How prepared are you for a crisis at your LIVE event?

Live events can be unpredictable and it’s impossible to plan for everything that can go wrong.

However, if you and your team are proactive, managing crisis scenarios can help you avoid costly mistakes. As you plan your events, remember crisis communication is critical to your event success. Picture this- your event is running smoothly, patrons are having a blast and just when you think nothing will go wrong, it starts raining heavily and it gets worse by the minute leaving you to wonder, where did all this rain and thunder come from? this wasn’t in weather forecast! or worse yet, in all the partying a fight breaks out, a bottle connects with someone’s face and someone is stabbed and as we say all hell breaks loose !

You may think this is dramatic but there are many instances of crisis situations even outside entertainment spots that tarnished the reputation of said spot and even resulted in said spot closing down.

You must act quickly but what will you say? How will you say it? What platforms will you use?

If you’re making these decisions in the moment of crisis, it’s already too late. If you don’t plan, you’re contributing to the chaos. To get started, here’s a brief preparedness checklist:

• Discuss ticket refund policy as well as potential upgrades and special offers that can be put in place to appease patrons.
• Discuss and share safety, security, shelter, and evacuation plan with your team.
• Compile a list of partners (inclusive of contact information) for emergency purposes e.g. social media person, head of security etc. You may have to even look at devices that you can use to easily communicate with each other in the event phones are lost. If for example, there is an emergency, family and friends of patrons will be worried, therefore your social media person will need to be on your socials giving updates and answering questions.
• Plan how the communication of the crisis will flow and confirm the process with your team, so everyone is on the same page. Make sure you have some graphics already created at least three days before the event so if something happens, they can be deployed.
• There are many ways to communicate about a crisis so decide which ones are the most appropriate e.g. social media, onstage announcements, text blast to inform of emergency exits for example.

Scenario- Security Threat:

Event planners or promoters know all too well the security risks involved when producing an event. You may not want to think about it happening, however, don’t avoid planning for it. What should you communicate?

• Alert patrons quickly and clearly that there is a security threat. Do not use language that will incite panic. (Ensure that you also have this discussion with your DJS since they may be the ones that make onstage announcements) – Clearly share the type of threat and where its occurring so they can avoid the area.
• Advise them of evacuation options (this should be decided in advance with the authorities or owner of the location).
• Monitor the threat and update patrons throughout if approved by the authorities. Let patrons know that the security team and the producers will determine when the situation is handled.
• After the incident, determine if the event continues, if it’s postponed or cancelled. Once approved by the authorities, provide patrons with a summary of what happened, what was done to ensure their safety and the status of the event (cancelled, rescheduled etc).

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR
Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the
right people at the right time through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions.
She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voice over talent, media personality. Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Phone:784-432-2223. Email: igniteresults@gmail.com