Your event鈥檚 reputation is built on the quality of the experience you deliver. Sometimes no matter how much preparation goes into an event, the reality differs听significantly from the vision you sold, especially if you’re faced with troubles like relentless rainstorms, horrific bathroom situations, or excessive lines. When disaster strikes听鈥� preventable or otherwise 鈥� you鈥檇 better be armed with a strong communication plan to address your attendees.
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Event dramas are a听pain point every event manager deals with at some stage of their career, but the best organisers build a communication plan that carries them through (almost) any situation.听Here鈥檚 a breakdown of how to build your proactive communication plan 鈥� and why you and your attendees will be grateful you have it.
Building your proactive communication plan
Ongoing strategic communication is at the heart of launching and scaling successful events. While you can鈥檛 guarantee that everything will听go exactly to plan听at your event, you need to be prepared to communicate eloquently and effectively with your attendees. These are the five main points to building your proactive communication plan:
1. Identify potential issues
Poor ticket sales, performer or vendor drop-outs, weather, and traffic/transportation issues might all be on your list. Identify your biggest potential risks by looking at past events and drawing on the experiences of your team.
Read More: 10 Common Event Disasters and How to Address Them
2. Work ahead
Create canned email and social media messages in advance so you鈥檙e not starting with a blank page. Simply tailor the message to the specific situation, and hit send faster.
3. Think about delivery
Decide who should address the issue for each potential mishap. Does the CEO need to make a statement? Someone from the public relations team? When? What channels should you use?
4. Draft your responses
Have a process in mind for responding to attendees鈥� posts on social media. You鈥檒l likely get lots of questions and comments, so be prepared on how you want to answer and address them consistently.
Read More: How to Avoid Social Media Backlash
5. Plan to communicate early and often
Silence is deafening and often the gap you leave by saying nothing will be filled by speculation, ridiculous rumours, and attendee dissatisfaction. Even if you don鈥檛 have all the answers, reassure people that you hear them, you鈥檙e working on it, and always stay true to your promises. In short, do what you say you will.
The payoff of proactive event communications
In a competitive market, your festival may not survive if you attract attendees with marketing that sells more than you deliver 鈥� and then let them down with the experience onsite.
鈥淲hat makes or breaks an event experience is having a deep understanding of the community you鈥檙e creating 鈥� and being intentional about it,鈥� says Tommy Goodwin, 91制片厂鈥檚 director of global field services. 鈥淏ecause you are creating a community. I don鈥檛 think every event organiser thinks about it that way, but the good ones do. And for the best ones, that鈥檚 their goal.鈥�
With the right communication strategy in place, you can better deliver the听event experience听your attendees crave 鈥� and expect.听Communicating with your attendees about event logistics is just as important as keeping them informed with something unexpected happens. Having the right strategy in place will help you keep cool and manage your attendees鈥� expectations.
Check out听How to Create a Proactive Communication Plan听to save time during a predicament and provide above-and-beyond customer service.
