< PreviousI ’m on a quest to reinvigorate corporate Amer- ica. My goal? To put more Builders at the top — or, at least, to inspire those already at the top to behave more like the leaders who brought them to the party. Your company — and every company you can think of — was founded by a Builder. And while the prevailing belief seems to be that it’s okay for mature companies to “move on” and be led by non-Builders, this is not true. When those at the top reject the Builder mindset, they start making errors that slow their company’s growth. Truly, in some cases, it would be better if such leaders sat at home and did nothing. My new book, “Business Builders: How to Become an Admired & Trusted Corporate Leader,” introduces two conflicting leadership types: Build- ers and Decorators. Builders drive profitable, sus- tainable growth by delivering differentiated value to customers, as they brush aside business fads, short- term distractions and financial gymnastics. Decora- tors focus on looking good to investors, quarter after quarter after quarter. What about your own business leader? Does he or she think like a Builder? I invite you to visit areyouabusinessbuilder.com for more information, including a quick assessment anyone can take to measure their own mindset. Meanwhile, here are brief profiles of each type that will help you deter- mine who’s in charge of your business. BUILDERS. These leaders have a passion for organic growth. They focus on strategic markets and voice-of-customer research. They have a strong R&D project portfolio. They think in years, not quar- ters, because they know that’s what it takes for new products to deliver needle-moving revenue and for employee training to deliver serious change. For a Builder, nothing matches the satisfaction of under- standing what customers want, delivering meaning- ful innovation and watching the sales roll in. Builders are proud of their work and inspire loy- alty in their employees. It’s fun and exciting to work for a Builder, because they value people’s contribu- tions and give them a chance to stretch themselves and develop their skills. VIEW POINT Diagnosing Your Business Leader Builder, Decorator, Remodeler or Realtor? BY DAN ADAMS 10 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNOVEMBER 2023DECORATORS. To these leaders, curb appeal is every- thing. They’re focused on how the place looks, and life is all about the quarterly financial report. But their work becomes an unending cycle. After each financial reporting period, they begin the same activities all over again, and in the end, their business does not change. (It’s like a business version of the movie Groundhog Day!) Decorators think they’re doing meaningful work, but they aren’t really making a difference. The energy they put into this quarter’s financial report is squandered energy. Next year, no one will even remember that quarter that seemed so impor- tant at the time. Decorators are near-time-horizon types of leaders, think- ing in months or quarters. If financial results were published every fortnight, their time horizon would be fortnights. Where a Builder would ask, “How can we grow this busi- ness?” a Decorator would ask, “What costs can we cut?” But while a Builder keeps building, at some point, a Decorator has nothing left to cut. There’s nothing wrong with Decorating in itself: Why not look good to investors? The problem arises when Decorating occurs at the expense of Building. And it very often does, as many short-term actions degrade long-term profitable growth. In addition to Builders and Decorators, here are two other leadership types: REMODELERS. These leaders are forever fixing up the place. They focus on improving quality, boosting productiv- ity, eliminating wasteful costs, etc. These are commendable endeavors, but if nothing new is built, the company reaps diminishing returns. Imagine you’ve been working on quality improvements. Good! But what will you do after you get to zero defects? Perhaps you’re driving down labor costs. You’ve finally reached full auto- mation with a lights-out factory. Your productivity is fantastic, but what will you do next? You’ve reached diminishing returns. Remodeling is good, but Remodeling without Building is a race to the bottom. It ends in commoditization. Your com- petitors eventually match your quality or productivity with similar products, and then the price wars begin. Bottom line: Keep Remodeling, but never stop Building. REALTORS. These leaders love to buy and sell, reaping their rewards during mergers and acquisitions. Realtors are rewarded when the hard work of others’ hands is transferred into their hands. Realtors mostly redistribute wealth that others have created. Research shows 70-90% of acquisitions fail. But some can be helpful, especially when acquiring a competency that helps your business change its growth trajectory. When you have a Builder at the helm, the acquired business can become a Building block in their Building program. With Realtors … not so much. The problem with many Realtors is that they don’t know how to grow what they acquire. Their acquisitions become enormous distractions from the Builder’s work needed for organic growth. As a result, many Realtors are just building a house of cards. Builders, Remodelers, Decorators and Realtors all have their purpose, but where they fulfill that purpose makes all the