MARCH | WELCOME
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EDITOR
Tom Hall
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Martin Fullard
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James Linin Sean Wyatt-Livesley
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F
yre Festival – the Fall of Babylon for the Instagram Age, as
documented by Netflix – was a dubious public introduction to the
event industry.
There’s something very ‘now’ about a disruptive streaming service
documenting Generation Snowflake’s betrayal via a viral campaign
devised by a rapper and a hover-board riding entrepreneur.
But Fyre Festival, as a concept, started so well – back when CEO Billy
McFarland’s pious platitudes and positive affirmations held credence.
Optimism without a proper plan, however, was a recipe for disaster.
And, as the chaos descended, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never
Happened depicts McFarland in meltdown mode, going AWOL
intermittently, driving his quadbike at high-speed into the distance with
no direction in mind, and no end in sight.
Netflix’s biopic, dear reader, certainly wasn’t short on visual
metaphors.
But, as the responsible editor of an esteemed events journal, I’ve
resisted the temptation to gloat. Instead, I’ve called on an elite team of
event professionals to reveal how Fyre Festival should’ve gone down.
The event industry, with minimal acknowledgement, pulls-off
thousands of world-conquering festivals every year, mastering
everything from social media and celebrity bookings to constructing
giant robotic spiders and tree-lined stages.
We may be the unsung heroes of this cultural spectacle du jour,
but let’s set things straight: event professionals have been the spark
behind the world’s hottest gatherings for centuries.
Tom Hall, Editor
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