Subject:
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Re: Mall Show Security
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains.org
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Date:
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Fri, 17 Jan 2003 02:48:18 GMT
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Viewed:
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1500 times
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"Brian Williams" <brian_williams@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:H8L93M.5n6@lugnet.com...
> Hi!
>
> Its been a long time since I've posted here but thought I'd bring up a
> question for all the train clubs. NILTC has recently been discussing the
> issues surrounding security at mall shows (shopping malls). Could those • who
> have actually participated in any mall shows please respond to this and
> provide their experiences on the following points:
I have been out of pocket for a better part of this week due to work so am a
bit behind on reading LUGNET. Cary Clark a;read responded regarding the
recent NCLTC mall layout but I thought I would add some additional
information and perspective to what Cary already related.
>
> a) Overnight Security
> For multi-day shows the layout needs to be left in the mall unattended for
> at least one night. A layout may be covered with sheets while the rolling
> stock is taken home for the night. Mall security is usually present... • but
> it takes a while to clear out the public after hours during which time an
> unattended layout is vulnerable to theft or vandalism. Also, malls have
> many employees who may leave late, arrive early, and sometimes bring • friends
> along. Has anyone actually done a mall show where there was overnight • theft
> or vandalism?
Security in general was our (NCLTC) original concern. When the mall
originally approached us we decided that either it had to be unmanned or we
couldn't do it at all. I really had no idea what to expect with an unmanned
layout. I wasn't sure if people would leave the layout alone or feel
compelled to touch it.
About a month before we were approached to do the mall show we had a small
display (single loop of track on one of our modules - about 30"x60") in the
LEGO booth at the LuLu Tech Circus. Due to the limited space in the LEGO
booth we were unable to use our standard barriers Prior to the Tech Circus
we had used LEGO buckets filled with concrete with PVC posts which are
connected with two levels of rope at all of our train shows. They are
typically set off about three feet from the perimiter of the layout. At all
of the train shows we have done these have worked well.
For the Tech Circus I bought enough plexiglass (15" high, 12" above the
table surface) to surround our one module layout. We set up the layout and
attached the plexiglass. A number of our groups members helped out in the
LEGO booth through out the three day show schedule however there were a
number of times when none of use were there. During my stint I observed one
person reach over the barrier to touch one of the vehicles. I added some
"Please do not touch" signs and hoped for the best. I didn't see anyone
else with their hands in it and at the end of the show nothing was missing.
When Cary Clark and I met with the mall management the first time security
was out main concern and by far the most in depth discussion point. Prior
to meeting I had a conversation with my insurance agent to find out if my
insurance would cover a loss in the event something were taken. Much to my
surprise, it turns out that I was covered which made me feel a little
better.
Both Cary and I are fairly tall (I about 6'2", Cary a bit taller than me).
If we could have a suitable buffer between our layout and where people would
be, we figured that someone would have to be pretty tall and have pretty
long arms to reach over the buffer, over the plexiglass (12") and into the
layout. It could be done, but it would be a stretch. The mall was in the
process of construction their Santa's workshop when we were there and had
some white plastic fence. We quickly agreed that the mall would provide a
barrier 30" outside of our layout using the same fence and they would
provide us the funds to purchase plexiglass (which we got to keep) to
surround the layout. When all was said and done, we actually got about a
24" buffer due to the fire code where we had the layout. The open walking
area between the wall and our layout had to be a certain width - so 24" it
was.
Over the course of the almost six weeks that the layout was on display we
didn't lose anything. However, there were two occasions that I know of
where someone had reached into the display to push one of the trains.
Yikes! Why would they do that?
When we set up the train to be unmanned I had put the trains on timers.
They ran four about 45 minutes and would turn off for about 15. I had
staggered the timer settings so there was always two trains running during
the hours the mall was open. In both cases, one we know for sure, the train
was pushed just after it had turned off. The person who pushed it was seen
by Tom Staley from Tom's Train Station (our defacto sponsor at the mall). I
ended up changing the timers so they turned off every two hours and didn't
have any issues after that.
So why did we have the timers turn off? We were afraid of having the LEGO
train motors overheat. We also had a small layout (5'x5') layout in the
window of Tom's Train Station (a serious model railroading shop in the
mall). When I first set it up the train would stop every once in a while
for no apparent reason. They only thing I could think of was over heating.
Stopping the train periodically addressed the problem.
So while the timers prevented the over heating problem, they gave the
impression that something had gone wrong when the train would stop. Clearly
stopping the train once an hour was too frequent. Doing it again I would
probably see if once every three hours or so was sufficient.
>
> b) Show Security
> Mall crowds may differ from train show crowds. They can be more • crowded...
> which is a greater distraction for club members supervising the layout.
> While a mall reaches out to broader audience, not everyone there is
> neccesarily interested in, or has a respect for, model railroads. • Children,
> and those who might act like them, may have less supervision. Does anyone
> have any experience to indicate that the audience at a mall shows presents • a
> greater risk, or challenge, than those at model railroad shows?
The mall has security although you don't see it a lot. The only time I
recall seeing them a lot was when the mall was closing and they want people
out. In particular, when we were setting up and we were preventing the
security guard from leaving!