difference. If you have anyone other than a committed Builder leading your business, sooner or later you’re going to be in trouble. There’s room for the other roles discussed here … but they should be in supporting roles. Now is the time for the business leader to take a hard look at his or her mindset and beliefs about company growth — or for the company itself to rethink who is steering the ship. | AC&F | 11 Dan Adams is the founder of The AIM Institute and author of the books “Business Builders and New Product Blueprinting,” as well as the blog Awkward Realities and video series B2B Organic Growth. He is a chemical engineer with a listing in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Adams has trained tens of thousands of B2B professionals globally in the front end of innovation and works with senior executives on driving profitable, sustainable growth. For more information, please visit theaiminstitute.com. NOVEMBER 2023 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES If you have anyone other than a committed Builder leading your business, sooner or later you’re going to be in trouble. DEPOSITPHOTOS.COMT oday’s leaders are well acquainted with chaos. While most businesses enjoy times of success and smooth sailing, they also face periods of disruption, upheaval, dis- cord and extreme stress. Leaders tend to approach these chaos cycles by putting their head down and hoping the storm passes with minimal fallout. But what if chaos isn’t a destructive force that victimizes us, but rather a refining force we are meant to harness, conquer and transform into some purpose of our choosing? Struggling with chaos is not a means to an end; it is an end unto itself. We are designed to master chaos and created to be creators. In the process, we learn more about ourselves and the universe. We grow and change. We find meaning and even experience great joy. My new book, “Built to Beat Chaos,” is a blueprint for mas- tering organizational turmoil in a way that makes companies strong, stable and purpose-driven; instills great leadership habits; and engages employees in ways that help them grow and thrive. While the book is based on biblical principles, people of all faiths (or even none) can benefit. Similar to the laws of physics, human relationships are governed by laws that transcend all of our world views. Hon- esty, love, care, responsibility, accountability, patience and kindness are all basic building blocks of families, businesses and society itself. In spite of our differences, we are alike in the desire to discover truth and align our lives around it. “Built to Beat Chaos” has three sections. Part I focuses on key biblical truths about human design. We must come to grips with these truths if we’re to effectively lead ourselves and others. Part II describes what leaders need to do to estab- lish a framework for coordinating and communicating among a growing number of people. Its managerial best practices address the tendency of humans to get distracted and lose focus. Part III focuses on how to reinforce the behaviors that allow people to work together effectively. This is the relational dimension that eventually sidetracks all organizations (and even nations). The level of performance described in the book isn’t easy, and leaders must choose to rise to the occasion. The challenge is to nurture self-leadership and teamwork collectively, estab- lishing rhythms to keep things running smoothly while plan- ning for and dealing with the chaos that erupts when people come together to do great things. Read on for some insights on beating chaos in your organization and life. You were created to overcome chaos. Chaos is a raw mate- rial resource that has not yet been bent to your purpose; it’s not your enemy. Transforming chaos into order is the heart of your job. Believing you are a victim to chaos is one of the worst mistakes you can make. That cripples you on every front. The first step in conquering organizational chaos and building strong teams is identifying the “why” behind every- thing you do. Leaders and employees must be clear on purpose in order to focus on the problems that must be solved. Other- wise, the chaos of pursuing too many opportunities will slow and distract you. “What holds my team together?” is the most important question leaders must answer. We know that electromagnetic energy holds together the trillions of atoms that make up a single cell in the body. But what unites a team? Answering this question is what it means to be a leader. You cannot be effec- tive without dedicating your time, energy and skill to building this oneness. What makes leadership so challenging and rewarding is that, unlike cells in the human body, the people who make up organizations are not governed by the laws of physics. In fact, human desire is the only thing in the universe that is not subject to the laws of physics. Which is why … Understanding your employees’ desires keeps everyone on track. Desire is a double-edged sword. It fuels our capacity to bring chaos into order. It drives us to create what’s worth creating, be that an inspired organization, a work of art or the next technology breakthrough. But left unchecked, desire can be destructive. The leader’s job is understanding the dual nature of desire. Deep down, what is it you want? What is it your employees want? Knowing the answer allows us (leaders