In this episode, Amanda and Darryl practice social distancing while talking about all the cancellations in the meetings industry. They each share stories of their recent cancellations and Stacey joins to tell the story of canceling her association’s meeting. During the discussion, we learn some tips for having difficult conversations with your venue and vendors, as well as with your attendees, speakers and industry partners. Plus some lessons learned that can make our contracts stronger going forward. Amanda and Darryl also share some resources for planners who need financial help in these tough times and places where we can donate money to help.
Take-Aways:
1 Canceling doesn’t mean you failed.
2 Venues/Vendors: Use Force Majeure if you can; if you can’t try to reschedule and reapply funds. If there is no flexibility…
3 Use the money for something good: donate food to food banks or volunteer groups.
4 Communicate with your attendees. Be honest and remind them their health and safety comes first.
5 Strengthen your contracts for the future.
6 Take a deep breath and do something for you.
Resources:
PCMA Foundation Relief Fund: https://foundation.pcma.org/industry-relief-fund/
Meetings Industry Relief Fund: https://themeetingsindustryfund.org/
Independent Meeting Planners, if you need help (or can help others), please email us so we can help organize: miracleworkerspodcast@gmail.com
World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Guidance: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) COVID-19 Guidance: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
