The steps to successfully relocate an event: Be calm, assess, be flexible, communicate the new (and amazing!) plan to staff, vendors, stakeholders and attendees.

Communication!! Do not wait to share information with your stakeholders (vendors, suppliers, attendees). Even if it is preliminary, share there may be a change and provide a timeline for further updates. People are more understanding if they don’t feel like a rug has been pulled out from under their feet. They can shift in planning and focus elsewhere while waiting for your timely updates. Take the process in chunks, don’t try to solve all the problems at once. Create a workflow for next steps. Change happens, timely communication helps alleviate concerns and creates partnership with stakeholders instead of turmoil.

In three words: analyse, adapt, and roll. Events can be unpredictable, so being able to stay alert and ready is a huge plus! Flexibility is key, and most importantly: better planning! I love having a plan B just in case!

First thing is first: Why? If this is out of your control or your organizations control, understanding the why will be critical in assessing what your next move will be. There are so many considerations after this critical point, but #FIRSTTHINGSFIRST

I had this happen years ago when I found out six weeks prior to our event that major construction was going to take place at the conference and hotel venue. I got on a plane a did a site visit at a new location, and the existing venue. Due to the timelines and legal around this event (no construction clause), we were unable to move. At the existing venue we did a complete step by step walk-thru of points of construction, and they did work with us in hiding as much of the construction logistics as possible as well as offering concessions. Of course then a hurricane hit a week before us getting onsite so areas that were not part of the construction were damaged. Concessions played a huge role in the event, but I may have asked for more.