What is the name for the ropes used to define queues in theaters etc?
If it makes a difference, I specifically want to refer to the modular adjustable kind, as opposed to a short fixed length like the “velvet rope”.
In the trade (yes, the "line-&-queue-control" trade), this item is officially called a "retractable-belt barrier", but really, the tradename Tensabarrier is used, which I imagine frustrates their competitors at Queueway and especially Retracta-Belt.
I believe the term you may be looking for is a "cordon".
- a line or circle of police, soldiers, or guards preventing access to or from an area or building.
"troops threw a cordon around the headquarters"
synonyms: barrier, line, row, chain, ring, circle; picket line
"a cordon of 500 police"- an ornamental cord or braid.
from Google Definition: cordon
The fanciest of cordons is, of course, the velvet rope. Cordons can be anything that functions as a barrier from a lowly rope to a police crime scene tape to the ribbon that separates the groom's guests from the bride's to the venerable velvet rope that prevents the riff-raff from accosting the VIPs.
The word you are looking for is Stanchion.
In event management a stanchion is an upright bar or post that includes retractable belts, velvet ropes, or plastic chains, sometimes in conjunction with wall-mounted barrier devices, barricades, and printed signage, and often used for crowd control and engineering people flow and construction site safety.
Your example will be:
The podium held four dignitaries, and stanchions were set parallel to it, herding the guests past them in single-file.