“When it comes to preparing for natural disasters, we now list in our contract that the property must provide a copy of the fire/disaster/evacuation plan upon request. That is going into the agreement, so the property is aware that we take the potential of disasters seriously and expect the property to compile with our requests from the first point of agreement.” —Kari Messenger, CMP, meetings manager, Association Management Center
“The force majeure clause is the most critical clause for addressing natural disasters in contracts. I negotiate it to make sure that it addresses not only natural disasters where the venue is, but natural disasters that disrupt transportation or in some other way prevent a large percentage of attendees from attending the event. I also make sure that the force majeure clause does not say that the group has to rebook the event at a later time. That’s not appropriate in a force majeure clause.” —Tyra Hilliard, Esq, PhD, CMP, attorney college educator and frequent industry speaker
“The force majeure clause is the most critical clause for addressing natural disasters in contracts.”
“Ahead of a site inspection, I send the preferred venue a multi-point questionnaire assessing their safety and risk preparedness. Then, during the site inspection, I ensure all the points are accurately addressed. Then I go to contract, making sure all those points are included. You’d be surprised the number of hotels that have zero staff trained in basic First Aid and CPR. It’s scary.” —Andrea Cannistraci, president and founder of andgreat
