Mosaic 2019 Year in Review
January 30, 2020
Navigating Events in the COVID-19 Era
April 21, 2020
Things Happen: Is Your Event Prepared?
Event planning is no small feat, and it’s one that sounds much simpler than it really is. From choosing vendors and venues to marketing and the registration process, every step is essential to a well-planned event. However, almost nothing is more important than mitigating risk and having a system in place for when things don’t go to plan.
In today’s world, a multitude of issues can affect your events. Whether it’s a major world issue like the spread of coronavirus or forest fires or it’s a simple power outage in your venue, things happen. Being prepared to deal with them is the defining hallmark between a successful event and an unsuccessful one.
It’s easy to get anxious when thinking about everything that can possibly go wrong at events, but it doesn’t need to be a nerve-wracking experience. Chances are, your event will proceed (mostly) the way it’s supposed to. However, people and situations are fickle, and that needs to be accounted for. If you’re planning an event it’s your job to make the event safe and well-run for everyone in attendance by being prepared, organized and proactive.
Along with your team, developing a contingency plan with concrete steps for everything will help mitigate the potential damages to your event. Guest safety is the number one priority so being mindful of the current threats will ensure the well-being of everyone involved. When planning ahead for issues, you should have a specific, laid out plan that tells you what communication needs to happen, what the contingency plans are and what to do if things go south. While some things may seem outlandish, there’s really no problem too big for you to consider.
What to include in your event contingency plan aka, your “Plan B”:
While your event will hopefully go off without a hitch, there’s bound to be at least something small that doesn’t go quite to plan. Looking far in advance for possibilities allows you to be proactive, which leads to smart organization, creative planning and preparedness. Whether this manifests as having Tide Pens for the speakers or as having an in-depth communication plan should you need to cancel the event, you’ll feel better if you have plans for everything you can think of.
By putting in the hard work up front, your event will be so well-constructed that it’ll take a lot to knock it down.
