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| - This was my very first FNL@ROM, but definitely not my first party at museum, and I've been excited for a month about going to this "Day of the Dead" themed FNL the night before Halloween. Who doesn't love a fancy dress evening at a museum?
I had my costume all sorted to go with the day of the dead theme, then about two days before the event, ROM posted on their event page that masks and fake weapons are not allowed at FNL. Fake weapons I would understand, but masks? I sent this query to ROM and this was their response (directly from their private message to me): "It's a question of security. We don't want anyone tripping and hurting themselves or knocking into an object by accident etc." Pretty vague but I had no plans on complying anyway since my costume would make no sense without a mask and I hated face paint, I thought if they really give me trouble about it, I would put the mask on my hat.
I got there around 7:30pm and there was a queue outside, but apparently there were three queues, which you wouldn't know unless you were in the very front. I had a small canvas bag where I put my mask in plus a little handbag, the security barely checked it, I was fine with that. I passed security and as I was walking toward the ticket entrance of the museum, I overhead someone being asked to check their mask in, then another security person told me I needed to check my hat in, I told him they said no masks and fake weapons, my hat was neither, he didn't even try to pursue it further and I continued on.
As I was the first of my friends to arrive, I waited for them right by the dinosaur butt in the atrium, admiring all the other costumes, and moving along to music pumping in the main corridor that they had transformed into a dance floor. More people start to arrive and I start to see people with masks on. After seeing about 10 masked costumes, I figured it was safe to pull mine out of hiding and put it on and I had it on ALL NIGHT travelling through all the floors, and only ONE security person mentioned I shouldn't be wearing my mask. ONE. To be fair, my mask did look like face paint so it wasn't as noticeable than others, but it did feel like some security people took it too seriously and the rest couldn't be bothered.
You have to get the ROM currency called ROM bucks because the vendors do not handle money, considering the vendors are pretty spread out, it made sense for security reason. It didn't take them too long to purchase their bucks on the fourth floor. It's a bit silly to have to purchase separate tickets for drinks and food because they were priced differently, why do drinks that you have in-house, cost more than the food you outsourced? When you get to the food vendors, it's unclear where you order or if the person in front of you is in a queue for what you want or just trying to walk through, you just have to yell, "Where do you order?" And hope someone responds to you.
I am fairly certain they oversold tickets, because at around 9:30pm, we went for a walk around each floor coming from the fourth floor. All the floors were packed and I had to push people away just so I could walk by them, especially people who wore oversized costumes who had no perception of how much more space they needed.
By the end of the night, I saw a lot of mask-wearing people, many other things that were more cause for concern in regards to security than masks. If it was such a concern for people tripping and knocking things over, maybe you shouldn't allow any ovesized costumes (like those Mario Kart people who wore a massive box on their body), or any costumes that would come apart easily (like those "grapes" who kept losing their their balloons) and maybe not sell alcohol because I definitely saw some people who I'm pretty sure was over-served at the bar(s) and some who shouldn't be taking the stairs because of their inebriated state.
Honestly, I was put off about FNL just days before the event because of the lack of clarity from their "Digital Engagement Specialist". It was apparent on the night of the event, that the "security" policies the Communications team posed was not conveyed properly to everyone else involved with FNL, or vice versa.
While I have all these complaints, I did have tons of fun, I really enjoyed the live music performances, the ability to dance at a museum and a pretty good night out without having to stay out too late. The programming and activities are good, but logistics need work.
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