What could go wrong? Event problem solving hacks!
Events are fun wholesome experiences and come in many shapes and sizes. Concerts, conferences, Festivals, Weddings, Parties happening in parks, on the beach, on a farm or a stadium and basically anywhere else that lets us have a glass of Prosecco or a cold beer in your hand for the duration of the event.
Sure….they’re fun, but a lot can go wrong. No matter how organised you might be and no matter how flawless your run sheet is!
But what happens if it all goes wrong? What happens when things turn out to be not as glamorous as we’d hoped?
This is something event planners really have to consider, from minor misfortunes like the wrong coloured table cloths to drastic problems like power outages or inclement weather where cover is futile or non-existent.
Arming yourself with the right information and getting ahead of the game is crucial and although not all the fires being lit will completely stop, there’s definately ways to become an amazing firefighter and to put them out before they get out of control. we hope you liked that analogy as much as you will like our tips and tricks to mitigating when disaster strikes.
Inclement Weather
Unfortunately, no matter how hard man has tried to control the weather, it’s simply not possible despite what the Marvel movies show us.
If you’re hosting an outdoor event, you have to be prepared for rain, storms, and every kind of weather condition in between. The Event Generals team, work with events that are 80% majority of the time outdoors and have copped every kind of weather you can think of in the past. Although your contingencies are never perfect, the planning process is crucial to get this right and in the back of your mind you should always consider “what if it rains”?
Tip: Equipment is key for weather-affected events. Make sure you have sufficient weather proof cover and try plan for all your equipment to be covered regardless of weather. Under a nice marquee/canopy can often give your stage, bar or dance floor a bit of prestige anyway. we also recommend having extra cover on standby which can be ordered a few days before the event if the weather forecast doesn’t look promising for your event.
2. Power Outages
When you are organising an event, especially during bump-in, the last thing on your mind is if the power is working. BUT, it happens way more than you would believe and the result can be catastrophic if you aren’t able to fix it straight away. We recommend testing the power every hour or so during set-up and having an electrician on standby if you do run into any dramas.
The other no-brainer is to have backup power on the ready. Generators that are not only big enough to support your events power needs, but sufficient fuel to power them long enough until the grid power is ready to go.
We also recommend looking into alternative energy available through solar or battery power. There are a multitude of companies out there who can do this and it’s a great way to minimise energy use for your event.
3. Last Minute Changes
This one is a tough pill to swallow for a lot of event planners!
During the thick of Covid, this one rattled event planners all over the world and we are going to see the effects of it for a while yet.
Last-minute changes for event planners are nightmares you wouldn’t wish upon anyone. Venues, caterers, special guests, ticket holders, electricians, event hire companies, volunteers, councils, tourism bodies, and so on are affected and nine times of ten, you are responsible for changing everything and communicating with all these parties usually in a very short amount of time.
Not only do you have to communicate the changes, you also need to set up the new event essentially starting from scratch and potentially with a new set of stakeholders if the event is moved to another location.
Our advice is to have your contingency plan for something like this in place. The key is in your communication and your contractual obligations with each party. Ensure cancellation fees don’t apply due to changes out of your control and ensure communication about the possibility of cancellation may occur is well and truly known to your service providers.
4. Vendor or Service Provider Cancellation
Another one that is a headache but easy to overcome if you are prepared!
Imagine your headline act cancels at the last minute?
Who are you going to get to replace him or her?
It’s important to plan ahead for this kind of thing by having a backup on standby if you can. The other less popular option is to offer your attendees a refund.
5. Lack of contingency plan altogether
It’s easy to assume you will be “all good” and it’s even easier to assume that if something goes wrong you will have it under control.
As we mentioned at the start of this article. You can have the best run-sheet in the business and be as organised as possible, but without the thought of a contingency plan in writing, you’re are going to come unstuck.
It’s crucial for event planners to think ahead, pinpoint any potential problems that might happen, and put a contingency plan in place in case anything bad does happen.
To save time and to come up with a unique solution that’s geared to your specific event, it’s worth working alongside a provider who has the expertise to pick out potential hazards and come up with a solution before those potential hazards happen.
So next time you plan any aspect of an event….ask yourself, whats my plan B?
