🚀 Get ready for the biggest conversation in global crowd management! 🌍✨
The GCMA Global Crowd Management Congress 2026 brings together world-leading experts to tackle the most pressing challenges in our industry. Brought to you in partnership with Pink Bows Foundation, the Congress delivers three days of insightful discussions, practical strategies, and game-changing ideas. Exclusive to GCMA members, this is an event you won’t want to miss!
📅 February 3rd, 4th & 5th
⏰ 1900 GMT (1400 EST, 1100 PST, 2000 CET)
🔗 Via Zoom
Registration is open to all current GCMA members. Follow the link below to register.
Program Agenda (Subject to Change)
📅 Day One – February 3rd
Crowd Safety on a Budget: Designing for Risk, Reality & Resilience
19:00 GMT
Panelists: Becca Wilusz (US), Cathy Knowsley (NZ), Simon Hunt (CA), Becky Stevens (UK), Benjamin Rolens (US)
Operating with limited resources does not remove responsibility. It changes how decisions must be made and requires sharper thinking.
In this session, we'll examine how event professionals can approach crowd safety when time, budget, and capacity are constrained. The discussion will focus on understanding genuine risk exposure, prioritising interventions that have the greatest impact, and designing safety arrangements that are realistic, proportionate, and defensible.
Rather than seeking perfect solutions, the session will explore how incremental, intentional improvements can strengthen resilience over time, even in challenging operational environments.
AI, Accountability & the Human in the Loop: Decision-Making & Liability in Crowd Safety
20:30 GMT
Panelists: Eoghan Gill (IE), Andy Hollinson (UK), James Russell (UK), Lloyd Major (UK)
Artificial intelligence is moving rapidly from decision support to decision influence in crowd management and event safety, yet responsibility has not shifted alongside it.
In this session, we'll will explore how AI-enabled systems shape human judgement in safety-critical environments. The discussion will consider where risk can emerge through acts of commission and omission, and how those risks are shaped by the interaction between technology, people, and existing regulatory frameworks.
The session will focus on accountability rather than technology alone, asking a central question: who ultimately carries liability when technology, people, and regulatory frameworks collide?
📅 Day Two – February 4th
From Forecast to Frontline: Weather Intelligence & Crowd Safety Decision-making
19:00 GMT
Panelists: Renny Vandewege (US), Jacob Worek (US)
For outdoor events, weather is one of the most influential and often underestimated drivers of crowd safety risk.
In this session, we'll discuss how weather forecasting, real-time monitoring, and clear decision thresholds can inform crowd safety decision-making. The conversation will explore how weather intelligence is used to support decisions around crowd movement, sheltering, evacuation, and event modification.
The session will examine how timely, well-interpreted weather information strengthens situational awareness and helps teams act decisively before conditions deteriorate.
From Policy to Practice: The Saint-Denis Convention & Multi-Agency Safety at Sporting Events
20:00 GMT
Panelists: Thyr Rodrigues (CH), Rodrigo Cavaleiro (PT)
What does the Saint-Denis Convention mean in practice for those planning and delivering sporting events?
In this session, Thyr Rodrigues and Rodrigo Cavaleiro explore the Council of Europe’s Saint-Denis Convention, the only binding international framework promoting an integrated, multi-agency approach to safety, security, and service at sporting events. The session will outline the purpose of the Convention, its core principles, and the role of the S4 Committee in overseeing its implementation and supporting cooperation between public and private stakeholders.
The discussion will examine how the Convention’s principles are translated into operational practice, highlighting practical considerations, approaches, and available tools that may be relevant to GCMA members seeking to strengthen collaborative planning and crowd safety within their own contexts.
📅 Day Three – February 5th
Fire Prevention Without Borders: Toward a Global Standard for Public Venues
19:00 GMT
Panelists: Mike Kill (UK), Anne Marie Chebib (UK)
The recent Le Constellation nightclub fire in Switzerland once again underscored the urgent need for harmonised global fire prevention standards and their consistent enforcement across nightlife and hospitality venues worldwide. Repeated incidents over the years have shown that deficiencies such as inadequate emergency exits, flammable materials, overcrowding, and non-compliance with licensing and safety regulations can have catastrophic consequences. This session explores the newly developed International Fire Prevention Guide: a practical framework designed to reduce regulatory ambiguity and provide effective tools to prevent fires and strengthen emergency preparedness in public venues worldwide.
Sweating the Small Stuff: Overlooked, Minimised & Ignored Issues That Impact Safety at Small Venues
20:30 GMT
Panelists: Iain Fourie (SA), Angie Chamberland (US), Chris Kerr (CA), Bryan Huneycutt (US)
Smaller venues can assume that certain rules, standards, or hazards apply only to larger events. In reality, many of the same risks are present at smaller scale and are more likely to be overlooked, minimised, or managed informally. Sometimes, those challenges are not recognised as risks at all.
In this session, we'll examine issues that are commonly misunderstood or under-examined in small-venue settings, and how these factors can influence safety outcomes. Drawing on real-world examples, the discussion will explore how gaps in awareness can become liabilities and why this matters.