In this candid episode of Not the Same as Last Year, Clare Forestier dives into the chaos that sometimes comes with running events and how to turn those moments into wins for your attendees. Drawing from her own experience as an emcee, Clare shares practical tips on managing the unexpected with grace and resilience. She explores strategies to stay calm under pressure, adapt quickly, and ensure that your audience remains at the forefront, no matter what challenges arise. Whether it’s a last-minute venue cancellation or an unexpected guest no-show, this episode offers actionable advice on how to empower your team, implement contingency plans, and transform setbacks into opportunities for growth and community building.

Key Takeaways:

• Stay Cool Under Pressure: When things go wrong, the first step is to remain calm and assess the situation objectively.
• Be Flexible and Adapt Quickly: Fast thinking and flexibility are crucial in finding alternative solutions that keep the event on track.
• Prioritise the Attendees: Always focus on delivering a positive experience for your attendees, even amidst chaos.
• Empower Your Team: Equip your team to make decisions on the fly and handle problems as they arise.
• Document Contingency Plans: Having pre-planned backup strategies can save time and reduce stress in high-pressure situations.
• Reflect and Learn: After the event, debrief with your team to identify what went well and what can be improved for future events.
• Embrace Challenges: Treat challenges as opportunities to create a stronger, more engaged community.

Keywords:

Event management, handling challenges, attendee experience, problem-solving, flexibility, team empowerment, contingency plans, reflection, learning.

Episode Titles:

1. "Adapting and Problem-Solving in Event Management"
2. "Empowering Your Team to Handle Event Disruptions"

Sound Bites:

• "First of all, you've got to think on your feet."
• "You adapt at speed."
• "Maintain a really positive experience for everyone."

Chapter Breakdown:

• 00:00 - Introduction: Dealing with Unexpected Challenges
• 03:20 - Handling Venue Cancellations and Curveballs
• 04:46 - Thinking on Your Feet and Adapting Quickly
• 06:08 - Prioritising the Attendee Experience
• 07:31 - Empowering Your Team in a Crisis
• 08:24 - Documenting Contingency Plans for Event Management
• 10:43 - Reflecting and Learning from Event Setbacks
• 13:37 - Conclusion: Turning Setbacks into Opportunities

Ready to dive deeper? Download your free guide, five ways to elevate your attendee experience without breaking the bank HERE

Connect with Clare:

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YOUTUBE

welcome back to Not the Same as Last Year. Today's episode wasn't supposed to be about this topic, but you know, sometimes shit happens and you've just got to roll with it. So here we are talking about what to do when things go tits up at your event, but you still need to put your event attendees first. Now, I've been away from the office a lot this month and guess what?

I haven't got a bank of podcast episodes ready to go while I'm off swanning around. I know, call yourself a podcaster, right? I think we're supposed to be busy recording with always at least five episodes in the bank, if you believe what all the other podcasters say. So my grand plan for this month of holidays and trips was to be super organised. All my work done, my social media planned, my podcasts recorded, my house immaculately tidy.

meals prepared pre -cooked and in the freezer for when I was going to be around clean sheets on the bed for when I got home the lot spoiler alert I'm not superwoman not only did I not get the freshly laundered sheets on the bed I didn't have time to record my podcast episodes either now I could blame a broken toe which seriously slows you down a migraine that lasted two days teenage kids filling the house with their junk back from uni and so on

festivals, holiday, going to see Bruce Springsteen again but who really cares? The point is shit happens, we get busy, things come up unexpectedly and we have to adapt. So this episode is actually inspired by all the little things that go wrong in life because of course things go wrong with bells on in the world of B2B events and that obviously affects potentially

your experience, definitely as an organiser, but definitely your attendees experience. And let me tell you, as an MC, it's actually the time where I really earn my money because my clients want moderators and event hosts and people on their team who can handle the glitches and dramas that will inevitably arise and either help them solve them or manage them so smoothly that the audience, the attendee is none the wiser.

