Job Fairs or Unfairs?

If you're following the news at all today, you've probably seen or heard about a job fair in Independence, which is quickly turning into a gigantic catastrophe.

There are apparently cars backed out onto the highway, 2-hour waits in the rain, and, my guess, a lot of disappointment.

Look, the economy is in trouble, no doubt about it, and a lot of people will take what they can get. And will be willing to wait in long lines for their chance.

But, my question is this ... who is actually organizing these events?

When I worked in television, one of my primary responsibilities was to plan out a newscast, so that (hopefully) things wouldn't crash and burn.

I would think the planners of these career fairs would try to do the same thing.

Ohio is a mess. We all know that. The organizers of these fairs should know that.

So, it absolutely blows my mind that organizers can pair with local media outlets to hype the event, then get completely overwhelmed.

First off, if organizers have a number in their heads about how many people should show up, they should probably quadruple it.

In other words, if you think you might draw 1,000 people, plan on 4,000 showing up.

Also, they should think a little more about where they're having the event, and if it can handle the crush.

You simply cannot have these things in hotel ballrooms anymore. There will be way too many people to keep organized.

You can't have these fairs in places with insufficient parking. Neighboring businesses will be overwhelmed and complain ... spreading ill will.

And, you absolutely cannot have these events without some form of police presence and crowd control. Especially traffic. Otherwise, you risk pileups on the highway leading to the event.

While I'm sure most of those people out of work appreciate the chance to get their hands on any job they can, you're also going to leave a lot of people frustrated.

Some ideas ... maybe you should make folks pre-register, and only accept those that do.

Maybe those job-seekers can be given set times during which they could report to the job fair.

And, maybe, you can have agreements in place for auxiliary parking lots, if needed. And maybe some shuttles as well, if things really get out of control.

Simply put, you need to have some big event planning experience. Don't treat these things as if nobody will show, treat them as if EVERYONE will.

So, to the organizers of these events ... get your plan together. And don't go running to the media to trump up your cause if you're unprepared.

Otherwise, everyone looks bad.