San Francisco targets flash mobs after expensive mess

Jordan Golson — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:00:52 -0400

After a six-hour Internet-organized pillow fight attracted more than people to San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza, city officials are considering a crackdown on "flash mobs."

According to local regulations, most organized gatherings over a certain size must obtain permits, pay a use fee and supply security, portable toilets and cleanup crews. Flash mobs have none of these things, partly because of their spur-of-the-moment nature and the lack of any real authority over the mob.

The Valentine's Day pillow fight occurred in an intermittent rain, with pillows releasing feathers galore into the evening air and sticking to everything they touched, forming a feathery sludge. The city spent more than $20,000 cleaning up after the flash mob, and no one to stick with the bill. The mess also clogged drains and cost a local restaurant $10,000 in its own cleanup costs.

It's unclear how the city would go after flash mob "organizers", given that many events are organized anonymously over text messages or on Internet bulletin boards. A SFgate.com article associated Scott Beale's LaughingSquid.com as well as eatbrains.com with such events, but in a conversation with The Industry Standard, Beale denied doing anything more than simply reporting on the pillow fight like any other news source. Beale explained that the pillow fight was a tradition that started years ago in the city of Toronto, migrated to San Francisco as a Valentines Day event and is no longer promoted by anyone in particular -- simply a tradition that springs to life in online forums every year.

"In the future, considering the mess, I'm thinking of no longer covering the event," Beale said in response to a question about the cost to the city of San Francisco.

But regardless of the lack of any organization or official sponsors, the city has already had to pay workers and may never find anyone to foot the bill.

Reporting contributed by Chris Tompkins

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San Francisco targets flash mobs after expensive mess