Introduction Made Event is a live entertainment production company, co-founded by Mike Bindra and Laura De Palma, which is focused primarily in electronic dance music culture. It is most notably responsible for the electronic dance music festival, Electric Zoo, which is held on Randall’s Island Park in New York, over the Labor Day weekend. Electric Zoo festival began as a two-day event on September 5, 2009, drawing in 26,000 people and 66 artists (Dodge, 2009). The second annual Electric Zoo festival sold out with 25,000 people each day (Pareles, 2010). In 2011, Electric Zoo expanded to a three- day festival, with 100 artists, and 85,000 attendees ("Electric Zoo: 85,000 Electronic Music Fans Attend 3-Day Festival Gallery of Photos"). In 2012, the event sold out Saturday and Sunday tickets, and there were over 110,000 attendees over the three days (Tantum, 2012). Made Event planned an even bigger festival for its fifth birthday in 2013, but the weekend was cut short when the third day was canceled. As music festivals in general have become more mainstream since Electric Zoo’s inaugural event in 2009, the number of ticket sales to these events has sky rocketed. The increased number of attendees at Electric Zoo has created health and safety issues. Incidents resulting from such issues include multiple arrests, hospitalizations, and the deaths of two attendees of the festival in 2013. In light of these controversies, Made Event has struggled to maintain credibility, social support, and acquire permits to continue the event. In order to continue to hold Electric Zoo, Made Event must increase security for the safety of attendees in order to maintain a positive image in the public and prove to stakeholders that it can take place without casualties. Contextual Analysis Company Made Event produces live entertainment events, specifically Electric Zoo festival which features hundreds of the word’s biggest electronic music D.J.’s and musical talent of techno, trance, house, dubstep, electro, indie dance backgrounds. With over 25 years of combined experience between the founders, and nearly 500 events produced in New York City, Miami and elsewhere, Made Event continues to set the bar for quality electronic music events. The festival has been comprised of 4 to 5 stages, a number of organic food vendors, and art installations. Made Event is “committed to excellence in the programming, promotion, and production of electronic dance music events.” The world- renowned entertainment and expert production values that they bring into their innovative venues make them some of the most expert leaders in their field. In the inaugural year of Made Event’s Electric Zoo, they were nominated for “Promoter of the Year” by URB magazine, as well as “Best Music Event” and “Best Event Promoter” by the International Dance Music Awards in 2010. ("Electric Zoo: 85,000 Electronic Music Fans Attend 3- Day Festival Gallery of Photos"). “Electric Zoo received a coveted IDMA nomination for “Best U.S. Festival” and “Best Music Event” by URB magazine, as well as press coverage from major media outlets like CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Village Voice, Time Out New York, New York Post, The Source, DJ Mag, Mixmag and Ocean Drive, establishing it as New York City’s premier electronic music festival as well as a top American event” ("Electric Zoo: 85,000 Electronic Music Fans Attend 3-Day Festival Gallery of Photos"). While Made Event stands at the top of their field, public perception of the organization has been tainted by the media’s highlighting of the drug use, which occurs within the festival grounds and the press surrounding incidents resulting from the issue. Collaborators Made Event collaborates with a number of people and organizations to put together Electric Forest. Made Event books over a hundred world renowned D.J.’s and artists to perform over the three days of the festival. Made Event also brings in over 20 food vendors, offering a plethora of food options. Foodies have options ranging from fresh juice from Juice Bar USA, Latin food from La Sonrisa, to Japanese comfort food at Mimi & Coco, along with basics such as pizza, hotdogs, and burgers (Kapadia, 2012). Randal’s Island Parks Department and the New York City Mayor’s office permit Electric Zoo to take place. Customers Electric Zoo draws extremely diverse crowds from, including people from over 100 countries and 50 states” ("Electric Zoo: 85,000 Electronic Music Fans Attend 3-Day Festival Gallery of Photos"). From 2009 to 2013, the festival had been an all ages event, with attendees ranging from elementary school-aged children (accompanied by their parents) to the elderly. However, their largest demographic has been college age students. Starting in 2014, attendees must be at least eighteen years of age to enter the event. Attendees must purchase tickets online or through a box office. For this demographic, tickets