My technology is called “Save the Rave”. It will be an app that provides people at music festivals to have access to the medical tents if/when necessary.
To give you all the basic perception of a modern day rave, it is a venue filled with lights, DJ’s and an audience full of people dressed in all sorts of crazy fashions, creatively dancing to the pulsing beat of the music. One of the biggest factors that pull people into the rave scene is the idea of PLUR. PLUR stands for peace, love, unity, and respect. People show their pride in PLUR by wearing beaded bracelets, called “rave kandi” in which people trade with a known handshake.
Urban dictionary: “Picture it: the music is pumping, the lights are shooting through the smoke filled room, ur body moves as if taken over by the beat, u look around, u smile and realize that at that second every person in the room with u is your best friend. There is no judgement, no worries, nothing but a solid beat, a good vibe, and the knowledge that everyone around you truly understands what it is to be at peace with everyone else. They are willing to love anyone for who they are without judgement. You can feel the unity that comes from knowing that you are truly above all worries. And you realize that everyone, including yourself, respects everyone and everything around them. Then you realize the music is hoppin, the people are groovin, and u and everyone around u have entered a world most people can only dream of.”
Sadly, this seemingly awesome belief of PLUR is also sometimes a connection to the underlying drug culture in raves.
Many people use drugs at raves, but there are also many cases in which people are spiked unknowingly. All types of drugs including marijuana, mushrooms, methamphetamine, acid, cocaine and most popularly ecstasy and molly are used at raves. But this can happen to anyone, and the sad truth is that many of the accidents that occur result from people getting unknowingly drugged.
With this in mind many of you might think it would be more beneficial to have more prevention and security to take away the possibility of people overdosing, but that is more difficult than the public presumes. People have become more creative in how they sneak in drugs; from putting it in their socks or undergarments, to using empty packs of “feminine products” to hide them, all of which are undoubtedly “uncheckable”areas. And as the rave and drug culture grow, the number of drug related deaths increases as well. One of the most recent tragedies occurred in one of New York’s most popular festivals, Electric Zoo. Last year, at Electric Zoo, there were 2 deaths and 4 hospitalizations within the first two days of the three day festival. This resulted in the cancellation of the last day due to a presumably “bad batch” of molly that was going around the rave.
In hopes of avoiding any more of these tragic situation, solution is to make help more accessible and faster. I plan to create an app that will have features that directly connect to the medical tent within the venues. When downloading the app people will be given the option to create an account where they would put fill in their name, email and emergency contact information, and a picture. And once he/she is at a festival they can “check in” to the location to have their profiles on immediate access. This profile would make it easier for the paramedics to identify who to look for and who to call if things turn for the worst. For those who download the app on site, or just don’t want to create a profile, there will be an option to skip the “create your profile” step and just be under anonymous. The way this technology will work, is that locators and direct messages will be accessible in both the app and monitors in the medical tent. With this the paramedics can be informed of the condition of the person, where they are, and in simple terms what is going on. And the person in need of help or with someone with the person can have consistent contact with the paramedics through instant messaging. Within the first aid tent there will be people in charge of the monitors which would display any messages or alerts that are sent from the users of the app, and will also pinpoint the person’s location using triangular gps and display their profile( if they have one) once a message is received.
But the only way this app will work is if we can get people motivated and excited about downloading it. The whole factor of “It won’t happen to me” is a popular mentality among our generation. So I plan to use social media sites, and in-person promotion to promote the importance and convenience of the “Save the Rave” app. There will be a team of people at all the festivals wearing “Save the Rave” t-shirts, telling people about the app, giving away bracelets, and t-shirts to everyone who downloads the app. I will have an instagram to post pictures at the events we will be involved with, a twitter to promote and share all the information about where we are, what we do, and how to rave safely, and a facebook page to engage with the audiences of other “raver-friendly” pages such as : Insomniac Events, the EDM Network, Dada Life and other DJ pages. With that in mind ,I would also partner with companies such as Insomniac, Live Nation, and Uni-tech to gain access and connection to the audience and events. These companies would also be able to supply me with the wifi and credentials needed to run this “program”. Back to the social media aspect, there will be many promotions and giveaways to create an engaged audience. For example I would give away 2 tickets to EDC to who ever is the 1,000th like, or something similar to that. But these sites will also have articles that can educate people about the effects of using these drugs, and how to try to avoid getting spiked at these festivals.
The app will not only have these features, but it will also have clear instructions on what to do for your friend while you wait for the paramedics to arrive. There will be options to choose, based on your friends condition, that will tell you what to specifically do to help him/her.
I think this technology can turn the rave scene into a safer environment, where there are less drug related accidents. If people are more educated about the harmful effects of drugs they will not only have the tools to make smarter decisions and not take drugs,but they will also be able to call for help if someone around them needs it.
social media:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unofficial-Save-the-Rave/1566948666901051
I think that this is a really great idea! As someone who has been to a couple big concerts (I understand these aren’t raves), I think that you have a great idea in the works. Often times, when I attend said concerts, my friends and I will have a spot where we will all agree to meet up. This is usually a lamp post, or a certain part of the stage. However, I think that if you were able to mass-implement this, I could certainly see a specific tent being the “meet-up” spot and you’d be able to have a good time at these raves and still continue to stay safe. In terms of the FB page and twitter account, I would work on push some content onto the page. I realize we have a lot of time left but it makes the whole site have a lot more reputability were you to start implementing the content now.
This is a fantastic idea, just make sure you describe the technology that would allow for the information to be shared to the paramedic tent. I would recommend that the wrist band would accuse the heart rate of the people wearing it, in addition blood pressure, brain waves and amount of oxygen intake. These vitals will allow for more accurate and precise treatment to the patient.
Great idea! An app is very useful in this situation as long as the festival site have good coverage and/or wifi. It would be useful if the app could also include ICE information. The festival site could also have information of this app so that visitors could download it when they enter the site. Good job!
This is a well thought out idea!! The app seems assessable and easy to use! I have never personally been to a rave, but the urban dictionary definition helps me to paint the picture in my mind. My favorite part of this is the locating system where the people at the booth (whatever it is) would be able to locate people at the rave. Great idea!
What a smart idea! I would suggest that you provide a visual element in your presentation to help your audience visualize how the app may look and what features may be included. This app seems like a great way to ensure the public’s safety. I do agree however that in order to make this idea catch on it must become popular by avid Rave goers. It would be ideal if the Rave community itself advocated for it. Great thinking!