and employees alike) to draw on this inner power source to think, feel and act in ways that help us a) thrive and b) stay aligned with each other. We are more effective leaders when we try to get to the root of what motivates people. Often, the people involved benefit from bringing their underlying desires to the surface, because sometimes they are unaware of their effect on their actions. And when I say “they,” I also mean “me.” Order is much easier to create than to keep. My book describes several stumbling blocks that can trip up growing organizations and cause things to spiral into chaos. For example: VIEW POINT Built to Beat Chaos (The Mind Shift That Changes Everything) BY GARY HARPST 12 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNOVEMBER 2023• The Growth Deception. Growth in headcount increases in linear fashion, but communication complexity grows geometrically. This erodes the ability to stay aligned in imperceptible ways that deceive leaders. • Tyranny of the Urgent. This occurs when we know what to do, but many other urgent things are happening, and we think we’ll have time to do the right thing “tomorrow.” We fall into this trap because our brains go into automatic mode when pressed for time. We are usually right that we can push off an important item one day, but one day becomes five, then 30, and we wake up and have a crisis on our hands. • The Skill Deception. As an organization grows, leadership expertise requirements also grow in five areas: self, functional, project, process and strategic. The deception comes in when skill requirements are rising with complexity, but it is not obvious to lead- ers that the gap is widening. These are just a few of the hurdles that work against lead- ers. The business of learning and growing is never done. If we don’t humbly acknowledge this reality, and put systems in place to mitigate the challenges, we’ll never be able to stay ahead of chaos. Leaders need a strong, habit-reinforcing system to follow. For an organization to scale, some sort of leadership system has to be deployed. Leaders must master the managerial process dimension, which involves utilizing the latest best practices and technology to enable employees to determine their shared purpose, and stay aligned and engaged while they pursue that purpose. A leadership system outlines the habits an organization needs to integrate and manage all this complexity. They include forming vision, managing change, balancing the allocation of resources between operating and strategic change, defining purpose, running meetings, hiring and firing, and measuring outcomes. Leaders who genuinely care get the best results. Younger generations of workers (and everyone else, really) want lead- ers who truly care about them and their well-being. Caring comes down to showing your employees unconditional love. It’s about relating to someone with their best interests in mind, regardless of their response. It can be challenging to treat oth- ers right regardless of how they treat you. But the alternative is to go through life in reaction mode. Keep working at this. Strong relationships are built one-on-one. All of your interactions need to count. A primary goal is to get the right people engaged and ensure they are using their abilities to contribute to the purposes of the organization, and their own need to win. Plan to spend significant time with all your employees. Whether you meet with them in a formal meeting, a phone call, an email or a hallway conversation, be present, listen as much as you speak and ensure the interaction is a high-quality one. The ultimate goal is achieving “oneness.” People have a desire to win, but we can’t attain most of the things we want by ourselves. That is why leaders must help employees form a unified team. Oneness means the right people with the right skills are on the team; it means people have strong relation- ships built on honest and open communication; it means the team mission and goals are clear, and everyone does their part to support those goals; it means group chemistry overcomes the normal human disputes, and personality differences and conflicts are resolved in healthy ways. The ultimate definition of oneness is a hard-core commit- ment to do what it takes to reach shared goals. This is the ulti- mate end. As people struggle to achieve a deep commitment, they experience the joy of oneness. The journey is difficult, but there is nothing like fighting that battle together. Achieving our goals alone isn’t what makes us happy. Bat- tling against chaos — doing what we were designed to do over and over as we discover purpose and reach for something bigger than ourselves — is the real source of our satisfaction and growth. But we can’t do it or anything at all alone. Just as the laws of physics hold our atoms together, the laws of human relationships, facilitated by great leadership, hold self, families, organizations, and societies together and help them thrive. We’re not perfect; we don’t always get relationships right. But when we are at our best, we can make a real differ- ence in our organizations — and in our world. | AC&F | 13 Gary Harpst is the author of “Built to Beat Chaos: Biblical Wisdom for Leading Yourself and Others.” He is the founder and CEO of LeadFirst. He is a keynote speaker, writer and teacher whose areas of focus include leadership, business and the