Mark Herrera, President and Chief Security Strategist of Global Awareness Professionals, LLC (GAP), has announced a major expansion of the company’s international security training initiatives following keynote appearances at leading national security summits in Mexico and Australia. The move reinforces GAP’s growing global footprint in helping event organizers and venues strengthen safety strategies in response to increasingly complex security threats.
Herrera emphasized that modern crowd management and event security challenges are no longer confined to local markets but have become a shared global concern.
“The challenges faced in crowd management are no longer local, they are global,” Herrera said. “Whether training teams in the United States, speaking in Mexico, or working with organizations across different regions in Australia, many of the patterns of critical security issues are consistent and directly related to the world’s changing threat environment.”
Keynote at Mexico’s Congreso Nacional AMEREF 2026
On April 14, Herrera delivered a keynote session at Congreso Nacional AMEREF 2026 held in Acapulco, Mexico. Addressing a gathering of event leaders and venue professionals from across the country, Herrera focused on key themes shaping the future of venue management and event safety.
His presentation explored critical areas including behavioral awareness, empowering front-line staff, creating resilient organizational cultures, and strengthening relational security frameworks.
Herrera encouraged attendees to embrace collaboration and innovation to build stronger event ecosystems capable of responding to today’s evolving threats.
Security experts at the summit highlighted a universal trend: crowd-related incidents are rarely caused by crowd failure but rather by weaknesses in operational systems. Missed warning signs, delayed staff response, and communication breakdowns during emergencies continue to challenge venues worldwide.
Herrera stressed that these issues are preventable through comprehensive frontline staff training and stronger partnerships with regional security agencies.
Australia’s Venue Safety & Security Exchange 2026
In July, Herrera will keynote the prestigious Venue Safety & Security Exchange (VSX) 2026 in Australia, an elite gathering of global event safety and security leaders.
The conference serves as a platform for discussing emerging threats, exchanging innovative solutions, and expanding programs that strengthen venue resilience worldwide.
Major topics on the VSX agenda include hostile drone activity, cyberattacks targeting event infrastructure, politically motivated protests, lone-actor terrorism, misinformation campaigns, and increasingly unpredictable crowd behavior during socially charged events.
Recent global events such as Eurovision 2026 and preparations for the FIFA World Cup have demonstrated the urgent need for integrated security planning, intelligence sharing, layered screening systems, cyber resilience, and rapid-response capabilities.
According to VSX Chair Eddie Idik, these challenges are no longer isolated to specific regions.
“One thing consistently heard from venue and event leaders globally is that the threat environment is no longer isolated to one country or one issue,” Idik said. “Whether it’s cyber disruption, drone incursions, politically motivated protests or lone actors, the same challenges are appearing across multiple jurisdictions.”
He added that modern event security now requires tighter integration between safety teams, intelligence networks, operational resilience frameworks, and crisis response planning.
ArtsQuest Partnership Demonstrates Real-World Results
Back in the United States, GAP’s partnership with ArtsQuest continues to serve as a successful case study in operational preparedness.
ArtsQuest, one of Pennsylvania’s leading nonprofit arts organizations, partnered with Herrera in March to provide customized security training for leadership and frontline teams across its venues.
The organization has worked with GAP for several years, producing measurable success during real-world emergency situations.
These include the 2019 SteelStacks climber incident, which required extensive operational coordination and crowd control; the 2022 Musikfest shooting response, where rapid action prevented further harm; and the 2025 Christkindlmarkt power outage, which impacted thousands of attendees and required organized evacuation and communication.
Across all three incidents, venue teams responded without injuries and with minimal disruption, demonstrating the effectiveness of preparation, coordination, and decision-making under pressure.
Jason Frisch, Director of Event Services at ArtsQuest, credited GAP’s training for helping shape emergency response standards across the country.
“We developed and provided the Emergency Operations Procedures template to the Levitt Family Foundation using the models from GAP training programs,” Frisch said.
Security Preparedness Must Evolve Faster
Herrera believes the global threat ecosystem is evolving faster than many organizations can adapt.
He noted that today’s most pressing event threats include targeted violence, civil unrest, opportunistic crime, medical emergencies, and infrastructure disruptions that unfold rapidly and unpredictably.
“This requires preparedness that is not only in planning, but is also, most importantly, in execution,” Herrera concluded.
As global events continue to grow in size and complexity, Herrera’s expanding international role signals a critical shift toward smarter, more connected, and execution-focused security strategies worldwide.
