“Staying Ready for the Unexpected” is the title of MPI‘s Q4 Meetings Outlook as planners grapple with unexpected challenges while remaining optimistic about the year to come.
Whether from technological glitches, weather disruptions or societal shifts, many planners in 2024 reported the need to navigate unexpected challenges impacting the safety and security of both their events and their attendees. On the flip side, nearly 80 percent of those planners surveyed foresee favorable conditions in the year to come, the largest percentage in more than a year. These and many more insights are found in MPI’s Q4 Meetings Outlook.
Plan B (C, D & E)
Being ready for the unexpected was on many a planner’s mind in a year filled with changing climates—including physical and societal—with a majority (56 percent) of respondents more concerned with safety and security than they were one year ago; and an overwhelming majority (75 percent) more concerned than they were five years ago.
Of these numbers, 48 percent cited natural disasters and severe weather as the biggest threat to safety at meetings and events, with one New Orleans-based planner quoted as saying, “our walking tours are all outdoors, so weather is a major issue… the one good thing about hurricanes is that you do often have a week or more to figure out if a threat is real.”
In a contentious election year and with upheaval abroad, planners also took societal unrest into consideration when thinking how and where to stage an event. One planner noted that “we live in a time in which, unfortunately, acts of violence can happen. Planners need to consider that there could be some kind of security breach or an unexpected event, and meeting professionals must think through these scenarios and have contingency plans in place.”
Indeed, planners might even be required to be ready with not only a Plan B, but a C, D and E to allow for various contingencies. For example, some scheduled conferences became hybrid or virtual events in 2024 as planners quickly pivoted in response to weather issues and civil unrest.
Meanwhile, less dangerous but no less disruptive, technological hiccups can bring a meeting or convention to a sudden halt; and in this scenario, planners surveyed recommended multiple back-up systems that allowed for seamless platform switching.
In every scenario, the right communication strategies are critical to navigating disasters of any kind, planners said, including built-in emergency messages and the ability to change what attendees see on screens.
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