by Heather Read, marketing, public relations and event planning specialist

Every project has a few bumps. But when you are in the event management industry, sometimes those bumps can quickly become gigantic potholes with the potential to derail your entire effort. I have been planning incentive meetings for many years. While I’ve seen my share of event snafus and last-minute challenges, natural disasters are always the most problematic, especially when they affect an entire region’s ability to get to your meeting.

Hands down, 2008’s Hurricane Omar was the single biggest challenge of my event career. This hurricane struck just before my company’s annual incentive meeting. It forced my team to re-plan the event, which typically takes a full year of planning, in just three weeks. From site and hotel selection to airline routing to décor, our team successfully managed to pull off our event, even getting compliments from guests that it was our best yet.

So whether you are battling volcanic ash, oil spills or any other “force majeure” that is threatening the success of your event, here are six tips to help you avoid potholes — and disaster.

1. Establish clear venue and meeting criteria.
When you begin to plan your meeting, document your complete list of criteria and why your chosen venue meets them. Having this list will help you quickly develop a short list of new location candidates and evaluate the contenders.

Here is a good list of criteria to keep in mind for hotel selection:
• Number of rooms and/or room types
• Star rating
• Availability of wired or wireless Internet access (in room and in meeting space)
• Number of meeting rooms and/or meeting room square footage
• Available on-property activities (pools, spa, tennis, beaches, golf, etc.)
• Unique cocktail, hospitality or food and beverage locations

Criteria for destination selection should include the following:
• Airline access that ensures regular daily flights from your main departure hubs, minimizing the hubs for connecting flights to your destination
• Ease of customs clearance and visa access
• Infrastructure such as buses, taxis, restaurants, night life and activities that will fulfill your guests’ requirements

2. Keep a backup list.
After every pre-event site visit you can usually tell quickly if that hotel will make your short list or not. It’s always a good idea to have at least two or three active properties that you are considering for your event. If your site tours go like mine, you will always have one or two wonderful hotels that just never quite materialized into being the destination you could choose for your meeting. Make sure you keep this backup list handy for emergency re-booking situations. Take particular note of backup locations within the same hotel chain of your current meeting, as the chain may be able to credit your program to the new location. Also look for hotels that are in major connecting hubs to your current destination. For instance, many Caribbean destinations are served with connections through Miami International Airport (MIA) and therefore South Beach and the nearby Florida Keys offer ideal back-up locations. If you have a majority of your passengers on one airline (e.g., American Airlines) you may even be able to get airline re-booking fees waived.

3. Follow a defined format.
A templated program is easier to replicate in a new location or over time. And when you face a re-booking situation, the format of your program will be the first question you are asked by your contracting officer so they can check for available room and event space.

4. Have a project plan and document everything along the way.
Every meeting should be fully documented in a formal project plan that includes the task list, due dates and assigned task owners. Depending on what stage you are at in your planning process when you determine you have to re-book your event, a project plan will allow you to easily identify what needs to be done and who should do it.

Keep minutes of all of your planning meetings and keep a running event specification and requirements document that you can fill in with your final details as you complete them. This is the single record of all of the decisions you have made so far and captures the little details that are not visible on a project plan.

Save old drafts of planning documents as well as activity and décor proposals in case you have to revert to a backup option. When selecting décor, try to limit customizations and instead use items that can be easily found in warehouses at other destinations.

5. Be creative and be ready to compromise.
It is a fact of life that not every element of even the best-planned and template-driven program will be able to be replicated to 100 percent of its original design. Be creative. Did you have a fabulous outdoor cocktail reception that was rained out? Try an indoor wine or rum tasting instead. Planned a glorious day of beach activities and now have to move to a hotel with no beach in site? Consider a pool party or Tiki bar that can be created on the hotel property.

6. Assemble a great team.
Above all else, it is your event planning team that will make your event a success. This includes not just your corporate planners but external consultants and especially your hotel staff and DMC (Destination Management Company). Take the time to meet them in person. Develop a great relationship and reward their performance. If you take this time upfront, they will always be there in a pinch when you need it and will be willing to work hard to make your event a success.

Based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Heather Read was previously a national leader for PRSA. She has served as a Silver Anvil judge and has won a Gold SABRE award, a PRSA Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation, and a Gala Award from Special Events Magazine for Best Multiple Day Incentive.