because it would have been shattered in the crush on the so called blue carpet. MORE ON THAT LATER.
So alright.
We can see that whoever organized this seemed really fickle or had no idea where to put people. So much for planning.
Meanwhile, your SECURITY STAFF were not helping your own AGENTS. Thanks guys. For not even having team work with each other for your own event.
Here’s another anecdote. Security wanted the fans to go away in the morning because the event is at 7pm and ‘no one would surely want to queue up so early’ and that this is a place for tourists and it was going to make MBS look bad.
Newsflash, most of them were tourists too.
The only ones making MBS look bad was MBS themselves.
And this was before I even arrived on the scene.
Good job on the black curtain though. You’ve covered the DC cafe because we can’t have DC when a Marvel event is happening on live stream eh?
2.30PM-4PM++
I arrived  and headed straight to the food court where my other friends were and chilled with an ice kacang.
In that time before the ice kacang melted, your staff moved the blue carpet again and moved the people who had been queuing since noonish by then on the other side of the rink.
I managed to look see your layout of the stage when I went down the escalators and thought it was really stupid. The queue was increasing from all sides and floors.
The only thing you guys  managed to preempt and put up in place was the black curtains. You had staff removing plastic from the carpets which I think is actually really late if it’s being removed by then.
5PM
Last minute agents placing down name tags along the media side so that each media will know where to stand. You guys seemed in a panic like you didn’t know who was going to stand where. By this time, I moved from the food court to the upper floors to see the whole mess.
From my Hawkeye’s (ha ha) point of view, it was confirmed.
The layout is really, really stupid.
One pen for the $688 or winners section. Another pen for $1288 or special VIPs.
Whoever in the $1288, I really hope you guys drank the heck out of the orange soda or colas there. It looks claustrophobic as heck from the top especially when everyone rushed to the edge.
If you’re paying $1288 for that section, I don’t think it is enough blue carpet perimeter for them.
If you paid $688, I hope to heck you rushed through to the wall to make it worth it because either way…
FANS SECTION + VVIP SECTION + VIP SECTION = It looked all bad from the top when it came to those few minutes when they came down to meet you all. (Note, only the coloured parts in the picture above are the parts where people had the chance to see the stars properly).
Media section looked bad too because you had such a narrow strip and few angles like it wasn’t enough to move when all the media was packed in that section by the left side in front of the fans.
The other ‘media’ or bloggers section near the front well… You guys got good camera shots for close ups but no interactions so okay? Since it’s more for media anyway. So ok, that was the only best point for those who got that section??
Oh by the way, MBS, maybe it would be good for your own staff not to refer to people around them as ‘peasants’ when talking to a person with one of those VIP passes asking where to go?
Our AoS could hear your staff saying that “these are for the peasants” and “that is for the VIP” section ah ha ha ha haaa… Such joke. Much hilarity. So amusing.
Before the stars arrived though, there was a cosplay competition. Lady in green, I forgot your name because Glenn Ong was being super memorable by making everything cringe worthy.
Ok, so one Winter Soldier posed and the wig came off. That’s ok.
What’s not ok is when the emcees or rather Glenn keeps harping on it.
WE GET IT OK?
And the cosplayer worked hard on his costume so OK. THAT IS ENOUGH.
That’s only for the cosplay section.
For the ‘warming’ up of audience section, why does he keep talking about Paul Foster being the ‘Marvel Man’. Newsflash, we don’t care. (Paul Foster, thank you though, for correcting him but we can see he was interrupting your own work there on the floor.)
This is a stage for live streaming for international people. We don’t care about insider jokes because they are super cringe worthy. EVERYONE who could hear them (level 1 could not hear any audio) was muttering to themselves “Please stop, please stop. What is Glenn doing. Why does he keep growling?” etc etc.
What’s worse is during the giveaway of the Steve Rogers Cosbaby was that Glenn made up a question and gave away the prize. Then found out the ‘answer’ was wrong and had the prize snatched away from the winner and given to another person?!
WHO DOES THAT.
Glenn apparently.
Do you all not give your emcees an ear piece either?
Because you had one organizing staff walk right up to the stage, wave angrily up to Glenn for him to be notified about something.
Wow, so professional.
ALTERNATIVES TO SOLVE THIS:
- Earpieces for emcees.
- Actual questions. More random prizes for audience besides the cosbaby you can give away t-shirts or tickets to the screening.
- Emcees who know what they’re talking about and stop making in jokes no one cares
ALSO MBS. It’s PRETTY OBVIOUS you’re using cosplayers to just entertain the crowd since they got to stand in the blue carpet while everyone waits for the actual stars. I didn’t even see if they got to go into the $688 pit or say hello to the stars after they were escorted away? Because if they didn’t, wow. That sucks muchly not to be able to see anything.
In between all this, some of your agents in blue were doing an actual good job by giving out bottles of water, posters, light sticks, t-shirts and those mask thingies to people.
They even went up to the fourth floor where I was and gave away those paper shield things. Good job for those agents in blue.
And bam. This was around 7pm++ when the stars finally arrived.
It was an utter mess.
Glenn and Lady in Green were talking about wanting to ask another question when Mackie and Sebastian Stan suddenly appeared from the OTHER side of the carpet.
Your very emcees were caught off guard.
Meanwhile, VIP regional stars were walking on the OTHER side of the blue carpet from the side closer to the food court.
This was the point when they had to be ushered or rushed away.
When faced with VIP regional stars on one side of the carpet and the actual main stars for the event on the OTHER side of the carpet.
It’s going to be difficult for any emcee to get attention to each of the sides.
So either MBS didn’t tell the VIP regional stars to come by earlier or tell them that there was a cut off point for safety of the blue carpet or…
Actually.