We were fortunate to have Tom Staley as our sponsor in the mall. As a real
model railroader Tom has a great appreciation for a train layout and he and
his staff kept a close eye on our layout for us. During the holiday season
Tom expanded his store into another store directly across the mall from his
primary store. So he and his staff were back and forth between the two
stores frequently. They had to walk past our layout each time they did so.
So we were pretty lucky from this aspect, we probably had more eyes on it
than we expected.
Many train clubs, us included, have observed the "drop off kids" at their
layouts at train shows. Parents will leave their kids unattended at the
LEGO layout while they visit the rest of the show, particularly if there is
a play area. In all of the times I stopped by the layout to check on it, I
never witnessed unattended kids.
So how often did I check on it? I tried to get by a couple times a week at
least. We attached brochure bins to the fence that surrounded layout.
Prior to the building event benefit we did for the North Carolina Food Bank
I had flyers on the event in them. After the event and I would stop by
periodically and fill them up with train catalogs. I had gotten a couple of
boxes of train catalogs from LEGO Direct last fall. Keeping the catalog
bins full gave me an excuse to check on the layout.
Since the mall is not to far from where I live this was not a great
inconvenience. Inevitably when I would go check on it I would end up in a
discussion with someone who was admiring it. I enjoyed answering their
questions so checking on the layout was not a real chore to me. There were
times however when it was a week between visits.
It is important to understand the type of mall we had our layout in. South
Hills Mall is not a tier one mall in the Raleigh market by any means. For
anyone who had a chance to see the PNLTC layout in the Beaverton (Oregon)
Mall last fall, South Hills Mall is similar. It has a number of specialty
stores (like the train store) and people tend to go there for a specific
purpose. A lot of people go to South Hills Mall to visit the DMV.
The state of North Carolina does some odd things and the DMV is one of them.
Car Registrations and License Plates are issued at one type of branch and
Drivers Licenses are issued at another. There is a License Plate branch at
South Hills Mall and it has a high volume of traffic. Tom Staley told me
that location issues more than 100,000 license plates per year. A lot of
people go in and out of that DMV and it was near our layout. Since the DMV
is open at 8:00 AM, we had foot traffic starting around 7:30 AM as people
waited to get into the DMV.
What we didn't have was a lot people, particularly teenagers, who just hang
out at the mall. I can't think of any store in the mall that would have an
appeal to teenagers.
So after having done a mall layout, what do I think? Of course there are
pros and cons to everything. Here are some pros and cons in no particular
order.
Pros:
1) The layout is up for a long time. I like this aspect a lot. Doing a
train show is 48 hours of controled chaos and can be exhausting. You don't
really get to enjoy the whole layout before you have to take it down. Over
the course of six weeks I added to my portion of the layout several times.
2) Exposure. After having done a couple of train shows it was nice to do a
different kind of venue. We got good press for it (two page article in the
paper with color pictures), did some community service (we did a benefit for
the Food Bank of North Carolina), and hopefully exposed some more people to
trains.
Cons:
1) Security. We took a big leap of faith here. We could have just as
easily been burned. It would only take one person to grab something and run
and it would have put a serious damper on this event. Fortunately this
didn't happen.
2) Ability to reproduce it. I am not sure we can. It looks like Tom's
Train Station will move out of the mall into another location which is more
of a strip mall. He doesn't want to but he needs more space and can't get
it inside the mall. Without Tom Staley's and his staff paying attention to
our layout I wonder if would have had some problems.
Would I do it again? Sure. Would I do it in a Tier 1 Mall? Under the
right circumstances. I would have to have a lot more assurances from a
security perspective. If Cary Town Center approached us about setting up
our layout as part of their Christmas theme, I think I would insist on a
security person full time. There is simply too much traffic. There is no
way I would commit to manning the display full time. I would consider one
or two afternoon sessions where we would bring out the play area but nothing
more than that.
Our layout turned out to be a big draw for the mall, particularly after the
article appeared in the newspaper. So much so in fact we were asked to
leave it up a week longer than we originally planned. Since it is such a
benefit to them, I would ask for more security provisions than we did with
South Hills Mall. If Tom's Train Station is still at South Hills Mall next
year and they ask us back, I would do it again with the same security
provisions we had this last year (assuming the demigraphic of the mall
remains unchanged).
The other word of advice I would offer anyone considering doing this is
don't hesitate to ask for something or make demands. Don't be a jerk but if
you act professional, state your concerns, and why what you are asking for
will address your concerns and you may get what you feel you need. Just
because you think they might say no doesn't mean you shouldn't ask. They
might say yes and if you never ask you will never get what you might need to
push you over the comfort line.
Hope this is of value, if anyone has any questions feel free to post them
here or contact me offline.
Mike
CC: ILTCO Mailing List
--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot
>
> - Brian Williams, NILTC, The Royal Train (www.royal-train.com)
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Mall Show Security
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| Hi! Its been a long time since I've posted here but thought I'd bring up a question for all the train clubs. NILTC has recently been discussing the issues surrounding security at mall shows (shopping malls). Could those who have actually (...) (22 years ago, 12-Jan-03, to lugnet.trains.org)
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