03-22-2018, 04:44 PM
(03-22-2018, 12:42 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:(03-22-2018, 08:52 AM)jeffster Wrote: 5) Ezra in an exclusive event (mostly students and perhaps a few of their friends) [Event would be inclusive, so enter creep factor with 30+ year olds showing up to gawk at 19 year olds).
How is it exclusive? Anybody can just go to the street. Are “creeps” a big problem at Oktoberfest?
Overall, I think you have some good points, but I think this point in particular is more than a bit of a stretch.
Quote:Otherwise, if they can't do that, this event has to go.
What does this actually mean? As I mentioned previously, it is legal to have a party in ones apartment and to walk around outside. How can you legally cancel an event that isn’t an actual event, has no single organizer, and isn’t really much more than a bunch of people all deciding to go to the same place at the same time?
I'm sure there are some creeps at Oktoberfest. However, people going there are between 19 and 99+. I am sure you still have old (mostly guys) trying to pick up girls 20+ years younger than them, but it probably wouldn't be as major a problem.
Ezra is exclusive because it's geared towards university students only. Unless I am wrong, other than police and medical staff, I don't think you're seeing a lot of old ones (let's say 25 and up) hanging out there.
By-laws in Waterloo normally prevent people from taking over a street. Just enforce by-laws. Start ticketing people. Anyone drinking on the street, arrest them and take them downtown (or I guess it would be Weber St). We need to keep in mind that this event is a risk, and very expensive on our resources, not to mention dangerous because of "Code Red"'s happening.
I have no problem with this being event being run as a non-profit, exclusive event, with Waterloo setting aside by-laws for the day, and hell, perhaps extending the area being used. Exclusive in the sense that you must be a student to enter, or be friends/family of a student and come in as a guest. You would still need Smart Serve bartenders, but drinks could be purchased at or near cost (50¢ profit perhaps). Extending it (beyond Ezra) to allow for crowds in excess of 20,000 (and this probably is only an issue if the day falls on a weekend and/or warm day). Adjusting laws for the day as well to allow street-wide drinking. Small entry fee's ($2) and small profits perhaps on drinks should be enough to cover costs of police services and medical services. So say you have 20,000 show up, that's $40,000 for entry fee's, if each has 6 drinks, that $3 profit which is another $60,000, so $100,000 altogether. Medical itself could be onsite, run by volunteers, with proper triage, and most likely in the end, you'll end up with 1 or 2 people at the most going to the hospital. To keep it non-profit, any proceeds are given to a local charity.
Even with all that, it might still kill the "vibe" the OP was talking about. If that's the case, then I guess the event goes away. Or perhaps it still continues, but is simply no longer out of control. Or...perhaps it becomes a huge success and then everyone is happy.