Professor Chris Kemp

CEO – Mind Over Matter Consultancy Ltd (MOM)

Professor Chris Kemp, CEO of Mind Over Matter Consultancy Ltd (MOM), has a wealth of experience and a proven record of accomplishment in the fields of event safety, risk management, crowd safety, leadership, emergency planning, crowd science and counterterrorism. Chris has provided expert support for indoor and outdoor arenas, greenfield sites, transport hubs, retail centres and almost every conceivable crowded space and business environment.

Chris is qualified both academically and as a practitioner. He has an undergraduate degree in Human Movement Sport & Recreation Management, a Masters degree in Arts Administration and a PhD; rated as excellent, in Cognitive Psychology and Musicology from the Jyvaskyla University in Finland. Chris is currently a Professor of Crowd Management at Edinburgh Napier University.

Chris has worked in the crowded space arena for over 35 years, initially working as one of the top five club rock promoters in the UK, and as a venue manager. Then, as an academic, where he blazed the trail of both music and crowd management education, moving into consultancy he worked on a range of projects in railway stations, at festivals, on event sites, and in other crowded spaces.

Chris and his team have also worked with the British Olympic elite coaches, head coaches and medical teams for both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo games.

Chris also led the Yourope Event Safety Group (The YES Group) Steering Committee, along with Henrik Nielsen (Roskilde Festival), and helped develop, promote and deliver 29 Seminars on health, safety and crowd management across Europe. Through the YES Group, Chris has also worked with over 80 festivals across Europe, to ensure the safety and security of the crowd.

He created the first ever music management degree in Europe in 1997, the first ever music management postgraduate programme in 1999 and the first ever crowd management degree programme in the world in 2005.

Chris has written and edited ten books on crowd dynamics, music management, and punk and hardcore music and his articles are widely published in a range of security, business continuity, music and crowd management periodicals, magazines and journals.

Awards

European Festival Awards 2016 – “Award for Excellence and Passion” for his work in crowded space management at festivals.

Yourope 20th Anniversary Award – “For outstanding achievements on behalf of Yourope”

Yes Group