How to Use Contingency Planning to Future-Proof Your Event Strategy

Event teams live in the future, striving to turn event visions into reality. To avoid chaos, teams must be fully equipped to address challenges and uncertainties. Nearly all B2B marketers believe that in-person events have a major impact on achieving business outcomes, meaning teams need actionable strategies to execute their events. To close the gap, teams should incorporate event contingency planning into every event they execute.

Establish an event contingency planning team before you need it, execute scenario-thinking exercises, conduct run-of-show exercises, hold mock rehearsals and tailor your planning to match the event. Consider the audience’s needs, use your event ecosystem and manage attendee expectations. These “no-regrets moves” will help teams become more comfortable with responding to unexpected challenges.

By incorporating a strategy to prepare for unexpected challenges, teams will become more comfortable with being uncomfortable and acting decisively in the moment. Additional resources such as podcasts, articles and surveys can also help teams improve their event strategy.