How to Lead Events Through Weather Disruption

Winter weather doesn’t ask for permission. It does what it wants when it wants: disrupts flights, reroutes attendees and tests even the most seasoned planning teams.

Just ask the Event Services Professionals Association (ESPA). In late January, a severe winter storm hit the Dallas-Arlington metro area just as ESPA’s annual conference got underway. Basically, the event opened in the bullseye of a storm that would soon disrupt travel nationwide.

Conditions changed by the hour. Flights were canceled. Schedules unraveled. Attendance shifted. And yet, the event moved forward because its leadership did.

With weather disruptions always a possibility, ESPA’s experience delivers some clear takeaways for planners everywhere. Preparation, not panic, is what carries an event through uncertainty.