Brittany Meckelborg
Event Professional, Long Beach CA
In 2011, after the death of a 15 year old young woman at an electronic music and arts festival, I was inspired to start a program to prevent further incidents. I wrote a proposal and pitched it to Insomniac, Inc.'s executives who responded positivitely to the spark of an idea.
About a year later, the Ground Control volunteer program was launched at Insomniac festivals and on social media. Attendees were encouraged to go to Ground Controllers for help for any concerns they had at a festival.
The motto of Ground Control: "Stay Happy, Healthy and Hydrated" has been spread throughout the electronic music community. Ground Control's following has grown on social media and is known from Los Angeles to London with its recent debut at Electric Daisy Carnival London in July 2013.
Ground Control has developed its own branding and the program has grown from simply being proactive and peer-driven to increased coordination with medical and safety teams. Many volunteers aspire to be doctors, nurses and EMTs and are gaining invaluable experience in the field.