Stanchions for Crowd Control at LEGO Events

[timtosino]

A continuing problem has shown itself for almost every show/display my LUG has been asked to participate in, we don't have proper heavy stanchions to prevent people from getting too close to our display. We had ones made of wood and plastic chain previously but these get moved easily and take too much time to setup. The problem is getting worse as we are starting to setup MOC tables at at our own or events for another smaller club we support. that might not have a member behind the rope at all times.

I've tried craigslist to find used heavy duty stanchions but can only find them in limited quantities of 2 or 3. Has anyone had any luck with these cheap models that range $100 per pair? http://www.crowdcont...crcostblwb.html . I'd like to know how they stand up to to being transported.

Edited October 30, 2013 by leavebeaver2me

[tedbeard]

Not to be a negative nelly but if you cannot have one member patrolling the perimeter at all times maybe you should reconsider doing the show. At the very least you might wish to rethink the staffing and ask for volunteers outside of your regular members.

The one show we have to leave a display up for days and provide our own stanchions is at a local mall. The mall provides a few volunteers to help with the event if our members cannot be there. This is especially handy during the Friday daytime of the event when most of us have to be at work.

The only stanchions which will stay in place are heavy and solid, basically fences, and would have to be made of 4x4 lumber anchored to the floor.

The only solution is to find at least one person who can wander around the outside of your tables, inside the barrier and gently move them back out every so often. One single person slowly making a circuit every few minutes works really well and has the added bonus of engaging visitors much more easily.

[timtosino]

The reason why we might not have a staff member in front of the MOC table is that table is secondary to what we are doing at that event. We were asked to participate in the Brick Games in Langley, BC and all our members were busy helping out with the competitions and heats. The barriers there were 8 foot long fence panels that were too large for the tables and people simply walked around them, Robin who was in charge of the entire thing had to keep chasing people out. While one person might not be behind the lines there is always someone in the vicinity, if there isn't we have 5 ft tall pexlglass that we put around tables.

While fences might be ideal, they are a pain to transport. We're just looking for stanchions that we can easily setup for a day event like an outdoor festival or for venues that may not provide them.

[dr_spock]

Those heavy duty stanchions look like a pain to transport and move around. I think the straps could be too high that little kids can go under.

What do your home made stanchions look like? We made our own too.

[timtosino]

Those heavy duty stanchions look like a pain to transport and move around. I think the straps could be too high that little kids can go under.

What do your home made stanchions look like? We made our own too.

This is the best picture I could find. They've long since been retired or trashed.

[tedbeard]

...we have 5 ft tall pexlglass that we put around tables.

Sweet! Why worry about stanchions at all if you have that! We would kill for that.

While fences might be ideal, they are a pain to transport. We're just looking for stanchions that we can easily setup for a day event like an outdoor festival or for venues that may not provide them.

OK, I see the confusion. I thought you wanted "the ultimate stanchion" that would not be moved by people. For that, you need the crazy heavy and ridiculous to actually build fences.

If you want stanchions that are suitable for a day event (but which require staffing of some sort) then I have no suggestions. This side of the Salish Sea we use James' which are 2x2 lumber, mounted in cement filled LEGO buckets (or cement footings with a carpet pad underneath) with two holes in each to pass through rope. You can see them quite well in the pic below but they are heavy and bulky. Not a problem for a guy with a giant van and cargo trailer but for us mere mortals (ie: non-trainheads) it may be too much. :)

[jonwil]

At the big event our club did last time we had barriers provided by the organizers that were basically made out of the sort of stuff scaffolding or the posts for chain-link-fence is made out of. The fence is joined up at the corners and has some tubes that go into the center that act to stabilize it so it cant be pushed inward. And in a few cases the tubes going into the center go underneath the tables and join in the middle to keep things really stable.

[dr_spock]

For outdoor events our bases have holes to drive large nails through them. Our stanchions get pegged to the ground and stay in place until we yank them out.

[timtosino]

At the big event our club did last time we had barriers provided by the organizers that were basically made out of the sort of stuff scaffolding or the posts for chain-link-fence is made out of. The fence is joined up at the corners and has some tubes that go into the center that act to stabilize it so it cant be pushed inward. And in a few cases the tubes going into the center go underneath the tables and join in the middle to keep things really stable.

Do you happen to have a picture or brand name of these barriers?

[jonwil]

I dont have any details about the barriers, sorry (they are provided by the event organizer and not by us)

[Faefrost]

What sort of tables do you use? Back when I was with a modular model railroad club we had a similar problem and worked out a rather effective solution. We turned the tables themselves into the stanchions. Basically each table or module had a mount point that accepted a 2' or 3' 1" PVC pipe with a loop on the end to accept the rope. So the stanchions were cross arms that stuck out from the tables like flagpoles. It meant that they really could not be pushed, moved or ignored. Ours were permanently mounted onto our modules. But the same thing could probably be rigged using clamps.