WordPress Event Ticketing

As an event manager, you are doing your best not be that event manager who missed a detail and  destroyed the event. Especially if you believe that your organization and meticulousness are the best attributes you have and that that is exactly why you are in this business. Our question here is this: Does your eye for detail include a Plan B in your event planning? If the answer is positive, you might think you have outdone yourself and that you prevented what event managers fear – having an unsuccessful event.

One of the indispensable advice for all event planners appears to be this Plan B, but what many of them forget is what to do and what to expect if the event does turn into a disaster. The Plan B cannot always fix the problem, nevertheless, it can help you get over it.

Situations range from the following:

You have received feedback with some of the listed content:

• Situation 1: My email box was buried after the event; I cannot believe that there was no Wi-Fi in the hall! (And this was an IT conference, you were too busy pampering the speaker to check for the Internet availability)

Or

• Situation 2: I lost an hour figuring out where to park, 200 people and only 30 parking spaces. (The parking space anticipated turned into a building construction two days before the event)

Or

• Situation 3: If you are planning to put 100 people in the hall, and it is snowing outside, it is not a bad idea to have a wardrobe. It is not pleasant to drag a coat around all day long. (The wardrobe was provided but there was a broken pipe so the coatroom was flooded – in addition, they were unable to give you a room for the coats)

Or

• Situation 4: A wedding on the beach cannot be romantic if I am fighting to remove sand from my eyes! (You failed to fight the weather; the forecast said clear and the bride categorically refused to have a paravane - it is still your fault you couldn’t keep away the sand).

Whether it is about the parking, wardrobe or a disaster wedding – when the obvious conclusion of the day is unsuccessful event, there is no Plan B. There is only you making peace with it, not going crazy or questioning your skill.

Some of the things you should do:

Clear  your mind

This is the first step. As difficulties are solved with clear mind, take time to relax, get some sleep and get ready for the next day.

Recognize the failure

Admit to yourself that there was nothing you could do, or that there was but you missed it. Only in this way you will reconcile with yourself. If you shift the blame, the mistake will happen again. Make a plan for future events based on current errors, record it and remember it.

Meeting with employees

Set up a meeting to investigate the issue. If you are to blame, be honest and share that with employees, set the example which will lead them to being honest when they make a mistake.

On the other hand, if the mistake came from the staff, provide them with clear guidance and advice so as to diminish the chances of the mistake reoccurring. It is up to you and up to the gravity of the situation which sanction is in place for enforcing.

Face the client

"Confront" the client. They paid, you failed, it seems only fair to provide an explanation seasoned with a nice apology and maybe garnished with a discount on a future event. Explain what happened, why it happened, and promise it will not happen again.

Apologize to attendees

We mentioned before the necessity of having a list of invitees and attendees. This is a time for the list to come in handy. Send an email with a purpose to apologize for the inconvenience they have experienced.

The purpose of your saying sorry is not to make people sympathize and forgive, it is about being professional and considerate about the time they have invested when they attended your event. Contacting the attendees will show that you care and that is all you need for keeping your reputation, and consequently to feel better.

Whatever the situation is, remember that it is not the end of the world and that you should take every opportunity to learn, grow and evolve.