Inspiration Hub

A little more than two weeks ago, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm. Over the course of four days, Harvey dropped 30 to 50 inches of rain on Houston, creating widespread flooding, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes, temporarily disrupting energy and agricultural production, and causing up to $50 billion in property damage. Nearly 10,000 people ended up sheltering in place at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center.

The people of Texas and Florida are on my mind in the wake of Harvey and Irma. These storms and their aftermath are causing me to feel somewhat helpless. We can (and should) donate to the extent we are able, but what else can we as meetings professionals offer? I’ve lived through a handful of disasters myself, and while these storms’ wrath may be unprecedented, the lessons for our business and personal lives, as well as our role as event professionals, remain consistent

Most garden-variety force majeure clauses specify that both parties to a contract can cancel without invoking damages if unanticipated occurrences outside the control of either party make it illegal or impossible to go forward with the event. But that’s not enough in today’s environment, says attorney Joshua Grimes, president of Grimes Law Offices LLC. With today’s 24/7 news cycle and a growing national obsession with the Weather Channel, more attendees are getting spooked by potential events—anything from a hurricane bearing down on Houston to a service workers strike that threatens to shut down an airport—and deciding to skip the meeting several days ahead of time.

Global data benchmarking and analytics firm STR (formerly Smith Travel Research) has taken what it learned from Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy to forecast potential effects Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath may have on the U.S. hospitality industry. 

Managing events has more than its fair share of frustrations and stressors. From last-minute changes to procrastinating clients, the profession isn’t for the faint of heart. Luckily, executing a successful event makes everything else (like the crazy long hours) worth it.If you’ve been feeling a little fed up lately with a certain aspect of the job, don’t worry — you’re not alone! Here are the biggest frustrations experienced by nine of your fellow event organizers.

Putting it in simple terms, designing and delivering a successful event basically consists of numerous involved parties and a large amount of details to finalise before launch. Due to the large number of factors affecting the program flow and overall attendee experience throughout the event phases, it should be expected that things could possibly go awry from time to time. As there are multiple teams to manage and several stakeholders’ needs and expectations to consider, event professionals are often on edge and need to be resourceful for overcoming any potential obstacles they come across.

Event security is serious business these days. Here are ten events that make it a top priority.

Getting a call from a keynote speaker cancelling a session is the nightmare of every event professional. It is even worse when the announcement comes in the middle of the night! This is exactly the situation that the MPI event team behind World Education Congress (WEC) had to face when Magic Johnson backed out of his All Attendee Lunch keynote late in the evening of the second day.

Risk management, security procedures and emergency planning are all top-of-mind with today’s meetings industry professionals. Just like events – pre-conference meetings (aka pre-cons) come in all shapes and sizes. I’ve been at pre-cons with three people and with 20 people. I’ve been at pre-cons with a formal agenda and with no agenda. I’ve been at pre-cons with my client present and on my own.

The event dates are set, the venue has been selected, and the contracts are in place. Let the planning process begin! As an event organizer, you have an enormous amount of logistics to coordinate and massage into place as the event rapidly approaches. Everything from the event schedule, to registration, speakers and sponsors, food and beverage, you are responsible for it all! The list goes on and on as you work to strategically organize each category down to the finest details.

When I heard early reports of what happened in Manchester at the Ariana Grande concert, I experienced the same feeling of receiving the news someone dear to me had died.

Out of respect we have waited to publish this article and to reflect on where we go from here. It is very easy to jump on some news and make a patronizing article. It’s very easy to say, we told you! It’s very easy to say, you should have thought about it!

If there’s one thing that’ll set a meeting professional’s teeth on edge, it’s a costly surprise—especially when it’s one that could have been addressed in the contract up front, and even more especially when it comes to costly attrition. While there are any number of ways to approach attrition in negotiations, here are some strategies that attorney, speaker, and College of Coastal Georgia professor Tyra Hilliard, Esq., PhD, CMP, outlined in a recent MeetingsNet Master Class webinar that can help you negotiate an attrition clause that’s fair to both parties.

Caution: Always have the person who contacts you on behalf of a company check to see if the organization uses a third-party procurement company or agency. I have posted before about third-party procurement models coming to North America. They have been popular in Europe for some time. I have just had the most horrendous experience so I am sharing it so you can avoid similar drama.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This quote comes from Mike Tyson who probably meant it literally, but it applies just as well to situations outside the boxing ring where your plan can be derailed by any number of surprises, leaving you struggling to come up with a new one. You may think you have the perfect event response plan in place for your meetings, but until you test it you won’t find the holes.

At the Duty Free Show of the Americas, which takes place in Florida each spring, attendees come face-to-face with almost every conceivable item that might be sold in an airport duty-free store — from necklaces and perfume to cigars, luggage, and, of course, booze. “They serve a lot of alcohol, and they’d like people to sample this, that, or the other thing,” said Mark Gatley, regional general man-ager for SMG at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, which hosted the show for a few years before it moved to the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Event planners on the hunt for a new software provider may find that there are more options to choose from these days than in previous years. That’s because our industry is growing and fast, with research showing that the global event management software market will increase 8.24% by 2020.