When Worse Comes to Worst: How to Handle a Meeting or Event Crisis

When it comes to meeting and event disasters, I have seen it all! For example, I was previously in charge of a college's speaker's bureau. At one event, the Foreign Minister of Israel was speaking and we received a bomb threat during his program. It was interesting to have to step on stage and whisper in his ear that we needed to vacate the building immediately and without panicking the audience!

While that is a particularly dramatic example, I have coordinated meetings with smaller scale - but still difficult - disasters such as faulty equipment, finicky speakers, obnoxious participants, and drunken guests. At one business meeting the founder of the company disagreed with every opinion being expressed - talk about putting a damper on the free exchange of ideas! I have experienced countless times when no one could locate materials that had been shipped to an off-site meeting. In fact, I am convinced that there is a black hole somewhere in which shipped packages are sent to rest before ever reaching their destination. One of the most distasteful, yet frequent, disasters is when a guest imbibes too much alcohol and acts inappropriately at a company event. This is even more difficult when that imbiber is the head of the organization (yes, I've had to deal with that, too).

Luckily these episodes were not in vain and I can now share what I have learned about how to prevent or handle any crisis that may emerge.

Grace under fire

• No matter what happens, you must remain calm and clear-headed. You will be less effective if you are excited, angry, or nervous. People will respond better and be more willing to assist you if you are the calm in the midst of the storm. Plus, you will be able to think more clearly and creatively to resolve your crisis.

Be a squeaky wheel

• While remaining calm and polite, be persistent. The squeaky wheel does get the attention in these situations and you must not let up the pressure for the assistance you need.

Get everything in writing

• When you are preparing for your meeting or event, get all details in writing. Take the time to think through your meeting from beginning to end and write down every aspect from catering and audio-visual to room set-up. Write a script for your meeting and make sure everyone involved in planning has a copy. Leave as little as possible to chance.

Re-confirm everything

• A day or two before the meeting, re-confirm all aspects. Check on the room set-up, determine who will be your on-site contact, and review plans with your speakers or meeting leaders (just to name a few details worthy of reconfirmation). I have often been surprised to find out that despite all the pre-planning, there can be discrepancies.

Redundancy is good

• When possible, have extras or duplicates of things that are important to your meeting's success. This could be nametags, equipment, power cords, or light bulbs. It may mean bringing copies of shipped material so you can make photocopies if the shipment doesn't arrive. Presentations should be saved to portable thumb drives that can be carried with you. Bring copies of catering contracts and phone numbers for all participants who are critical to the meeting's success (including hotel or conference personnel).

Arrive early

• As the meeting planner, you should arrive very early. Give yourself plenty of time to check the facilities and ensure that everything is being set up to your satisfaction and specifications.

Test equipment in advance

• Do not wait until the meeting begins to learn that a projector is not working, the presentation has a major typo in it, or the microphones are not properly placed. Test everything in the actual setting.

Beware of imbibers

• If alcohol will be served, be prepared to monitor your guest's consumption and step in when you think they have had too much or are acting inappropriately. Politely and discretely remove them from the main room of the event and calmly explain that you would like to get them a taxi, a ride, or an escort to their room (depending on whether you are in-town or out-of-town). Do not embarrass them but remain firm and in charge.

Set the tone

• If a disaster strikes, such as a bomb threat, fire drill, storm, etc., you can set the tone for how participants will respond by modeling appropriate behavior. Remain calm and focused. Know in advance how you will vacate a room if the need arises. Keep people orderly and use an authoritative tone to diffuse fear and nervousness on the part of your guests.

Crises are part of the job description for a meeting planner. How you handle these situations will determine whether you succeed or fail and whether you enjoy what you're doing or dread planning meetings.