Raving and Ranting
Business 10
3-16-13

Starting in the 1980’s in the U.K. an underground a revolution was on the rise. They come with many names like dance parties, techno houses, and electro-shows. But here in the United States they are known simply as, “Raves”. Raves first gained interest in the U.K. due to a drug that swept thru teenagers and young adults. The drug is MDMA, or commonly known as Ecstasy on the streets. A powerful amphetamine that induces overwhelming high sensitivity to touch, sight, taste, and overall good feelings of the person and that persons surroundings. So when people began to realize that bright lights, loud bass, and electronically synthesized music further heightened these feelings, Raves exploded. They soon reached the United States in the early 1990’s along with the introduction of Ecstasy in the states. Raves offered a place where young people can go and forget day to day worries and responsibilities and let go and enjoy the night away from the world. The idea of raves is very cut and dry. Either you know about them and how things happen once your there or all you know is what you hear and, or has been told by others who probably don’t have an exact idea of what happens at these events. As you can likely see, it causes and raises all sorts of issues and controversies that I will discuss further and take you into the world of raves and what legal, ethical, and economical dilemmas have arrived since there creation.
What got my mind wrapped on this topic of discussion is from the article (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/02/rave-controversy-spills-into-los-angeles-city-council-race.html).
In this article it goes over many different aspects of the United States largest Rave that happens every year at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Every year the turnout has grown rapidly and in 2010, the controversial year, it had an 185,000 plus turnout over the weekend. The article discusses how during the 2010 Electric Daisy Carnival that 118 arrests were made and unfortunately a 15 year old southern Californian girl tragically died of an overdose. With these kind of results you might think that you just say no more Raves here. But the whole other aspect of the controversy is that events like this one provide an extreme rise in revenues for local and national business around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The advantages of these events occurring reach far and wide amongst the communities surrounding the complex. Hotels for miles in each direction are booked months in advance and since they are expecting such a large number of people they hike the prices of rooms and make a substantial profit. The lodging businesses range from giant corporate hotels to “mom and pop” motels. Food and beverage companies also take part in the event directly and indirectly. These companies pay a fee to sell their goods inside the fair grounds and make a significant amount of income due to “fair ground” pricing. Also companies and franchises in the area have a huge increase business due to the large amount of demand of goods. Along with food and beverage companies, the DJs and artist that are performing provide employment of their own entourage, security, light and sound technicians, and a number of other miscellaneous jobs. The behind the scenes of these events are extremely large and intricate. Overall they provide a staggering amount of jobs and man hours for all entities involved and if this event didn’t take place all parties would see a significant drop in income and, or revenues for that quarter. Some disadvantages include things like bad reputation. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has to worry that it doesn’t ascertain a public view that they host events that promote drug use, illegal activities, and underage delinquency. Another large issue is that the noise levels and the amount of trash and waste caused is a problem for the surrounding communities. With that amount of people it makes