You might be fabulous

….but you’re still human.

I’m going to tell you a secret. Unfortunately, it isn’t a juicy secret and won’t yield satisfying cocktail discussions, but here it is:
In event planning, you get the best by planning for the worst.

For those who know me, I am a stickler for risk assessment and contingency planning in event management. Something will go wrong. No matter how carefully you plan, something will go wrong. Think about it. In your daily life, when have you had a day go exactly as expected? These spontaneous occurrences is what makes life and events exciting, challenging and full of opportunity. Everyone wants an event to be a success, but inevitably, there is some aspect of the event that does not go as desired. How the incident is handled or remedied can turn an event into an instant failure or a memorable story.

Contingency and risk planning needs to be considered in every detail of the event planning process. Let’s face it; if you are the planner, you are the responsible party. It doesn’t matter if another vendor is the cause of the issue, you as the planner are accountable to the client.
I am not going to get into every detail of what risks need to be evaluated because the list is endless and vary for each event. In a nutshell, if it is a resource there is a risk associated with it. In event planning, that means anything regarding, time, materials, staff, services and nature are risks. Risks need to be evaluated at the start of the event planning process, and contingencies need to be in place should the worst happen. Obviously, the severity of the risk and the costliness of the risk varies, so prioritizing is key. And keep in mind what your client’s priorities are might not be in line with yours, so make sure to communicate openly with them at the start of the process.
The one resource that I want to address in detail is the event planner herself. As I have mentioned before, event planners tend to be very Type A, extremely driven, and well, stubborn. We are capable of anything and nothing can prevent us from flawlessly executing an event…except illness, death, family emergencies, travel complications, natural disasters, etc. We are human. We might think we are super humans, but alas, we are limited in the same ways as everyone else (we just kick and scratch a little harder).
Many event planners do not have a contingency plan to cover their duties, which leads to a single point of failure for the event – an inevitable disaster. Event planners have to coordinate a back-up planner or staff member(s) who they work closely with so that if the worst happens, the event goes off without a hitch. We are providing a service. That service needs to be fulfilled regardless of whether or not we can physically be there.
Moral of the story: you are human. You are not invincible. Don’t let your ego and confidence get in the way of providing the best possible service to your client.

For more event planning secrets, read Kari’s other blog posts.