ESN – World Record Sled Push

Context

ESN organized a 24-hour "sled push" world record event at Rotterdam Central Station, with the public, commuters, and a continuous livestream. The event had to meet the official record requirements while also running safely and smoothly in a busy station environment.

Challenge

A record attempt in a public, high-traffic location adds extra complexity: there's a constant flow of participants and spectators, while you also have to comply with venue rules (NS), safety requirements, crowd control, and strict timing.

At the same time, registration must be fully reliable and the experience needs to stay strong for both on-site audiences and the livestream.

My Responsibility

I was responsible for a team of 15 crew members during the first 12 hours and led the full on-floor execution:

• welcoming, guiding, and briefing participants (rules + schedule)
• facilitating warm-up and getting participants ready
• ensuring compliance with rules (record rules + venue/NS agreements)
• coordinating safety and injury response together with first aid
• managing backstage/access control (participants only in warm-up/gear areas)
• supporting the audience experience through alignment with the host
• live tracking of pushes per record-organization requirements (including spot checks)
• coordinating with the social media team and the 24/7 livestream crew

Approach / How I organized it

• Clear crew roles (participant flow, backstage, registration, safety)
• Fixed communication and escalation lines to switch fast during peak moments
• Checkpoints per group: briefing → warm-up → execution → monitoring → changeover
• Continuous alignment with host/livestream to keep the event tight for both on-site and online audiences

Skills

Event operations • Team lead (15) • Run of show • Participant management • Crowd/guest flow • Safety & incident handling (with first aid) • Access control • Live tracking/registration • Stakeholder coordination • Communication under pressure