I’m very sure MBS didn’t tell them there was a cut off point by now because they don’t seem to actually know when the stars were supposed to come out if emcees were off guard and everything anyway.
Or have specialized escorts for the VIPs to know where to steer them. (You need escorts/ushers for the VIPs for events like these so you can usher the VIPs away if they’re late with a “Sorry, here’s a special entrance for you, for your safety” or a “Please hold on for a moment m’am/sir”.)
Our AoS did actually hear on the walkie talkies of the security (they were smooshed that close) that the security was to stop any late regional stars coming on the carpet after that happened.
Well.
That’s way too late.
I would like you all to see the escalator there.
Well.
That was crap.
Thank goodness I was on the fourth floor because it became worse than a mosh pit on the first.
In which universe did MBS think that flimsy metal railings could be good barriers for people and why couldn’t they get the proper ones that are used in concerts that actually have some stability? People were actually crushed in there and the only good thing out of the event was that no one needed to go to the hospital.
The security was obvious to see that they were not prepared for this.
My AoS were crushed and people from behind were pushing them and the barriers were getting pushed over. There were also reports of some perverts feeling people up in this crush so yeah.
Do you see this? What kind of blue carpet is this anyway. It was the narrowest blue carpet I’ve seen. You need to have at least TWO arms length wide and then more space in between for people to walk down. Do you know that the shields being used for autographs seemed to be the only thing helping the people not to get bashed either?
And the stars of the event, Sebs Stan, Mackie and Chris Evans didn’t even get to walk both sides either (we saw the director trying to make it for the other sides, so that’s nice).
Anyone in the $688 side, tough luck because they went to the perimeter on the other side facing towards the food court and not to Llao Llao.
Ok at this point though, we have to ask. What are the agents in blue supposed to do because at this point when the stars were around, they whipped their phones/cameras to take pictures.
The circled part was the jam where everyone just went FWOOSH.
Thanks MBS, all your fans who queued in the morning till then pretty much got stiffed out when you guys kept moving the barricades and this sudden appearance from the ‘wrong’ side of the carpet too because they couldn’t SEE THEM AT ALL.
Meanwhile, yes. I can see those even in the $1288 section being stiffed out and I hope to heck most of you guys in that section got yours for free or something because there was only a short wall where they could say hi to and you guys were at least four people deep when smooshed together.
Chris Evans came by running down with a troop of security. I don’t think it was enough for him because if are a fan of his, you would know he has anxiety and wow. The crowd and layout did NOT help at all.
I don’t even have to describe this because a picture is a thousand words and really.
YOU CAN SEE.
This is a fire hazard waiting to happen.
And everyone screaming when Anthony Mackie running up the escalator to meet the fans. We screamed more for his safety because of your suck security. But wow, he made it through and back.
That’s not all MBS.
What the heck is getting the kids up on stage anyway?
Yes, sure they’re special needs children but at that point, (well way before then but this just cemented it) that this is not for Marvel or the kids. This is for MBS.
You want to give the kids a happy time to meet the stars, you could have gotten them all in a special conference room (YOU GUYS HAVE PLENTY), given them goodie bags and then a private meeting with all three of them plus the director. They would have more time to talk to them even if it was just fifteen minutes. Maybe have a photographer or even one videographer while they had their interaction for your own records and whatever marketing.
Instead, you, MBS decided to show case it on stage.
That’s super classy.
Getting the kids into another specialized pen near the stage facing crowds of everyone and having it evening enough that well, they would be tired too wouldn’t they? They’re kids!!
We’re with you til the end of the line indeed. But yes. Congratulations MBS.
You’ve made it to one of the worst red (blue) carpet events ever.
If you need suggestions here it is in a list. Just for you.
- Stop underestimating and brief staff. ALL the staff on what is going to happen.
- Don’t freaking assume that people won’t clamber all over the floors. They will. They did.
- The rink is a classy place but is a stupid place to hold this when you have large convention halls. It’s less glamourous looking but safer.
- If you insist having the rink, try a better layout where you don’t keep moving barriers on the same day.
- Use concert/gig high quality barriers that will not toppled down easily.
- Get experienced security staff who know what to do.
- Communications with your staff, security, emcees. They all need to know your exact programme and standard procedures.
- All guest invitees should know the timing to come and when the carpet is ‘closed’ and they must enter to the actual show after the specified time like how your musicals have cut off times until intervals or have special ushers/escorts for the very important ones.
- Remember it is for the fans or Marvel or whoever it is you are featuring and not for your freaking self MBS
- Get people who run red carpets to sort it out for you because this didn’t look world class at all.
If you think “This person says so much, you think so easy to run it ah?” well. I’m very sure I won’t mess it up as bad because I’ll know who/which resources to get this done properly.
Heck.
I think at the moment now anyone can do a better job than MBS.
PS. The only one who won from this Civil War is Llao Llao. It was in the cameras, in the live stream and everyone could see it lit up amongst all the blues, whites and reds.
It’s true…All of it
FYI the cosplayers were told very very clearly that they had to get out before the stars arrived. /shrug.
As someone who was squished right up to the metal railing to the point my shoes TORE (yes, TORE) through the cloth… I completely agree with your assessment.
It was a complete mess. I really doubt that it looked good on camera as it was actually hell to be in it.
Case in point: I was there on the first floor and when Mackie, sebstan and mr Russo came out, I was pushed over and I almost fell completely over along with almost lossing my shoe. Almost because fortunately, I got pushed closer to my friend who then held me for support. The only plus side was when Anthony Mackie came over the barricade and through the media section to take a selfie with us.
This entire event could have been managed a whole lot better.