Fire Festival Fiasco in Bermuda...Lesson for US-All What Promises and Follow-Thru look like

From now on after the April 2017 "Fire Festival" Music Fest in the Bahamas should Require an independent group to Scope Out the Scene and Report Back Independently to Festival Goers. What if someone who was involved had thought to leak the info to the USA media and ideally a legal entity (embassy, State Department, etc.) Scouting out 'great ideas, events, places' may prove an Important New Pro-Active field of work and industry.

Too often when change or opportunity is in the air due to conflict, storms or floods, holidays or trips, 'no one seems to be in charge." With the cruise industry, many have heard that 'there aren't regular laws once ships are off shore a certain distance.' The Captain of the ship and their laws pertain, but monitoring people's safety (especially women and children's is not always a practical thing to accomplish.) Likely we need certified, skilled people to relay 'that things are as they are being promised or advertised all along the way' and up to the days before of an event.

The way to achieve that would be to Set Up a Whole New Field and put some guidelines in place, accountability and proof of progress,with receipts for things paid, copies of contracts (for groups who are performing for instance or lodging secured for large groups of people,etc, even buses chartered to carry people, food and water supplies and contact people with credentials and experience.) Video footage with credible witnesses would make sense too. Many people were fooled by the high-profile people promoting the Fire Festival.

Whether a personal event (weddings, family reunions, community fairs, etc) it doesn't hurt to have a committee with people ready to do the basic practical checklist of making sure people are doing what is needed (and are skilled to do so such as putting up large tents or cooking for large groups of people and maintaining safety and sanitary standards.)

Likely googling ideas and standards would be helpful to assure people there Can Be Reasonable Standards in Place and Pursued Voluntarily (again a committee setting guidelines and others actually doing them can share the work load and provide some level of competency.)

Even going over financial matters for groups (or families or individuals) and making sure investments are with competent people, services obtained from legitimate people and overall having a second set of eyes, ears and checking matters could help more people avoid being Scammed or put at risk. The man who was taken off a United Airlines plane likely could have been avoided if an independent agency could be informed of how full planes are with a way to post that to the public.

The idea of letting more people on a plane then there are seats for is a 'conflict waiting to happen." I had an experience at JFK helping a family who was flying to Africa (the other side of the world) with a few children including one a couple of months old.

The mother was saying it was urgent to get there on a flight that night but they had arrived a bit late for checking in and wanted to get on the plane in a hurry. They were told they would have to wait a few days to fly on that airline.

When I asked if there was another airline that went that way. When they said I could check, I did (and wondered why they wouldn't want to be more helpful.)

There was an airline with a flight leaving in a few hours which they would be on time for. When I inquired if they could work something out so they would not have to pay for more tickets ( a few thousand dollars) the  first airline basically said it would work out but that they would need to pay for the tickets then get a refund from the 1st airline.

That was difficult for the family to face but they had a credit card and got the tickets. Later when it was time almost time to board, I heard the 1st airline folks telling the family that actually they would not be getting a refund since it was not their fault that the family was late (this was shared by another airline representative.)

I spoke up (all as a friendly bystander mind you) that I had heard the series of transactions and that was not what they were told so they should stick to what was initially stated. Ideally they should have gotten That in writing and witnessed by Two Adults signing on as witnesses. I gave the people flying off (I do believe they ended up going) and wished them well and to contact me if that could help them. When I spoke with another airline person informally about these kinds of matters, she said if someone buys from the airline (or hotel,etc) directly then sometimes there is more flexibility.

Likely flight insurance would be good to for a big trip, and yet telling a few family and friends who can help one stay on top of all the details (including being there a few hours early to check in so all time requirements for check-in and boarding are met and Planning for delays and detours en route to the airport, parking and all that jazz) makes sense. Even having a helper to carry luggage and tend to kids would be practical and worth a little money if one could afford that in lieu of volunteers.

Okay, that's a general helpful tip to keep a few folks informed of one's plans and even have someone doublecheck with people on the other end of the event or equation that 'things are going as planned' whether for a luncheon date or any trip (again dates, days of the weeks, times in various time zones and more should be gone over carefully.

 Apps with reminders and calendars likely have much of that covered but real people also need to be on the ball so important engagements are not missed, or planes overbooked to a point where more conflict is likely. Of course, making changes to air line flights is not always easy or affordable, so making taking a train or bus or planning to go a day earlier than needed would be a good strategy to recover from any stress should it arise.

In general going places far away during warmer months of the year (where there's less worry of ice, snow and delays along the way or at the destination or take-off area) makes good sense. Happy Travels or just enjoying staying closer to Home~