integration of faith at work. He has been recognized as one of the Top 100 of the nation’s top thought-leaders in management and leadership by Leadership Excellence magazine. To learn more, visit leadfirst.ai. NOVEMBER 2023 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Leaders must master the managerial process dimension, which involves utilizing the latest best practices and technology.themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNOVEMBER 2023 Navigating Crisis Management Keeping Attendees Safe and Secure By Marlene Goldman DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM 14 EVENT SAFETYKeeping attendees safe and secure is the focus of all plan- ners, but a rise on crime, gun violence, and even natural disas- ters, is making it much more difficult for association planners. Some of the first steps to developing a crisis management plan, such as identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities, and creating contingency plans for various scenarios are key to averting disaster. Here are the first two: • Early warning systems that monitor social trends, media and the weather to mitigate the risk of possible issues. • Establish clear procedures and roles to prepare for situations, such as evacuation, medical emergen- cies, natural disasters and security threats. Tyra Warner, PhD, JD, CMP, associate professor chair, Department of Hospitality, Tourism, & Culinary Arts at Col- lege of Coastal Georgia and interim chair, Criminal Justice & Public Policy, is a consultant for association planners in drawing up contracts and is also a former association planner. According to Warner, many planners today are not considering crisis management their responsibility. “When I did research a few years ago, planners all seemed to think it’s important, but they’re not all engaging in crisis preparedness,” Warner said. “I found most of them didn’t have the time or didn’t know what they were supposed to do. I think a lot of planners assume that if something hap- pens, then the hotel will handle it, or the CVB will handle it, or somebody else on site will handle it. They think it’s not going to happen to them, so there’s a certain amount of put- ting their head in the sand. And then we get something like COVID that affected all of us and you can’t put your head in the sand anymore.” Alan Kleinfeld, senior director of Arrive Conference Solutions, which provides specialized services and expert input, in Chicago, IL, believes part of the reluctance to tackle crisis management is a result of post-COVID burnout. “We are physically, emotionally and mentally worn out by COVID, and for a lot of planners they’re just so glad to be doing face-to-face events, they don’t want to deal with safety and security. They don’t want to deal with weather events. They don’t want to have to think about anything out- side of just getting together and having some kind of face- to-face gathering.” There are also new planners post-COVID who are not well-versed on crisis management responsibilities. “There is a lot of turnover with association planners and we’re also getting a lot of turnover on the supply side, which is making negotiations hard all the way around,” Warner said. “They don’t know what to do with risk management. They’re still trying to figure out how to negotiate a basic contract. But then their party on the facility side or the speaker side, or whoever they’re dealing with, also doesn’t know what they’re doing, because they’re new. That really makes me feel uncomfort- able, because if you don’t have somebody who’s been in their seat for a while, then crisis management really is far from anybody’s mind.” Warner also noted that people tend to have short memories when it comes to different crises. In fact, crisis management doesn’t really change, just the nature of the crisis changes. For instance, planners were focused on the Zika virus when it came into the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, and so they thought that was the thing they all needed to plan for. But Ebola came next, and that became the focus. Like in the case of COVID or 9/11, that’s not something anyone could ever anticipate or plan for. In the case of bomb threats and gun shootings, the number of incidents in the United States is staggering. As of last month, there have been 568 mass shootings in the country, accord- ing to Gun Violence Archive. The last one, as of press time, took place in Maine, involving 18 casualties and 13 wounded. Reportedly, this was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since 2022, when 19 children and two teachers died at Robb Ele- mentary School in Uvalde, Texas. Meetings and event are not immune to this kind of violence. Planners must always plan for the unexpected. MaryAnne Bobrow, CAE, CMP Fellow, CMM, president of Bobrow Asso- ciates, an event management company in Citrus Heights, CA, concurs that planners are not learning from history or from past mistakes. As a result, the turnover on the supplier side is posing a challenge to risk management, as well. If we have another terrorist attack, are people prepared? Do they have their protocols in place? If the plans are outdated, do they still make sense? Are they updating them? “That’s the kind of thing that I think we tried years ago to teach people — whether it’s any form of risk management, any sort of crisis — natural, manmade, whatever it might be,” said Bobrow. “So, why do we keep going back over the same thing and recreating sce- narios when there is a body of knowledge? I just keep thinking, why can’t we learn from our mistakes and stop going back and making the same mistakes over and over again?” 