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Designing Events Association Newsletter |
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Designing Events Association Newsletter |
Risk Management
Hurricane. Terrorist attack. Avian flu outbreak. Staff strike. Missing attendees. Is your heart beating fast yet? Meeting planners today have more worst case scenarios that need to be planned for than in the past. September 11th completely changed our idea of risk management and the Avian flu was not something that meeting planners considered a year ago. This past May, two attendees at a conference in California went missing during a Saturday tour trip. Luckily, that story had a happy ending, but what if it didn’t? You don’t need to have a plan for each and every situation that might arise, but some thought and planning can help reduce your risk and help things run smoothly if a situation arises.
Make a Plan
The first step is to draft a risk management
plan, including planning for risks such as
natural disasters, accidents, technology
situations (ie. power outage) and human-caused
risks (ie. speaker is a no-show). Risks specific
to the destination, venue, attendees and program
should also be included. The plan should outline
responses to different situations, the
responsibilities of staff members, facility
staff and hired security and how media will be
managed.
Your risk management plan should be reviewed and
revised yearly and as new possible risks arise.
How to Minimize Your Risk
The three best tools to minimize your risk are a
site inspection, the contract and insurance.
Site Inspection
During your site inspection, it is important to
find out what type of emergency plan the venue
has – including evacuation plans, what type of
training their staff has and the type of
emergency equipment that is on site. In the case
of a health emergency, find out which staff
members have CPR/First Aid training and how they
can be quickly identified. To avoid an allergy
related emergency, be sure that the food will be
labeled on buffets and breaks.
Contracts
All contracts – including those with speakers
and performers – should include Force majeure
clauses – that is, what will happen should a
situation arise that is beyond the control of
either party. This should include things such as
strikes, wars, threats or acts of terrorism,
weather, travel advisories or disease outbreaks.
Also include a catch all provision that will
cover anything else that was not listed.
Insurance
It is important to understand your commercial
general liability coverage for each event. If
you are going to have anything held off site, be
sure that you are covered if you are temporarily
off business premises. Also find out if there
are any exclusions in the policy such as
physical activities or alcohol use. It may not
be worth it for every event to pay for event
cancellation insurance, so think each event
through carefully to determine what is best for
you.
Questions or comments? E-mail Designing Events at info@designingevents.com.