or better yet charmed by the way that you've resolved them and therefore have had a better experience. Now at one notable event that I emceed, everything was on track. We had incredible speakers, we had really good plans, we had an agenda that was going to be really fun, energetic and really allow for collaboration, although ticket sales were a little bit low. And then on the morning of the second day, the venue threw a massive curveball.

they closed it to us entirely. So you can imagine the sort of seriously prickling armpits, the aging lines just kind of appearing on my face and obviously a lot of internal panic. I personally wished I was anywhere else for at least a moment, but I knew that my job was to look after the attendees, to keep them informed and reassured, make sure that they felt safe, that everything was under control.

even though I was freaking out on the inside and I knew that we had 16 hours left of planned programming that what were we going to do with that? So none of the problems were mine and they weren't of my making but I have to admit there was personal concern for how I might be judged as being part of something like this but I just put that to the back of my mind because it wasn't about me I pulled on my big girl pants and I was there to get it sorted. So here's what I did

to navigate the drama. First of you've got to think on your feet. You've got to just take a deep breath, smile, and just calmly assess the situation. Because if you don't stay cool and collected, then the whole thing goes wrong. And by me staying cool, collected, and smiling, it really helped set the right energy and the tone for everybody else.

you adapt at speed. We had to scramble to find an alternative venue. I immediately thought of who was a local speaker, went straight to them and said, how can you help? You have an office nearby, do you have any tips or ideas or contacts that could get us some space? And then we got that space and we managed to move things around and essentially condense 16 hours of program content into a single, incredible six hour session.

a time when actually sometimes less really can be more and in this case we had to make every moment count. We had to be flexible and we had to have a really positive attitude and the ability to improvise was really key. Even though we lost two full days and finding a venue was an epic challenge, we just focused what can we do? We just thought solutions, solutions, solutions, not problems and then just keeping the energy high, everyone just keeping a smile on their face, it really helped.

maintain a really positive experience for everyone. And you know what we did? We just all focused on the people. It was about the attendees and the contributors. That was my priority. I made sure that we emailed everybody that we thought could still be traveling to the venue for that. We made sure that everybody had emergency contact numbers so they could find out where the new venue was. We acknowledged that there were hiccups and there were problems, but we moved on quickly and we kept the energy positive as I say. And actually it's also about not being afraid.

to engage the audience when something like this happens. When you are faced with a really big setback, get them involved because actually by saying to everyone, this is a problem, we need a venue, this is it, people really came together and helped. But also, even if you weren't going to go as far as that and you hadn't lost your venue, you can think we've lost some time or a guest's not turned up or whatever. And then you can facilitate things like an impromptu networking session. And I don't mean by that just leave them alone in the hall to say what the hell's going on, but actually say.

somebody in there facilitating some kind of session. So what was the result of all of this? It turned out actually to be a hit and the attendees that stayed and were able to really appreciated the chance to connect more deeply with each other. People really value interaction and feeling like they're part of something special. It helped everybody bond together. And of course the final point you need to do is really empower your team because they are your greatest asset in a crisis.

If you encourage them to develop their problem -solving skills, it will empower them to make decisions on the spot. So all the way through when you're working with a team, be thinking like, how can I empower them more there? How would they resolve that situation? When something happens or you hear something that's happened at another event, say, how would you guys do it? Let's do a team exercise on how we would resolve that kind of thing. It not only helps spread responsibility, but it encourages people to come up with creative solutions more quickly.

I think as well you need to document your contingency plans. Well, being adaptable is obviously crucial. You need to think about the things that can go wrong and have pre -planned contingencies to save time and stress. Think about what you do if a key speaker cancelled, if the venue cancelled, if all your technology failed. Share this plan as well with your team so that everybody knows what would happen and be on the same page.