15 NOVEMBER 2023 themeetingmagazines.com ASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Alan Kleinfeld Senior Director, Arrive Conference Solutions For a lot of planners, they’re just so glad to be doing face-to-face events, they don’t want to deal with safety and security. e’ll figure it out when something happens,” is a terrible way to deal with a crisis. And yet, many planners attest they don’t have the time and resources ahead of time to work on a crisis plan with rapid responses. Unfortunately, that puts a lot of people at risk. W “CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLANNING One of the first steps in crisis planning is recognizing the variety of possible risks, including safety, health and even political issues that could disrupt a meeting. “People forget that when they’re doing crisis preparedness, it’s an all-hazards kind of approach that they have to take because you just don’t know what’s coming next,” Warner said. Some of the strategies include securing necessary permits and insurance, developing a medical and emergency response plan, vetting vendors and suppliers and making contingency plans for weather interruptions, from hurricanes in Florida to wildfires in Northern California. Conducting site inspections well beforehand is another crucial element to crisis planning and safety. Warner has con- ducted a variety of presentations on risk management plan- ning, including basic training for staff and best practices in conducting site inspections. “It’s simple things, just like walking the evacuation route in the hotel or in the conven- tion center and knowing, if something happens, where you are going to gather to make sure your people all got out,” said Warner. Kleinfeld’s background as a retired police officer helps when he is conducting inspec- tions. He advises planners when they go on site to meet with the director of safety at the hotels or the venue where the meeting will occur and ask about evacua- tion plans and other contingen- cies, such as what happens if the power goes out or if the smoke alarm goes off, or what happens if a main water line breaks and people can’t get fresh water in their hotel rooms. “They may not be able to share written materials with you, because they’ll call it proprietary information, but most secu- rity people will be like, ‘Oh, yeah, well, if the alarm goes off, you need to tell your attendees to follow those lights, which will lead them to a safety zone.’ Then you can put that information into a conference app or registration packet or on the website.” Kleinfeld believes some planners, especially those who are new in the field, don’t like to tackle safety issues because it is a broad topic and they don’t know enough about it. “I always tell planners, you don’t need to do it on your own,” Kleinfeld said. “Your hotel director of security is going to know what happens if they lose power or what happens if there’s an active shooter. You just have to ask the questions.” As a good rule, planners should visit the venue and walk around the grounds. That face-to-face inspection is critical. “After I have met with the staff and maybe we’ve had dinner, I go down and sit in the lobby. I walk the halls, see what proto- cols they have to make sure there are no issues,” said Kleinfeld. Researching the weather in a destination during the time of a meeting is becoming even more crucial in the wake of more severe natural disasters, from floods to fires. For instance, if you’re going to book a meeting in Miami in October, because they gave you such great rates, you’re going to need to do a risk assessment about weather events. “You have to prepare for that,” Kleinfeld said. “Maybe you have to have generators brought in in case the power goes out or bottled water hauled in just in case there is no water. My advice is you need to do your homework on where you’re going.” Some planners also prepare for the worst in anticipation of health crises at their events. Warner knows planners who travel with their own defibrillator, or at least double check the facility has an AED. The health preparation can also depend on the demographics of the attendees. CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS Crisis management is integral in the contract process. One of the first steps for planners is writing an emergency action plan, but some association planners also need a broader plan for what happens at a meeting that might impact the organiza- tion’s business. “There may be multiple plans that they need to write – short term and long term for one meeting, and then encom- passing the whole business,” Warner said. “I had a client who I thought handled it probably the best I’ve ever seen. She had a safety and security checklist, and she would include that with her RFP. She would ask them to have the director of security fill out the checklist and provide the information she was asking for regarding their safety and security. She wouldn’t review any proposal from the hotel until that was submitted. And she certainly wouldn’t sign any contract, and I thought that was so proactive on her