For an event planner, it’s the stuff of nightmares. After months of hard work, a full-on disaster erupts onstage at your event, and you know it’s all anyone is going to remember. As for cringe-worthy examples, well, 2022 had a few. In Hollywood, the year opened with the so-called “Oscar slap.” The second that actor Will Smith, infuriated by a joke, strode onstage and assaulted host Chris Rock, he upended the narrative of the awards. Then in March, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, actor Olivia Wilde was served legal papers from ex-fi ancée Jason Sudeikis—mid-presentation. That same month, closer to home, at the BC Tourism and Hospitality Conference, Vivek Sharma, the (now-former) CEO of the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, served up sexist remarks alongside his speech. After asking women attendees to stand in honour of International Women’s Day, Sharma suggested they “go clean some rooms and do some dishes.” Hearing about such cases, an event planner’s brain invariably goes into analysis mode. What mistakes were made there? What’s the fallout? How could I prevent that situation? We talked to industry experts and got their advice on mitigating risks around such public mishaps. ASSESS THE RISK Carol Cambridge, founder of Arizona-based The Stay Safe Project, is a workplace violence expert who hails from Canada and works in the Canadian and US event space. Cambridge says the threat of violence is often ignored, seen as “possible but not probable.” Yet given real risks and potential for litigation, she says, “If an event planner doesn’t take some basic steps in terms of determining the risk, and being prepared to mitigate potential issues, it’s waiting to happen.” Step one, says Cambridge, is assessing risk. “Each event must be evaluated on its own terms.” Look at factors such as “event size, location, the number of people attending.” Is the event outdoors, open to analysis mode. What mistakes were made there? What’s the fallout? How could I prevent that situation? We talked to industry experts and got their advice on mitigating risks around such public mishaps. ASSESS THE RISK Carol Cambridge, founder of Arizona-based The Stay Safe Project, is a workplace violence expert who hails from Canada and works in the Canadian and US event space. Cambridge says the threat of violence is often ignored, seen as “possible but not probable.” Yet given real risks and potential for litigation, she says, “If an event planner doesn’t take some basic steps in terms of determining the risk, and being prepared to mitigate potential issues, it’s waiting to happen.” Step one, says Cambridge, is assessing risk. “Each event must be evaluated on its own terms.” Look at factors such as “event size, location, the number of people attending.” Is the event outdoors, open to FRIGHTS How to be prepared if things go sideways in a very public way by Connie Jeske Crane STAGE 40 | Ignitemag.ca | Fall 2022