Reflect and learn from all of this. After the event, take time to really debrief. I think so often that doesn't happen, or it may happen, but I'm not included as the emcee and I really would like to be because I can learn from that, share it with my next employers and clients, and also just pass on the sort of learnings that I've learned because it all helps everybody. You know, what could we have done better? Where did we actually do well? And also share.

regularly things you've heard about what's going on in events that where other people have had problems and think about, okay, you don't have to have a contingency plan for everything, that would be impossible, but just what would we do if this happened and make sure your whole team has thought about it? Helps you also grow, but it also turns potentially difficult situations, stressful situations into something that you actually can get value out of and learn from. So the end result of the event that I've been talking about here, nearly everybody was incredibly understanding.

and actually even more engaged after this display of flexibility and teamwork. As I said, we had a speaker source us a new venue and get some fab food to it as well in under an hour. She was amazing. The other speakers and attendees just were willing and adaptable and they made the most of this very revised, very on the fly agenda. We actually all pulled together, we bonded, we became a team, not just the organizing team, but all the people who came became this really

strong community where you created a truly memorable event. Other events and meetings have come out of that. I've seen that with my own eyes. And personally, having gone through an experience like that, I do find that things aren't as dramatic in events. Really don't faze me. I, of course, get it. A really harassed event planner panics because two keynote speakers in the same...

morning session, I'm not going to be able to make it last minute because I know it feels like a major drama and I don't want to negate their feelings but I now have learned to welcome these kind of problems personally as an adrenaline shot because it keeps my skills sharp. In fact, I find these kind of challenges actually enhance the attendee experience because they foster what I've said, that bonding, that building community, that creating a sense of being part of something different, special.

you know, the venue that cancelled on us, the problem solving around that brought us together as a team. It turned strangers essentially into a connected and cohesive. So just try changing your mindset from panic and this is a disaster to it's an unexpected issue. This could be an opportunity somewhere else. Now I'm sure, like me, when you're having a really bad day, you don't want to be thwarted mid -moan by someone spouting lines like, don't see the problem, see the opportunity.

I know that would really annoy me, but in this case, it's really been valuable. Dealing with change and awkward moments are part of being human, right? It's relatable to all of us. So when bloopers, errors, delays, cock -ups, whatever you want to call them, happen, it is of course how we respond that really matters. So if we handle it with a genuine laugh, a kind of candid moment, or even like a self -deprecating joke to keep it real,

It's fine, that's good. People like real, not perfect. So if an event guest is going to be late, apologise for the delay. Promote the great sessions you've got coming on later and chat with the audience. Tell a joke. When the unexpected happens, be yourself, be flexible and most importantly, be human. That's what I do as an MC. And if, you know, really big things are going to happen and the whole...

kind of agenda for that period of time is going to be kibosh, then you change the format of your event. You think, actually a lot of the attendees are experts, so we can facilitate some sessions wherever everybody's getting involved. They get called unconference sessions where we, you know, we ask people what do you guys want to talk about? We host an impromptu panel discussion using members of the audience. have some facilitated networking sessions, those kind of things. The key is you're keeping the momentum going. You're making sure everybody there feels involved.

valued. It's like if you're on a plane and something happens and you say you know is anyone here an engineer maybe not that's not good but is anyone here a doctor is anyone here know how to fix this or that people will come forward and help and it is kind of the same thing at an event and actually you know you're not going to crash a plane so it's an easier job but if you've got a good team and a professional moderator or MC then these unexpected moments aren't just manageable they are opportunities for you

to shine. So I hope this episode helps you realise that even when the shit happens, putting your attendee first can turn a potential disaster into an opportunity. Handling cock -ups with the right attitude, focusing all the time on how your attendee is going to feel and what will help them can not only solve the problem but it can lead to unexpected positives. know, it's cliche but sometimes roses really do bloom.

from the thorniest of situations. thank you for tuning in to this episode. Join me next time. I'm going to be talking about how an MC can really make your event attendee first.