part. She really showed that this was an important issue for her.” When a planner starts the process of planning a meeting, safety and security should be included in the preliminary talks. “When you send out the RFP, you’re going to want to include something about safety and security and that can be a sentence that says please alert your director of security, or whatever, but you need to let the hotels or your venues know that safety and security is important for you,” Kleinfeld said. One part of the contract that became a hot topic dur- ing COVID was force majeure. “One of the things especially COVID did for us with contracts is that it really helped us to understand our force majeure clauses,” Warner said. “For example, a lot of people canceled meetings because the attendees were afraid to travel or were afraid to gather dur- ing COVID and fear is just not a force majeure. A lot of those ended up being cancelations and not force majeure type events. That was in contrast with when the government’s said things like, ‘You’re forbidden to have public gatherings for more than 50 people or 100 people.’ That clearly became a force majeure because it was illegal to meet. So, we found bright light moments like that, but there was an awful lot of gray.” Acts of nature — earthquake, tornado, fire or hurricane — are clear cut when it comes to force majeure, while acts of man are often in the gray area. A contract expert such as Warner could advise on wording for risk management, such as force majeure. “I had a client a few years ago, who had a meeting in Florida themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNOVEMBER 2023 Be sure to walk the host property’s evacuation route to know where to gather attendees in case of an emergency. DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM 16when a hurricane was headed straight for that city,” Warner recalled. “The hur- ricane hadn’t hit yet, but they wanted to be preemptive and cancel the meeting and move it somewhere else claiming force majeure. But the destination said, ‘Well, until the hurricane hits, it’s not force majeure because it could go some- where else.’ It was a situation where the destination said no, and the group said we need to relocate before it hits. The force majeure clause didn’t get them out of it, because it didn’t say we can termi- nate the contract up to X number of days prior to the event, which is something you need in a hurricane situation.” There are other protections on the legal side that planners can incorporate into their contracts or even registration materials. Kleinfeld suggests planners create a code of conduct or duty of care policy, that that will allow them to deal with situations as they need. “For example, if your code of con- duct policy says that hateful language or acts of violence are unacceptable, and then someone says something that is offensive to a person of color or an LGBTQ+ person, you’ve got it now in writing that they’ve agreed to follow this code of conduct. And now you’re going to be asked to leave the event because you violated that. You could put policies or expectations into written registration policies. You have it in the small print, and the person who reg- istered for the meeting agrees to abide by that policy. You now have at least in writing something to protect you from liability.” CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES Another challenge for planners is deciding on a crisis com- munication plan, including who to contact and when, as well as how messages will be conveyed to attendees, whether through a meeting or special emergency app, social media or website. “There are some best practices like making sure you’ve got somebody back at the office who’s ready to update your website because if there’s a really big crisis, they’re not going to be able to get through to the attendees on their cell phones, and they’re going to want information,” Warner said. “Mak- ing sure the person back home can update the organization’s website and at least put the informa- tion up there will help allay some of the concern of people who can’t reach their loved ones because the cell towers are down, or something like that. There is a lot of thinking in advance through what could happen and what contingency plans need to be put in place.” Kleinfeld also suggests planners need an emer- gency response plan for dif- ferent scenarios, including a crisis communication plan. The mode of communication can cater to different situations. “The thing about social media or text is that everything’s so short. You don’t want to be misinterpreted, so maybe you end up going with a mass text, and then the text has a link, and the link takes them to the website where there is more detailed about what’s going on. We need that communication to be calm and factual.” Communication before an event is also vital, especially for larger meetings where the planner will want to connect with first responders in a city, such as police, especially if the group is politically controversial. Warner said, “If they’ve got a large convention like city- wide, it’s important that they let the police know that they’re coming to town. A lot of that is working with the destination marketing organization or the convention and visitor’s bureau to coordinate some of that communication. Especially if a group is coming in and they have known