INSIGHTS WITH VICKIE MITCHELL
CRISES BEYOND COVID
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id you take your temperature way more than normal in the past year? You’re not alone. There’s nothing like a worldwide pandemic to heighten awareness of health and safety. For meeting planners, though, thinking about others’ welfare is nothing new. Every event has its hazards. As we ease into nearer-to-normal life, it’s good to remember that COVID-19 is far from the only threat we face. People still have heart attacks and strokes; they collapse without warning during seminars or awards dinners. Fires burn and winds blow. Riots flare. It remains important to be prepared for emergencies of every kind, from twisted ankles and allergic reactions to flash floods and ice storms. Here are practical steps you can take to be prepared for common crises at your meetings and events.
Keep these health and safety measures in mind for your meetings.
Update before it’s too late.
We pat ourselves on the back when we finally write a will. Then we file it and other important documents away, literally and figuratively, and forget about them. Is it the same with your emergency plan for meetings? As a habit, crack open your crisis plan before every conference. If you don’t have one or if yours is woefully outdated, download the American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE’s) Crisis Response and Event Emergency Plan — asaecenter.org — and use it as a template to fashion your own. Something else to keep updated: attendees’ emergency contact information. Make sure it is collected when attendees register. And supply attendees with the name and cellphone number of the staff person who heads safety and security for your event. Recommend that they enter that information in their phones; include it in all communications.
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