Every event should be canceled, but not for the reason you think. Right now, thousands of events are being canceled and it is affecting millions of attendees. In my opinion, every single event should be canceled, but not necessarily because of COVID-19. Our events have been plagued with an underlying disease that has gone undetected for years. The crippling disease that has been allowed to fester is complacency. Complacency has crept into our organizations and has infected the events we do – which is why I am challenging everyone to CANCEL YOUR EVENT!
The COVID-19 does pose serious concerns and considerations for organizations holding events, but the question of cancelation should be asked regardless of COVID-19. The presence of this virus brings the question to the forefront of conversation, but it should have been asked much sooner for many events. Many organizations do the same events year after year, failing to ask this question and ultimately planning events that miss the mark or shouldn’t have continued to happen year after year.
Regardless of when your event is taking place, Cancel your event. Get your planning team together, your stakeholders, your board of directors and cancel your event. Metaphorically, after you have “cancelled” your event, ask the team a few questions.
· How will this event cancellation hurt our organization?
· What strategic organizational goals will not be reached?
· What change and growth will our attendees miss out on because we canceled our event?
· If we were to decide to create this event from scratch, would we do it the same way again?
· Would this team fight to save this event and not cancel it?
I worry that organizations have been lulled into a false sense of health and security. The economy has been “healthy” for years, but there is an underlying infection that has been growing under the surface. Complacency has plagued organizations undetected for years. The symptoms of this infection are starting to show and as organizations we need to not just treat the symptoms but the root cause. (for more information on treating symptoms rather than infection, check out this article I wrote in 2017)
The hospitality industry is experiencing a wake-up call. Organizations will be forced to ask some very hard questions. Hollow, shallow, and disingenuous answers will not suffice. We need to get back to the basics of what makes an event successful. Successful events have organizational alignment, have an audience obsession and have successful logistics and execution. We spend 90% of our time on logistics and execution (treating the symptoms), but we need to start focusing in on the deeper issues or problems.
Once COVID-19 passes and it is safe to hold your event again, I challenge you to consider this question – why wouldn’t we cancel? Should you really cancel your event? Maybe! At least have the guts to ask the question. You will only come out stronger if you do. Many organizations have found it helpful to have a guide walk them through the event “cancelation process”. If you are planning a new event and want to implement the necessary contract protections or if you are trying to get out of your current one, please reach out. We also guide organizations through the process metaphorically canceling their events. Whatever you need at this point, we are here to support you. Your mission is too important to plan an unsuccessful event.
Ben Jacobson | Event Director and Owner
312-497-3505