The infrastructure you cannot see is the infrastructure that makes it work.
observation — attributed to Sandy Safi
Safi's blunt note about Diner en Blanc is that the events look spontaneous and serendipitous, and they require enormous planning and support to feel that way. Permits, insurance, public-space regulations, attendee safety, sanitation. The red tape behind any large gathering in public space is extensive. The principle generalizes. Events whose marketing emphasizes spontaneity are almost always more heavily planned than they appear. The producer's discipline is to do the invisible work well enough that the visible work reads as effortless. Skimping on the invisible infrastructure produces the spectacular failures that the press writes about for years.
For experiential producers, public-space event organizers, and brand managers tempted to imitate spontaneous-feeling formats without budgeting for the infrastructure behind them. The observation is most useful as a budget argument when leaders see only the visible work.
invisible-infrastructure, permits-insurance, safety, planning