are pretty expensive. General admission for the three-day event begins at $289, during the presale before taxes and surcharges. After the presale, general admission increases to $369, and as the festival date approaches, ticket prices increase. Competitors As electronic dance music becomes more and more mainstream, more emc festivals have been created. CEO of Insomniac Events, Pasquale Rotella, brought Electric Daisy Carnival to cities around the world. EDC made its debut in New York in 2012 and is scheduled for a third time in May 2014. EDC is only a two-day event, and tickets sell for around $150 presale, and $254 after that. EDC’s tickets go on sale well before Electric Zoo’s and their lineup is also released earlier. Other large dance music festivals that take place in the summer months include Bonaroo, in Tennessee, and Electric Forest, in Michigan. EDC, Bonaroo, and Electric Forest each offer their own unique experiences due to the artists they showcase and their locations. Bonaroo and Electric Forest also offer camping options. Context In the United States, dance music parties had been taking been since the 80’s, however D.J.’s and partiers were confined to the shadows, most events took place in dark dingy warehouses, often without proper permits (Kot, 2012). These parties became known as raves where groups of people gathered to do illegal drugs. As the festival scene made its way to the United States, they were referred to as giant, outdoor, daytime raves, and its attendees referred to themselves ravers. This put such events at a disadvantage from the beginning. Festivals such as Tomorrowland had already been taking place for years in Belgium, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. Electric Zoo festival emerged as electronic dance music began gaining popularity among high school and college aged-students in the United States. Since the festival began in 2009, the number of attendees it has drawn increased astronomically each year. The introduction Electric Daisy Carnival made its debut in May of 2012 and Life in Color, moved electronic music festivals even more into the spotlight, which helped increased Electric Zoo ticket sales even more. Fashion has been influenced by the culture as well. First, neon colored clothing began popping up everywhere. Festivalgoers are notorious for their attire. The festival attendees have an anything goes policy for the most part. Flowers began to become a staple accessory and so it influenced the trend. Coachella, a music festival on the West Coast, where many of the attendees are celebrities, is almost the equivalent of watching celebrities arriving on the red carpet for the Oscars. SWOT Analysis Strengths - International fan base, and a passionate, unique edm culture is closely associated with the festival (Plexi PR, 2011) - Fans are willing to pay the high prices for tickets to festivals (Plexi PR, 2011). - Made Event produces trailers (commercials) for Electric Zoo, which are released months before the event, when tickets go on sale. - Official recaps of the previous year’s festival are released on YouTube as advertisements and searchable videos. - Made Event has received much support and praise from Mayor Bloomberg (Dawsey, 2013) - Made Event has made hefty donations with profit from Electric Zoo, such as; $42,000 to FLOW, an outdoor art exhibition, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and Rockefeller NYC Cultural Innovation Fund (Wood, 2011). - Press coverage from major media outlets; CNN, New York Times, Huffington Post, Village Voice, Time Out New York, New York Post, DJ Magazine. - Widespread social media presence including: D.J.,’s personal Twitters, Electric Zoo festival’s Twitter and page on Facebook, and the fan’s Twitter and Facebook activity. Weaknesses - Customer dissatisfaction over the cancellation of the third day of the EZoo in 2013 (Schulman, 2013). - Rampant illegal drug use. - Being able to employ staff that attendees feel comfortable going to in the event they consume illegal drugs and need help. - Communication between festival coordinators and the NYC police department (Schulman, 2013). - Contractual issues for D.J.’s, such as competitor’s insistence they will not play at any other festivals in the state within a certain period of time before and after. - Artist lineups aren’t released until after ticket sales begin. Opportunities - The implementations of anti-drug videos that ticket buyers are required to view in order to activate their bracelets (Goodman, 2014) - Increased security at festival entrances, such as more in depth searches into bags and persons (Goodman, 2014). - Drug sniffing dogs (Goodman, 2014). - Blame-free garbage disposals along the entrance leading up to security at the entrance of the festival. - More free-water stations around the festival to decrease lines. - Provide more spaces where people can sit in the shade, out of the sun, during the day.