Blog
-
You’ve spent a considerable amount of time, money and resources planning your perfect event in the perfect location. Everything is running smoothly, and you feel great!
Suddenly, a few weeks before your event, catastrophe strikes the city where your event is planned to take place. What on earth do you do? Should you cancel the event? Should you go ahead with the event, knowing full well some attendees may cancel? This is the nightmare everyone who plans events fears. We’ve put together a few steps to help you through this nightmare and to help you make rational decisions.
First – Assess the Situation
Is it a true catastrophe? Has the facility where your event is scheduled to take place been damaged by weather or fire? Are the hotels where your attendees will stay damaged? Is weather preventing the attendees from being able to travel to the event location? If you answered yes to any of the above, you very well may need to cancel or reschedule your event.But what if the situation isn’t truly a catastrophe, but just a scary situation? As you’ve no doubt heard, the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States happened in Dallas. Given everything we’ve read or heard about Ebola in the past few months, it may initially sound like a catastrophe. But living in Dallas and knowing the full story, the folks at Ultimate Ventures see it for what it really is – a very unfortunate, but absolutely safe, situation. For example, we know that exposure to the initial patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, was limited to an extremely small residential area. His family and friends were isolated and have since been released from isolation on October 19. The two nurses who contracted Ebola were in extremely close contact with Mr. Duncan and cared for him when his symptoms were at their peak. These nurses have been transferred to two of the Centers for Disease Control hospitals outside of Texas that have successfully treated Ebola patients. Currently, there is no one in Dallas who has symptoms of Ebola or that has been diagnosed with the virus.
We also know that casual contact with an Ebola patient is most likely harmless, as the virus is only spread through bodily fluids. This accounts for the fact that no one who came in contact with Mr. Duncan (other that the nurses who were treating him/dealing directly with body fluids) contracted the disease.
We also have complete confidence in our medical facilities to isolate and treat Ebola patients, and we totally trust the hospital staff and other involved parties, such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, to keep us accurately and honestly assessed of the situation.
So is this truly a catastrophic situation that warrants canceling your event? No. Your event facilities and hotels are completely safe, as is transportation in and out of the city.
Second – Talk to Your DMC
The staff at Ultimate Ventures and the residents of Dallas feel totally safe in going about our business as usual. We feel no need for alarm or drastic changes of schedule. We value our clients and would never advise them to go into an unsafe situation. We are here to talk with you frankly about any concerns you may have and offer advice. If the situation in Dallas changes, we’ll definitely keep you informed and help guide you through any next steps you may need to take. But your safety is our biggest concern and we will always be honest with you.Third – Talk to Your Attendees
It is important to let your attendees know what is going on and to calm any fears they may have. Ultimate Ventures will assist you in writing a press release of sorts to send to your attendees and to prepare a brief guide on how to address any questions. Open communication during trying situations is the key to making your attendees feel comfortable and instilling trust in you. We at Ultimate Ventures want you to have the best event ever and we are here to help you through any difficulties you may encounter.Visit UV’s home page for additional resources and information regarding the U.S. Ebola outbreak.
Ultimate Ventures/Dallas Destination Management Company/Fort Worth Destination Management Company
Leave a Reply