protesters or detrac- tors and they know that they could draw attention. Then it’s going to be even more important for them to reach out to the mayor and to the police and that kind of thing.” Cybersecurity is another area of concern, especially in light of the recent issues with hacking into both the MGM and Cae- sars Entertainment systems in Las Vegas. Having an IT expert as part of the risk management team or on staff at the associa- tion can make a difference. “I tell meeting planners, you don’t need to become an expert on cybersecurity,” said Warner, who suggests plan- ners hire experts that can do the work for you. If you have IT people on staff, you need to make sure that those people are well versed and well trained in keeping up with whatever the latest is on cybersecurity and cyberattacks. And if you don’t have internal IT people, you must outsource that service. While crisis management can be overwhelming for plan- ners, Warner agrees that they don’t need to tackle everything themselves. “If you do one more thing, the meeting is safer than it was before, so don’t think about having to bite off everything all at once because that does get daunting,” Warner advised. “But have a good risk management plan, and work with the staff onsite.” | AC&F | NOVEMBER 2023 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIES Having an IT expert on the risk management team or on staff at the association can make a difference in preventing cybersecurity issues at an event. Tyra Warner Associate Professor Chair, Department of Hospitality, Tourism, & Culinary Arts at College of Coastal Georgia Interim Chair, Criminal Justice & Public Policy A lot of planners assume that if something happens, then the hotel will handle it, or the CVB will handle it, or somebody else on site will handle it. DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM 17themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNOVEMBER 2023 Event Planner’s Toolkit Learning to Sharpen the Tools of the Trade By Marlene Goldman s the face-to-face events industry continues to stage a post-pandemic comeback, it’s time for planners to reassess their strategies and retool their toolboxes. A variety of aspects to planning a trade show or event have changed as exhibitors, suppliers and planners return to the conference rooms and show floors. And as for attendees, it’s not enough to be invited to meetings and events, they want a compelling reason to attend. A 18 INDUSTRY INSIGHT“With the start and stop of events post pandemic, now is a good time to replenish your toolbox and update your check- lists,” advised Glenda Brungardt in a presentation entitled “My Toolbox Replenished: New Set of Checklists for Plan- ning a Trade Show/Event.” Brungardt is now retired but was formerly a CTSM Diamond, strategic events manager at HP, Inc., a multinational information technology company head- quartered in Palo Alto, CA. “Having an updated toolbox and checklists help you to prioritize what is critical for our success, helps you to be bet- ter prepared for any curves thrown your way and prepares you for setting expectations with your stakeholders,” Brungardt said. She posed that with the changes over the past few years, it’s vital to pay attention to the fine print in con- tracts and planning, such as knowing how the floor will be laid out. Brungardt noted that now planners need to double check costs on everything from drayage charges, which have changed over the past few years including new drayage package options, to the carpet needed for the size of the show floor. “It used to be you were almost guaranteed that the show aisle carpet would roll up against your edge of your booth. But you can’t always assume that now, and if you have a miscalculation on your flooring and the aisles have gone wider or show management doesn’t carpet, you might have to absorb a little extra cost because of adjustment on the floor.” Judy Volker, principal, Volker Marketing Ser- vices in White Lake, MI, who formerly worked as global event manager at XRite/Pantone, also emphasizes focusing on the fine print. “There’s not a lot of consistency from venue to venue, or vendor to vendor,” Volker said. “As an event planner or as a show manager, you have to really be on top of the fine print to know what is and what’s not included, so that when you’re doing your budgeting and planning, you aren’t missing something.” BUDGETING Budgeting is a hot topic in the current economy. Accord- ing to Brungardt’s presentation, planners need to triple-check their budget estimates considering the rate increases in many sectors. She noted that if a planner’s budget is based on the time frame from the past couple of years, it more than likely will not cover the current rates being charged. It’s a good time to revisit what changes have taken place in the industry to avoid being surprised by hidden costs. The costs she warns about include fuel surcharges asso- ciated with shipping items for trade shows and fuel charges, which can fluctuate based on the time of year and other factors. During her presentation, she said, “Be sure to find out if your preferred method of shipping has an added fuel surcharge, and if so, make sure you understand the details. Some may lock the rate up front, and some will wait and go with the current rate.” 19 NOVEMBER 2023 themeetingmagazines.comASSOCIATION CONVENTIONS & FACILITIESNext >