Over the weekend I was impressed by the work put into the Parkland Outdoor Show and Expo. Most of that was focused on the large, obvious highlights - a great show layout, well chosen speakers and a focused approach to bringing in relevant exhibitors. But those are things you expect to be good, and I would like to highlight something you do not actually expect, that being the parking service.
I've been going to events at the Gallagher Centre for years, and as soon as they start to get big, the parking starts to get increasingly chaotic, until you reach a point where the lot itself becomes a total mess. You have people who play invent-a-space who make the driving lane increasingly narrow, it's difficult to tell whether or not a space is actually in a row, and you can't drive down the lane to actually check, because it goes right to the fence. The further away from the building you get, the more wavy a particular lane becomes, until you have no idea where you actually need to park. It's not the fault of anyone, just that the lot itself does not have actual lines and for some reason, as soon as lines disappear parking becomes complete chaos. It's the same reason a grocery store lot becomes a similar mess at the first snowfall of the year, without guidance parking becomes a bit of a disaster.
The great thing about having the parking direction is that you have that guidance, a good idea for an event that everyone knew would be big, and would fill rows upon rows with different vehicles, many of which were large and difficult to actually park. The extremely attentive staff made it better, as they were able to find the spot closest to the building, while my instinct at this point is essentially to go to the very back row and hope for the best. I got a much better spot than I would on my own, which made the whole day go better than it would have otherwise. In short, I was impressed before I entered the building, because already people were working to make the best experience possible.
I have heard that people were grousing that they weren't trusted to park on their own. They miss the point, it's not about removing independence, but removing hassle. An event like this is going to, inevitably, attract a ton of traffic. Some of this traffic will be local, much of it will be from out of town, and whatever rules are in place for the Gallagher Centre's overflow lot are going to be roundly ignored as people begin to flow in. That happens most of the time a big event takes place, and I'll admit that the first thought in my mind when I have to attend one of the larger events held there is a certain dread about having to actually park. Knowing this, the fine people behind the Outdoor Show actually took steps to remove that pain, and I was extremely grateful to have that assistance when actually parking my vehicle.
While one could argue for a more permanently paved and marked out lot, it's used for many things so I'll assume that would be impractical. As a gravel lot, it's not going to get marked spots, because that will not work. But after the extremely pleasant experience actually finding a spot this weekend, I hope more events consider using such attendants, it makes the start of the day go smoother, and puts people inside where you want them faster.
