Forum - November 2008

3. BE PROACTIVE ABOUT
RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES

An event planner’s client wanted to do a “hay bale maze” activity indoors. The planner knew of the inherent fire hazard associated with this type of “fun element” and advised the client to talk to the local fire marshal.

This idea led to Plan B, which was prepared using a main stage and four mini stages with acts performing at various intervals and using fake hay bales and flame retardant materials. This plan

met the client’s goals while directing the traffic away from entry points and equally distributing the crowd of attendees, which was in the thousands.

LESSON: Think through every
potential risk from all sides and
bring in the most knowledgeable
people to assist with the ideas.

4. READ THE FINE PRINT
IN ALL CONTRACTS
At a major corporation, a planner had
signed a contract for a fairly large event

many months away and sent it to the hotel for the countersignature. Upon receiving the countersigned contract, the busy planner filed it without double-checking it.

A few months before the event, as space was being assigned, the space the planner thought she was getting was not assigned to her group. The planner then read the countersigned contract and found that one of the hotel assistants had handwritten the room specifications without telling her or the sales manager. Fortunately, the planner received the space needed and the meeting went ahead without disruption.

LESSON: ALWAYS re-read a counter-
signed contract before filing it for
future use.

Your business is changing.

How do you keep up?

5. DOUBLE-CHECK THE
EVENT IN THE NEXT
SECTION OF THE
BALLROOM

A charity hosted its annual fundraising dinner dance at the same hotel every year, using two sections of the ballroom plus the adjoining foyer. On one occasion, a corporate group with a speaker contracted for the remaining two sections. No one at the hotel mentioned to the charity or the corporate group that the other would be next door.

On the night of the event, the band for the charity function began playing while the speaker next door still had 15 minutes of his presentation to go. The corporate planner complained to the charity planner who kindly quieted the band until the speaker finished, but guests on both sides felt cheated.

LESSON: Always ask the hotel’s convention services manager about events that may be occurring in the space next to the meeting that you are managing.

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6. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

A planner was warned by the hotel staff three days before the meeting that there was a possibility of picketing in front of the hotel on the major attendee arrival day. The planner wrote a blast e-mail message to all the attendees, giving them instructions to use an alternate door if the picketing occurred.